Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, said Friday she is “deeply distressed” by reports that her father, Thomas Markle, is under investigation in the Philippines over alleged possession of child abuse materials.
In a statement sent to CBS News, Meghan said she first learned of the allegations in 2018, when a letter containing them was sent to London’s Metropolitan Police and the Royalty and Specialist Protection unit. She said she was given assurances at the time that they were being investigated.
The Sun reported Thursday that Thomas Markle Jr. reported his father to authorities in the Philippines after allegedly finding child abuse materials in storage boxes at his father’s home in Cebu. The Daily Mail reported Friday that Thomas Markle denied the allegations, calling them “sick lies.”
Meghan, who recently returned to Britain with Prince Harry and their children, said keeping her distance from her father was deliberate. “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.
The New York Post reported that the FBI is poised to open its own investigation into Markle, who is 82.
Source: USA Today
