Meghan the Duchess of Sussex’s response to a probe into child sex abuse material found at her father’s former home has drawn scrutiny.
Markle’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., told police he found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in four large boxes at his father’s former Philippines home, the Sun reported.
The duchess told the newspaper that she had been aware of the “disturbing allegations” against her father, Thomas Markle Sr., since 2018.
“I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” Markle said.
“In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection,” she explained. “That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.”
The duchess added that past media coverage of her estranged relationship with her father should now be “understood” in light of the recent revelations.
“I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them,” Markle said.
“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families,” she added.
Notably, Thomas Markle Sr. did not attend his daughter’s 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, a fact that was widely reported at the time.
Markle, however, was not aware of the allegations against her father until after her wedding, according to multiple reports.
The duchess and her husband share two children together, 7-year-old Prince Archie and 5-year-old Princess Lilibet.
“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children,” Markle told the Sun.
Thomas Markle Sr., meanwhile, denies having possessed child sex abuse images, describing the allegations to the Daily Mail as “sick lies.”
Philippines Department of Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty, told the BBC “the matter is currently being investigated” by an anti-human trafficking and child sexual exploitation task force.
The country’s Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla also told the outlet that the Philippines national police have seized Thomas Markle Sr.’s computer in order to conduct a full digital forensic analysis.
“This Thomas Markle story is shocking, and if guilty, he must face full force of the law,” Piers Morgan wrote in a Friday X post.
“But it raises a lot of questions: if police alerted Meghan in 2018 to allegations so serious she ended all contact, why was he not arrested?” the Piers Morgan Uncensored host continued.
Morgan also questioned why Markle never went public “to protect others.”
“She remained silent for years while cultivating a public image as an advocate for child welfare,” another noted. “If protecting children was truly the priority, many will ask why that concern appears to have stopped with her own family.”
“Her statement raises serious questions about her judgment, credibility, and moral consistency,” the X user added.
Another simply wrote, “Meghan Markle is a liar.”
“Do not forget in 2022, on Netflix, Harry sat there and told the World that it was HIS FAULT, that Meghan didn’t have a Dad anymore,” another X user pointed out, sharing a quote from Prince Harry, which read, “If Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad.”
“Why would he sit there and say that, if he knew that Thomas was a danger to children and that was why they cut him off,” the X user inquired.
“She had no problem sitting next to Oprah insinuating that the royal family were racists but she never once said anything about her father possibly being this evil?” another asked of the duchess.
“She seemed to have no trouble trying to blow up the royal family, yet stayed completely silent on her own,” the X user added.
Alana Mastrangelo-Wrask is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
