Meghan Says She Is ‘Deeply Distressed’ by Abuse Image Claims Against Her Father, Who Denies Them

The Duchess of Sussex said Friday she is “deeply distressed” by a newspaper report alleging that her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., possessed child sexual abuse images. Markle Sr. denies the allegations. The claims are unproven, and the reports do not say that any charges have been filed.

What was reported

The allegations were first published by The Sun, a British tabloid. It reported that Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., 60, told detectives in the Philippines he found a large quantity of such images on computers and phones stored in four large boxes at the home in Cebu where their father lived until he returned to the U.S. in May after a stroke, according to The Guardian.

The Sun said Markle Jr. also contacted the FBI. NBC News reported that the paper published a photo it said showed him signing a sworn statement submitted to police. NBC said it could not immediately reach a contact for Markle Sr. and that police in Cebu City and London’s Metropolitan Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

What Meghan says

In a statement issued through her spokesperson, Meghan said her thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed. She said a letter was sent in 2018 to the Metropolitan Police and its Royalty and Specialist Protection unit and was then shared with her. It made troubling allegations against her father, and she was told they were being investigated.

A spokesman for the couple told NBC News she learned of the letter in the summer of 2018, after her wedding to Prince Harry. The Guardian reported that it understands authorities in the UK previously told her the allegations in the letter were under investigation.

Meghan said any distance from her father, and her decision not to let him have contact with her children, was for one reason: to protect them. She said she trusted authorities were doing the same for other families, and she hopes justice is fully served and that children’s safety remains the priority. The statement criticized what she called a distortion by some media outlets over the years.

What Markle Sr. says

Markle Sr., 82, denied the allegations in an interview with the Daily Mail, calling them “sick lies.” He said the computers had not been in his possession since he left Rosarito, Mexico, with his son in January 2025 and moved to the Philippines, according to The Guardian.

The Daily Mail reported that he is in a rehabilitation center in Florida, where he is learning to walk with a prosthetic limb after his left leg was amputated because of a blood clot. He said he was shocked and hurt by his son’s accusations, that he could never do what he is accused of, and that he did not know why his son would try to destroy him.

Why it matters

The case turns on claims by one family member and a denial by another, with the underlying evidence not publicly verified. The reports do not say whether authorities in the Philippines, the UK or the U.S. have made any finding. According to The Guardian, Markle Sr. has been estranged from Meghan since he did not attend her wedding on health grounds, and he has never met her children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.

For readers, the main point is that the allegations are unproven and are being reported through a tabloid, a statement from Meghan and a denial from her father. Further official comment from police has not yet been made public.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian, NBC News