One son says he found the material and called the police. His sister says he invented it for revenge. What is undisputed is that the Markle family war just went somewhere much darker.
By Emily — The Insider, CelebnMusic247
Thomas Markle Sr., the 82-year-old father of Meghan Markle, is reportedly under investigation in the Philippines over allegations that “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images were found in storage boxes at his home in Cebu, according to a bombshell report by The Sun carried by Page Six on Thursday. These are allegations, not findings — no charges have been reported, and members of his own family are publicly and furiously disputing them.
According to The Sun’s reporting, Thomas Jr., 60, says he found the alleged material inside several boxes, mixed in among family “mementos,” while searching for a phone at the Cebu home the two men had shared since January 2025, and turned it over to local police. The alleged content was reportedly first reported to authorities in July. Thomas Jr. told the outlet, after submitting a sworn statement to Philippine authorities on Thursday: “When I found this material I was horrified and I had no option but to report my dad.” He added: “I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now. I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.” Per the report, authorities are preparing to seize the alleged evidence, and Thomas Jr. also contacted the FBI, with a stateside investigation reportedly set to be launched as well.
Context matters here. Thomas Sr. left the Philippines in May and returned to the United States following a stroke that led to a blood clot and the emergency amputation of his left leg, per Page Six. He has been estranged from Meghan since 2018, and an insider close to the Duchess of Sussex told The Sun: “Now maybe people will finally understand why she has had nothing to do with her father since 2018.” Thomas Sr. and Thomas Jr. did not immediately return Page Six’s requests for comment, and representatives for Meghan and Prince Harry did not respond.
Samantha Markle calls the allegations “lies”
The family’s other branch is calling the report an invention. Samantha Markle, Thomas Sr.’s daughter, defended her father to the Daily Mail on Thursday, as reported by Page Six: “There is no merit in these disgusting allegations whatsoever and my brother is disgusting for making them up. He wants to destroy our dad. Shame on him.” Samantha has alleged her brother “wants revenge” after being cut off from their father’s finances, and told Dan Wootton’s Outspoken program, “I see Dad every day.”
Her partner, Mark Phillips, was equally blunt to Page Six from their Florida home: “I will say one thing: It’s bulls–t.” Phillips claimed Thomas Jr. “ran out of money in the Philippines,” that he “has done this several times before, sold the dad out with lies,” and that Thomas Sr. “wasn’t in possession of those computers for at least two years.”
The 247 Take — Strip away the royal angle and this is still a serious story: a police report, a sworn statement, and a family accusing each other in print of either harboring the worst kind of material or fabricating the worst kind of lie. Both of those cannot be true, and right now the only verified facts are the report itself and the denials. Until investigators say otherwise, that is exactly where this story stays — alleged, disputed, and very far from settled.
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