“Markle in handcuffs.” On the front page of the British tabloid The Sun on Saturday November 7, a photo shows Thomas Markle in handcuffs. His wheelchair is pushed by an FBI policewoman. This 82-year-old man is the father of Meghan Markle, married to Prince Harry since 2018. After two searches, he was arrested in the United States on Friday, in his retirement home in Florida, for possession of child pornography images. Thomas Markle denies these accusations. Here is what we know about this affair.
According to the federal prosecutor's office in the Central District of California, "approximately 78 objects, including slides, negatives and books containing alleged sexual assaults on children" were seized during the search of two storage units that he had rented for around twenty years in the Los Angeles area. The federal prosecutor specifies in a press release that certain photographs show him in “the company of minor girls”.
The octogenarian, a former television director of photography, appeared on the day of his arrest in federal court in Tampa, Florida. The judge ordered him released on bail, on the condition that he be placed under house arrest under electronic monitoring, according to the federal prosecutor's office in Los Angeles. His indictment will not take place for several weeks, according to the prosecutor, cited by the Reuters agency. Thomas Markle faces up to 20 years in prison.
Two weeks earlier, on October 23, the Philippine police announced that they were investigating Thomas Markle. Before moving to the United States earlier this year, the man lived on the island of Cebu. The local government confirmed that police had "inspected the former home of a Mr. Thomas Markle" after "reports from his son", Thomas Markle Jr. Meghan Markle's half-brother handed police three memory cards and a cell phone containing images of sexual assault on minors.
Furthermore, Thomas Markle Jr was qualified by the Philippine justice system as a “person of interest” in this case, reports The Guardian. “We are trying to determine if the son is involved… There are elements that suggest that he is also involved in this crime,” explains the Philippine Minister of the Interior.
United States, Philippines… The list does not stop there. Before 2025, Thomas Markle lived in Mexico. A storage unit belonging to him was searched there after an anonymous report concerning the presence of "child pornography", according to the prosecutor's office in the Mexican state of Baja California, Monday November 2. According to the investigation, the owner of the premises indicated that Thomas Markle had stopped paying his rent in 2024, but that his belongings had remained in the closed box. On site, “magazines of Asian origin” dating back around twenty years were discovered, but their content was not specified. Computer equipment was also seized.
Accusations have been hanging over Thomas Markle for several years. His daughter Meghan said she was aware of a letter sent to the police responsible for protecting members of the royal family in 2019. It contained “disturbing and worrying allegations” concerning her father.
"The author of this letter said he wanted to raise concerns about the security of the Duchess of Sussex. Although the letter did not actually contain any information related to security matters, it included a number of accusations regarding alleged offenses committed outside the United Kingdom," said a British police official in a statement on Thursday, October 29, a few days after the announcement of the investigation in the Philippines.
However, the police admitted, on October 24, that they had not transmitted this letter to the judicial authorities at the time. On Thursday, October 29, London police asked the British police to establish whether they should have handed this letter over to the courts. An official said that London police would also contact "several relevant foreign police services regarding the accusations contained in this letter."
Friday October 23, Meghan Markle said she was “deeply upset” by the accusations against her father, whom she has not seen for years. “The distance taken from my father and my decision not to allow him to be in contact with our children had only one reason: to protect them,” explains the Duchess of Sussex, mother of two children. With Prince Harry, she had a boy, Archie, 7 years old, and a girl, Lilibet, 5 years old.
