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Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida in connection with allegations that he possessed child sex abuse materials, according to CBS News.
Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida in connection with allegations that he possessed child sex abuse materials, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Friday. The case remains under seal, one of the sources added.
The 82-year-old was arrested in Florida on Friday in connection with allegations that emerged last month, three sources confirmed to CBS News, though the case remains sealed. The Mirror reported that FBI agents arrived at a care home in Tampa, Florida, and that Markle Sr. was led away in handcuffs and seen being taken from the care home in a wheelchair.
Last month, it was reported that Thomas Markle was under investigation by authorities in the Philippines for alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials. Markle has denied the claims against him, calling them "sick lies." "I have never downloaded anything like that in my life," he was quoted as telling the Daily Mail.
A spokesperson for the Philippine National Police told CBS News in a statement that they launched an investigation after Markle's personal items were turned over to law enforcement by his son, Thomas Markle Jr.
After the reports of the investigation were made public, Meghan, who recently moved back to Britain with her husband Prince Harry and their children, said in a statement sent to CBS News that she had been aware of the allegations against him since 2018 and that the allegations were shared with U.K. authorities at the time.
She said it was based on that information that she and Harry decided to cut her father off from contact with their children.
"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," she said.
Meghan also confronted her father last year about the child sexual abuse allegations leveled against him, according to CBS News partner BBC News. Video that the British tabloid the Daily Mail says it obtained exclusively shows Markle accepting a letter sent by his daughter in his hospital room in the U.S. in December 2025.
According to the BBC, in that letter, Meghan wrote that she and authorities "knew he had abused young girls," adding that he would never meet her and Harry's children Archie and Lilibet.
CBS News has reached out to Meghan's spokesperson for comment on the arrest. CBS News contributor and Sunday Times royal editor, Roya Nikkah, said on X that, according to sources, the duchess is not likely to comment "at this time."
The arrest involves the estranged father of a senior member of the British royal family and comes amid an international investigation spanning the Philippines, Mexico, and the United States.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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