Meghan Markle Says 2018 Allegations Led Her to Protect Her Children

Allegations reopen questions about a family rift

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, says allegations involving her estranged father shaped her decision to keep her children away from him. She says she learned of similar claims in 2018, years before recent media reports prompted renewed scrutiny. Her account places the family decision in a longer timeline than the current reports alone suggest, though it doesn’t establish what investigators knew or concluded at the time.

Those reports said child sexual abuse material had been found at Thomas Markle’s former home in Cebu, Philippines. Thomas Markle denied possessing the images in an interview with the Daily Mail, describing the accusations as “sick lies.” The claims and denial remain distinct from any official finding: the accounts reported so far describe allegations, while police say they’re still checking what happened.

Meghan said she had seen a letter sent to London’s Metropolitan Police in 2018 that made “troubling and disturbing allegations” against her father. She said she was assured the claims were being investigated. In a statement, she described herself as “deeply distressed” by the latest news and said her thoughts were with any children who may have been harmed. Her comments connect the renewed attention to her earlier concerns, but the contents and outcome of the 2018 communication haven’t been detailed here.

Police are checking the reports

The Metropolitan Police said it was aware of media reports that officers from its Royalty and Specialist Protection Command had passed on a letter in 2018. A spokesperson said the force was making internal enquiries to confirm what happened. That review matters because it may clarify whether the letter was received and how it was handled; the force hasn’t announced a finding in the information reported here.

Philippine authorities are also investigating. Nicholas Ty, a justice undersecretary, told Reuters that the country’s Anti-Trafficking and Anti-OSAEC task force in Cebu was handling the matter. The parallel enquiries involve different authorities and reported actions, so their findings may address separate parts of the timeline.

Thomas Markle Jr told The Sun he found “hundreds, if not thousands” of images while clearing out his father’s former home in Cebu. He said he reported them to Philippine police and contacted the FBI. That is his account of what he found and did; the source material doesn’t describe what investigators have verified or whether the images were examined. The distinction is central in a case where the claims are serious and the evidence is still being assessed.

Family distance and the children’s safety

Meghan said she hoped the recent reports would clarify why she had kept her father apart from her children, saying the decision was made “for one reason: to protect them.” She and Prince Harry have two children. For families facing allegations of this kind, decisions about contact can be made amid uncertainty, and Meghan has framed hers as a precaution taken in that context.

Harry and Meghan married in May 2018; Thomas Markle did not attend. The couple left Britain and stepped back from royal duties in 2020 amid family tensions. The source reports they returned to live in the United Kingdom in August. Those milestones outline a relationship that had become publicly strained, but they don’t explain every private decision about contact or establish that the current allegations caused the earlier rupture.

Thomas Markle was living in the Philippines earlier this year when a stroke and the amputation of his left leg led him to return to the United States. Meghan said she hoped justice would be served and that the focus would remain on protecting children. The police enquiries will help establish what was reported in 2018 and what investigators have found since. Here's the thing: the distinction between a reported allegation and a verified finding is not a technicality when children’s safety and a person’s reputation are both at stake.

What the enquiries may clarify

The case now turns in part on what police can establish about the 2018 letter, the later reports from Cebu, and the material described by Thomas Markle Jr. Those are related questions, but they aren’t interchangeable. A confirmed record of a letter, for example, would clarify what was communicated to the Metropolitan Police; it wouldn’t by itself settle the separate claims about material allegedly found in the Philippines.

This is more significant than it looks because the renewed coverage has fused family history with an active investigation. If you're following the story, the most useful updates will be concrete statements from the relevant authorities about what they’ve received, examined, or established. Until then, the public record contains competing accounts and open questions. And the people most exposed to the consequences are the children.