Philippine authorities are investigating Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, over allegations that he possessed child sexual abuse images, the country’s justice undersecretary said on Friday.
“Our Anti-Trafficking and Anti-OSAEC (online sexual abuse and exploitation of children) task force in Cebu is currently investigating the matter,” Nicholas Ty, Philippine justice undersecretary, told Reuters.Meanwhile, The Daily Mail quoted Thomas Markle as denying the allegations, calling them “sick lies”.
Meghan said she was “deeply distressed” by the allegations, first reported by The Sun on Friday. In a statement, she said she had known about the allegations against her 82-year-old father since 2018, when she received a letter outlining them and was assured that they were being investigated.
According to the BBC, Meghan Markle said her thoughts were with “any children who may have been harmed”. She added that she hoped the circumstances would help explain why she had kept her distance from her father and prevented him from having contact with her children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5.
“This was to protect them,” she said, adding that she had trusted the authorities to protect other families as well.
Meghan has been estranged from her father since the run-up to her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, the younger son of King Charles. Days before the wedding, Thomas Markle said he would not attend due to ill health, after earlier admitting to posing for paparazzi photographs.
(With agency inputs from Reuters)