Thomas Markle Sr., the stranger The father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida in connection with allegations that he possessed child pornography, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Friday.
The case remains under seal, one of the sources added.
Last month it was reported that Thomas Markle was under investigation by authorities in the Philippines for alleged possession of child pornography. Markle has denied the allegations against him, calling them “sick lies.”
“I’ve never downloaded anything like this in my life,” he reportedly told the Daily Mail.
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A spokesperson for the Philippine National Police told CBS News in a statement that they launched an investigation after Markle’s personal items were turned over to law enforcement by her son, Thomas Markle Jr.
After the investigation reports were made public, Meghan, who recently returned to Britain with her husband Prince Harry and their children, said in a statement sent to CBS News that she had been aware of the allegations against him since 2018 and that the allegations were then shared with British authorities.
She said it was based on this information that she and Harry decided to cut her father off from all contact with their children.
“I hope we can now understand that, despite the distortion of some media publications over the years, any distance from my father and my choice not to allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason only: to protect them,” she said.
Meghan too confronted his father last year over child sex abuse allegations made against him, according to CBS News partner BBC News. A video that British tabloid Daily Mail says it exclusively obtained shows Markle accepting a letter sent by her daughter in her hospital room in the United States in December 2025.
According to the BBC, in the letter, Meghan wrote that she and authorities “knew he had abused young girls,” adding that he would never meet her or Harry’s children, Archie and Lilibet.
CBS News has reached out to Meghan’s spokesperson for comment on the arrest. CBS News contributor and Sunday Times royal editor Roya Nikkah told X that, according to sources, the duchess is not likely to comment “at the moment.”
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
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