Thomas Markle Sr. is now under arrest in the United States. FBI agents arrested the 82-year-old father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, at the Maravida Senior Living home in Lakeland, Florida, on Friday, and the Justice Department announced that he is charged by federal criminal complaint with one count of possession of child pornography. If he is convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The charge grows directly out of the Philippine investigation reported below. According to the affidavit filed with the complaint, the case began in October 2026, when Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr., turned over his father's possessions from the Philippines and reported suspected child sexual abuse material to Philippine police and the FBI. Following that trail, FBI agents searched two storage units in the Los Angeles area that Markle has rented since 2008, with the rent still being paid automatically until last month. Agents seized 78 items — slides, film negatives and books — containing suspected child sexual abuse material, and the affidavit says at least 18 images found in one unit appear to be child pornography, including photographs that allegedly depict Markle himself with prepubescent girls.
"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)," FBI Director Kash Patel said in the Justice Department's announcement. "Mr. Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions," Patel said, adding that any predator who targets children "will have zero safe haven in this country." First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose office brought the charge, said his office "will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law."
Markle denies the allegations. He has called them "sick lies" and told the Daily Mail: "I have never downloaded anything like that in my life." A criminal complaint contains allegations only — Markle is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.
His daughter Meghan is not commenting on the arrest. She cut her father off years ago, and in a letter delivered to his U.S. hospital room in December 2025 she wrote that she and the authorities "knew he had abused young girls" and that he would never meet her children, Archie and Lilibet. Markle was due to make his first appearance on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa. For ordinary families, the case is a hard reminder of why reporting suspected abuse matters: one report, passed between police in the Philippines and the FBI, is what federal agents say led them to the storage units and to this arrest.
— Previously posted on Monday, October 26, 2026 —
Philippine Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla has now put the government's position on record, and it comes with a warning in both directions. The forensic examination should be complete in about a week and give what he called a definitive picture; until then, he said, the authorities want to be sure before releasing findings, not least because a family dispute is mixed into the case.
Remulla said police who inspected Thomas Markle Sr.'s former home in Cebu reported finding child-pornography material and a laptop, and that the Philippine National Police will coordinate with counterparts abroad and take legal action if the evidence is sufficient to charge him. No charges have been announced. Markle Sr. denies possessing any such material — he has called the accusations "sick lies" — and the forensic results, due in about a week, are now the point on which the whole case turns.
— Previously posted on Saturday, October 24, 2026 —
In a new interview published Sunday by the Mail on Sunday, Thomas Markle Sr., Meghan Markle's father, admitted that he paid for sex in the Philippines, saying: "I like Asian women but that is not a crime."
Markle Sr. denied that he ever had sex with anyone under the age of 18, and denied being in a photograph like the one alleged against him. Asked about material said to have been found on his computer, he said if anything bad is on it, "it was put there by someone else," and he welcomed a forensic examination of the machine.
His daughter Samantha Markle defended him, calling the case against him "a set-up." Markle Sr., 82, is now in a rehab centre in Florida, and he denies the claims made against him, calling them "sick lies."
— Previously posted on Saturday, October 24, 2026 —
Britain's Metropolitan Police have confirmed they received a letter containing allegations that Thomas Markle Sr., 82, travelled to the Philippines and Thailand to abuse children, and that they passed the letter to his daughter Meghan Markle — who says it is the reason she cut him off from her children. He denies the claims as "sick lies."
The Met said it received the letter in January 2019. It contained "a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom," was sent to the force's Protection Command over security concerns for the Duchess of Sussex, and after review was passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for awareness. The details were not shared with other law enforcement agencies. The Met says it is now reviewing its 2019 handling of the letter and considering a referral to the police watchdog. Meghan has recalled being shown the letter in 2018; the Met's records date its receipt to January 2019.
In her statement on Friday, Meghan said she is "deeply distressed" by the news, that the letter carried "troubling and disturbing allegations" against her father, and that she was given assurances it was being investigated. She said she cut contact with him and blocked his access to her children "to protect them," and that her thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.
Authorities in the Philippines have confirmed an investigation by the anti-trafficking and online child-exploitation task force in Cebu. It follows claims by Thomas Markle Jr. that, while clearing his father's former home in Cebu, he found hundreds, if not thousands, of child abuse images and videos there, and reported it to Philippine police and contacted the FBI. The material has not been confirmed as belonging to Thomas Markle Sr.
The FBI says it is aware of the allegations and "will provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities," adding that it "will also investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law."
Thomas Markle Sr., who is in a rehabilitation centre in Florida, denies everything. "I could never do what I'm being accused of," he said, adding that the computers had not been in his possession since he left Mexico in 2025. "I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies."
No one has been charged, and nothing has been adjudicated. The allegations remain under investigation in the Philippines with FBI support, the Met is reviewing why the letter was never passed to other agencies, and the man at the centre of it denies every word.
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