Philippines investigates laptop found at Thomas Markle’s former home
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Meghan Markle said on Oct 23 she was “deeply distressed” by accusations that her father had possessed images of child abuse.
PHOTO: AFP
- Philippine police are investigating a laptop and child abuse images found at Thomas Markle’s former home in Cebu, with “full results” expected in a week.
- Interior minister Jonvic Remulla said police may take “appropriate legal actions” if there is enough evidence, while Thomas Markle denies all claims.
- Meghan Markle said she was “deeply distressed” and had cut contact with her father over “troubling and disturbing” allegations, which she says were raised in 2018.
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MANILA – Philippine police are investigating a laptop found alongside images of child abuse at the former home of Meghan Markle’s estranged father, with “full results” expected in a week, said the country’s interior minister.
Thomas Markle, whose daughter is married to Britain’s Prince Harry, had been living in Cebu in the Philippines until reportedly returning to the US earlier in 2026.
Philippine interior minister Jonvic Remulla said the country planned to take “appropriate legal actions” against Markle – who has denied all claims of alleged offending – if sufficient evidence was found.
“The Philippine National Police (PNP), upon the reports of the son, inspected the former home of a certain Mr Thomas Markle,” Remulla said in a text message sent late on Oct 24. “Found were a trove of child pornography materials as well as a laptop.”
“The laptop is currently going under forensic investigation and we will have the full results in one week,” Remulla said.
“The PNP will coordinate with their counterparts to locate and take appropriate legal actions against Mr Markle if found that there is sufficient evidence to charge him.”
British tabloid the Sun first reported last week that Markle’s son, Thomas Markle Jr, had discovered the child abuse images while going through boxes found in his father’s former home.
On Oct 23, Meghan Markle said she was “deeply distressed” by accusations that her father had possessed images of child abuse, adding she had blocked contact between him and her children over previous “troubling and disturbing” allegations.
After the reports, she said that in 2018 she had seen a letter sent to London’s Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection making similar accusations.
“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” she said in a statement.
London’s Metropolitan police said it had passed on the information to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry but did not share it with other law enforcement agencies.
The Sun reported on Oct 25 that Meghan had written a final letter to her father in 2025, telling him she knows he is an abuser and that he will never meet his grandchildren.
The couple left Britain and quit royal duties in 2020 amid a bitter royal family feud.
They made an unexpected return with their children to live in Britain in August. AFP