![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/thomas-markle-AZNS3FPFSVBNPLQIRORK35YYSY.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPrince Harry\u2019s wife, Meghan, said she was \u201cdeeply distressed\u201d by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father\u2019s former home. <\/p>\n
She also revealed that a letter containing \u201ctroubling allegations\u201d about him had been sent to London police in 2018.<\/p>\n
Meghan, also known as the Duchess of Sussex, issued the statement after The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, reported that her brother found the images while clearing out the home of their father, Thomas Markle Sr, in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u2019\u2019 Meghan said in a statement.<\/p>\n
She also addressed the letter sent to the Metropolitan Police Service\u2019s Royal and Specialist Protection unit, which later shared its contents with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meghan, an American citizen who starred in the US television drama Suits, married Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018. They have two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thomas Markle. (Source: Bang Showbiz)<\/p>\n
Thomas Markle Sr, a retired television lighting and photography director, did not attend the wedding, prompting extensive coverage in the British media of Meghan\u2019s estrangement from her father. While some reports suggested she had shunned him in favour of her new royal status, Meghan said her decision to distance herself was intended to protect her children.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough 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,\u201d Meghan said in her statement.<\/p>\n
Thomas Markle Sr 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 US.<\/p>\n
The Sun reported that Thomas Markle Jr. recently found \u201chundreds, if not thousands\u201d of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father\u2019s former home in the Philippine city of Cebu when he was clearing out the property.<\/p>\n
Markle Jr. told the newspaper that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have supported, cared for him and helped him for years \u2014 but that stops now,\u201d Markle Jr. told The Sun. \u201cI won\u2019t speak to my father ever again unless I\u2019m called to give evidence against him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In comments to the Daily Mail, the 82-year-old Markle denied the allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m shocked, I\u2019m hurt, and I\u2019m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me,” he was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying. “I could never do what I\u2019m being accused of. It\u2019s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prince Harry\u2019s wife, Meghan, said she was \u201cdeeply distressed\u201d by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[67,156,4866,111,139,69,3578,6747,1745],"class_list":["post-639309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-entertainment","tag-meghan-markle","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-prince-harry","tag-royalty","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}