Meghan Markle said she learned of 'alarming allegations' against her father in 2018

The key facts

Meghan said that in 2018, after the wedding, she learned of 'alarming and frightening' allegations against her father and was assured they were being investigated
The Sun, Daily Mail and Telegraph reported the discovery of images in Thomas Markle's former home in the Philippines; he denies everything
The Philippine anti-trafficking and online child exploitation task force in Cebu is investigating the case

Statement by the Duchess of Sussex

The Duchess of Sussex Meghan said she was 'deeply shaken' by the news made public over the past day and that her thoughts are with the children who may have been harmed. According to her, in 2018 she was passed a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police and the Royalty and Specialist Protection unit containing 'alarming and frightening' allegations against her father, and she was given assurances that they were being investigated. According to the BBC and the PA agency, she learned of these allegations only after her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018.

The allegations and the denial

The Sun was the first to report the allegations, followed by the Daily Mail and the Telegraph: according to them, images of child sexual abuse were allegedly found among Thomas Markle's belongings in his former home in the Philippines. Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., told The Sun that he found the images and reported them to the police. Thomas Markle himself, in an interview with the Daily Mail, rejected the allegations, calling them 'sick lies' that left him 'shocked' and 'offended'. Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Nicholas Ty told Reuters that the task force against human trafficking and online sexual exploitation of children in Cebu 'is currently investigating the case'. The BBC and AFP contacted Thomas Markle and the police for comment.

'One reason — to protect them'

Meghan expressed hope that it is now possible to understand why she kept her distance from her father and did not allow him contact with the children — in her words, 'for one reason: to protect them'. She called the allegations 'more repugnant than one can imagine' and added that her 'sincere hope is that justice is fully served, and that the safety and protection of innocent children remains the priority'. The couple have two children — Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five. BBC correspondent Johnny Dymond notes that the statement is a response to years of speculation about Meghan's estrangement from her father, and her supporters will see it as vindication — even as Markle denies everything.

Context of family relations

Meghan's relationship with her father, a former television lighting director, broke down on the eve of the 2018 wedding: it emerged that he had been paid for staged photographs, and then he withdrew from the wedding citing health problems (heart surgery); the bride was walked down the aisle by the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III. Markle regularly gave interviews, complaining about the lack of contact with his daughter and grandchildren. In 2021, Meghan won a privacy case in the High Court in London against the publisher of the Daily Mail — Associated Newspapers — over the publication of her personal letter to her father. In 2025, after a series of strokes, he moved to the Philippines; in December 2025 his leg was amputated, and he is reportedly now undergoing rehabilitation in Florida. In December, Meghan's spokesperson said she had contacted her father in hospital.

Context of the return to Britain

Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties and left Britain in 2020 amid conflict with the royal family. In August 2026 they unexpectedly returned with their children to live in the United Kingdom. The BBC notes that the allegations against their father raise the question of whether they played a role in that decision, but the couple's press office did not respond to the relevant questions. AFP also recalls a series of shocks for the royal family: Harry's memoir 'Spare' in January 2023, the cancer diagnoses of King Charles and Catherine, Princess of Wales, in 2024, and the arrest in February of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office in connection with his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.