Thomas Markle allegations: What we know after new Meghan letter emerges

The Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father Thomas Markle Snr is accused of possessing child sex abuse images.

Meghan Markle’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jnr, alleged that he found images belonging to her father at his former home in the Philippines, The Sun reported.

It has since emerged that the duchess sent a final letter to her father in 2025 while he was recovering from a leg amputation, to say she knows he is an abuser and that he will never see his grandchildren Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Markle Snr denied possessing child sex images, calling the accusations “sick lies”.

He has admitted to paying for sex in the south-east Asian country but denies ever possessing a hoard of such material.

With an investigation ongoing, Philippine interior minister Joniv Remulla told the The Guardian that it appeared Mr Markle Snr was a “possible sex offender of the grossest kind”.

The Sun reports that Mr Markle Jnr told police he discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of the images at his father’s home in Cebu, and reported him to local police and the FBI.

According to the newspaper, Mr Markle Snr is alleged to have left the images in storage boxes when he moved out of the property earlier this year.

Mr Markle Jnr said he submitted a statement to police in the Philippines and told The Sun: “When I found this material I was horrified and I had no option but to report my dad.

“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.”

The newspaper reports that Mr Markle Jnr was searching for a phone for his girlfriend’s father in boxes of his own father’s belongings, which led him to discover the images and videos.

In July, he reported them to the FBI Hotline, the United States’ National Centre for Exploited and Missing Children and state police in Pennsylvania, where his father was living.

Mr Markle Jnr also retrieved the four large cardboard boxes from storage and an IT expert helped him access three computer hard drives, revealing further images, The Sun reports.

Court papers filed in Cebu have begun police inquiry, the newspaper says.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that in 2019 it had passed a letter “containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom” to Meghan and Prince Harry, but did not share details with other law enforcement agencies.

The BBC and other media including the Telegraph, which said it had seen a copy, reported the note was written by Mr Markle Sr’s ex-wife, Roslyn Loveless, who has since died.

She is the mother of Mr Markle Jr and Meghan’s other half-sibling, Samantha Markle, who has defended their father, telling the Mail on Sunday: “I believe this is a set-up.”

Meghan is “upset and really frustrated” by the Met’s handling of the investigation, the Telegraph reported.

She said that she was shown a letter sent to Scotland Yard making “troubling” allegations against Mr Markle Sr and was assured that these were being investigated.

The Met is now “reviewing the handling of this matter”, including whether it needs to be referred to the police watchdog.

In 2025, Mr Markle Snr moved to the Philippines for a new life after suffering a series of strokes.

Then, in December of that year he had his leg amputated during life-saving surgery.

The Sun on Sunday reported that Meghan had written a final letter to her father during this period, telling him she knows he is an abuser and that he will never meet his grandchildren.

He is reportedly now living in a rehab centre in Florida, where he is learning to walk again.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Mr Markle Sr said he has “never had sex with anyone under the age of 18”.

He told the paper that when he was single he travelled to the Philippines at least twice and “slept with prostitutes”.

“I like Asian women but that is not a crime,” he said. “I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me. I have nothing to hide.”

The Duchess has been estranged from her former TV lighting director father since the weeks before her wedding in 2018, after he staged and sold photographs to the paparazzi.

Meghan said in a 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.

“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.

“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.

“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.

“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.”

In response to the accusations, Mr Markle Snr said: “I'm shocked, I'm hurt and I'm very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what I'm being accused of. It's the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.

“This is bulls****. It's just a bunch of lies. It's sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.”