Meghan Markle ‘deeply distressed’ by child sex abuse image claims against dad

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her estranged father’s former home.

Meghan, 45, issued a statement after The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, reported that her half-brother allegedly found the images while cleaning out the home of their father, Thomas Markle Sr., in the Philippines.

“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,” Meghan said in a statement to The Associated Press.

She also addressed a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police Service’s Royal and Specialist Protection unit.

“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,” she continued.

Meghan went on to say that she has not had a relationship with her father to protect her children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.

“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,” Meghan said. “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,” her statement concluded.

Thomas Markle Sr., 82, was living in the Philippines earlier this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated. That forced him to return to the U.S., The Associated Press reports.

The Sun alleged that Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., had recently found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father’s home in the Philippine city of Cebu when he was clearing out the property.

He told the newspaper that he reported the alleged images to police in the Philippines.

Markle Jr., 60, told the outlet that he contacted FBI investigators in the U.S. who are reportedly set to launch their own probe.

“I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now,” Markle Jr. told The Sun. “I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.”

Meghan’s father denied the allegations in a statement to the Daily Mail, saying, “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,” he added.

Global News has reached out to the FBI for further comment, but has not received a response.

Meghan has been estranged from her father for nearly a decade.

In the days leading up to Prince Harry and Meghan’s 2018 wedding, Markle Sr. had declined to attend, despite previously agreeing to escort his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day.

The fallout happened when the media revealed that Markle Sr. had accepted $100,000 from a U.K. tabloid in exchange for staged photos and planted stories in the weeks before the May nuptials. When Meghan questioned him on it and asked him to tell the truth, he refused the allegations, but she said she believes he lied to her.

Days before the ceremony, Markle Sr. also claimed he had a heart attack and was unable to fly to the U.K. to see his daughter get married. Meghan said in her Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, that she was desperate to help her dad and make sure he was OK, but claimed he refused to answer her texts.

Harry said he felt “incredibly sad” and blamed himself for Markle no longer speaking to her father.

“Now she doesn’t have a father. I shouldered that. Because if Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad,” Harry explained, referring to the photo scandal. “It’s amazing what people would do when offered a huge amount of money. Fifty thousand, a hundred thousand (dollars), to hand over photographs, to create a story. And thank God most of them said no.”

A month after the wedding, Markle Sr. said he wished he could have walked his daughter down the aisle in an interview with broadcaster ITV.

He claimed that Meghan cried when he told her he wasn’t well enough to attend the ceremony, but was honoured to be replaced by  King Charles III.

“I can’t think of a better replacement than someone like Prince Charles. He looked very handsome and my daughter looked beautiful with him. I was jealous. I wish I had been there and I wish it had been me,” Markle Sr. told Piers Morgan and co-host Susanna Reid.

Markle Sr., who watched the wedding from California, said he was “very proud” but that “the unfortunate thing for me now is I’m a footnote in one of the greatest moments in history rather than the dad walking her down the aisle.”

—With files from The Associated Press