Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle to appear in court over alleged child sex abuse images

The Department of Justice in the United States has confirmed Thomas Markle Sr has been charged and will appear in court later today

Meghan with her father, Thomas Markle
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Meghan with her father, Thomas Markle
Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle Sr has been accused of possessing abuse images showing himself with children, according to the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

The 82-year-old, who was arrested after FBI agents swooped on a care home, where he is believed to have been living, has been charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse material. He is expected to appear today in United States District Court in the Middle District of Florida in Tampa.

It comes as the DoJ said federal agents seized nearly 80 items from inside storage units rented by Mr Markle Sr, including slides, film negatives and books that contained suspected child sex abuse images. It said if convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Mr Markle Sr was reported to authorities in the Philippines (Image: Channel 5)
The statement from the DoJ went on: “According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, in October 2026, law enforcement learned that an individual signed an affidavit regarding their discovery of suspected CSAM among Markle’s possessions in the Philippines.

“Law enforcement also interviewed another individual who disclosed that Markle rented a storage unit in the Los Angeles area. Information from the first individual later led agents to a second unit.

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“Pursuant to judicially authorized warrants, FBI special agents searched two storage units registered to Markle. Markle has rented both storage units since 2008, with his most recent payments on both made last month by auto-pay.

“Inside the units, agents seized approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected CSAM. The affidavit describes three of those images. Two images depict an adult man – whom a witness identified as Markle – with a nude prepubescent girl.

“The third image depicts a nude prepubescent girl in a room that appears to be part of a motel chain in the Philippines. The affidavit also describes additional photographs that appear to show Markle with children in various stages of undress.”

Police with materials allegedly found in the home where Meghan’s father previously lived in the Philippines
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Police with materials allegedly found in the home where Meghan’s father previously lived in the Philippines
First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said: “Mr Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls. These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.”

While FBI Director Kash Patel said: “The FBI and our partners have arrested Thomas Markle Sr after an FBI investigation revealed he was in possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).

“Mr. Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions. Working with our Justice Department partners, our agents moved quickly, identified and located the explicit material, and arrested Mr. Markle in Florida.

“This FBI will use every single resource at our disposal to protect innocent kids – any predator who targets children will have zero safe haven in this country or anywhere they try to hide.

“Thank you to FBI Los Angeles, FBI Tampa, our Mexico and Marshall Islands Law Enforcement Attaches, and our partners who executed quickly in this case.”

Mr Markle Sr was reported to authorities in the Philippines last month after his son Thomas Markle Jr claimed he found a haul of child sex abuse images. Last week, four boxes of materials allegedly found in Mr Markle Sr’s former home in the Philippines are said to have been handed over to authorities. It is understood the boxes contained computers, phones, hard drives and old video tapes.

Mr Markle Sr was seen being taken from the care home in a wheelchair. He has denied the allegations against him, calling them “sick lies”.

He previously told the Mail the computers had not been in his possession since he left Mexico with his son in 2025 and moved overseas “for a fresh start”.

Yesterday, the Philippines’ interior and local government secretary Jonvic Remulla told a press conference in Manila, more than 7,000 photos and one video were uncovered.

Mr Markle Sr has been living in Florida after moving back to the United States following a move to Cebu in the Philippines last year.

Last December, he had his leg amputated during life-saving surgery after went back to America for rehabilitation. He had recently been moved into a care home for dementia patients.

Meghan is the only child of Mr Markle Sr’s second marriage to the Duchess of Sussex’s mother Doria Ragland.

The Duchess became estranged from her former TV lighting director dad in the run-up to her 2018 wedding after he was caught staging paparazzi photographs in the days before the ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor – and did not attend the wedding.

When allegations against him surfaced, she revealed she was “deeply distressed” and said she was sent a letter via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2019 which made “troubling and disturbing allegations” about her father, but that she was given assurances these were being investigated.

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The Met has admitted it never shared the details with other law enforcement agencies, with the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), now investigating the force’s conduct.

The Duchess had wanted to “speak out” immediately after reading the letter but police advised her against this, sources said. When former TV lighting director Mr Markle Sr had his leg amputated in the Philippines last year, he made pleas for the Duchess to contact him.