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Police in Philippines to examine Thomas Markle Senior's digital devices after child sex abuse image claims

Police in the Philippines have been handed a warrant by a court to start examining digital material alleged to contain child sex abuse images belonging to the Duchess of Sussex's father, Thomas Markle Snr.

The material, including devices and hard drives, was handed to the police by Thomas Markle's son, Thomas Markle Junior.

Thomas Markle Snr denies all the allegations.

It was reported by The Sun that Meghan's half-brother alleged he found a stash of images belonging to his father at his former home in the Philippines.

The report added that he also contacted the FBI in the US in July.

In a statement to Sky News on Friday, Meghan said she was "deeply distressed" by the allegations about her father and added that a letter had been sent to the Met in 2018 which was subsequently shared with her.

On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed it received a letter in early 2019 containing allegations about Thomas Markle Snr.

But the force said it did not share the accusations with other law enforcement agencies and was considering referring itself to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

A spokesperson for the Sussexes later said that "without the benefit of a diary entry or contemporaneous record" the duchess "may have been mistaken by a few months" about when she was shown the letter.

"If the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] holds a time-stamped record confirming that the letter was reviewed in 2019, that should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the duchess," they added.

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Thomas Markle Snr moved to the Philippines in 2025 after suffering a series of strokes.

He is now reportedly living in a rehabilitation centre in Florida.

Harry and Meghan moved back to the UK in August, six years after they stepped down as working royals and relocated to the US.

Sky News

(c) Sky News 2026: Police in Philippines to examine Thomas Markle Senior's digital devices after child

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