Duchess Meghan is dealing with the unimaginable after shocking news about her estranged father, Thomas Markle, were revealed overnight.
Thomas Sr. is being investigated by authorities for possession of child pornography after his son, Thomas Markle Jr., reported him to police. Per a report from The Sun, Thomas Jr. claimed that he found “hundreds if not thousands” of images, plus videos, of child porn in his father’s home in Cebu, the Philippines, and immediately notified police. Now, the FBI is involved.
Moments after the news broke, Meghan released a rare statement. “I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” she said.
The duchess noted that she was previously informed about an ongoing investigation into her father, but she never imagined the scope of the issue.
“In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” she said.
Thomas Sr. was notably absent from Meghan and Prince Harry’s May 19, 2018 wedding at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and the two remain estranged to this day. He has never met the couple’s children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.
“I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them,” Meghan said. “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”
Thomas Jr. claimed to have found videos of children naked and engaging in sex acts on his father’s old cellphone, and the told The Sun that Thomas Sr.’s “desktop was full of row-upon-row of thumbnail pictures linking to the most sickening child abuse imaginable. The worst of the worst.” He also allegedly discovered a photo of a naked girl that appeared to have been taken at his father’s former home in Rosarito, Mexico. (Thomas Sr. denied the allegations to the Daily Mail.)
Thomas Jr. told The Sun: “I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years—but that stops now. I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.”
Thomas Jr. is Meghan’s step-brother. The duchess is the only child of Thomas Sr. and Doria Ragland, and Thomas Sr. also has two kids from his first marriage to Roslyn Loveless: Thomas Jr. and Samantha Markle.
Meghan added in her statement: “Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”