A photograph allegedly showing Meghan Markle's estranged father having sex with a girl who appears to be underage is among a stash of disturbing images handed to police investigating child abuse allegations against him.
The image, reportedly found among hundreds of suspected child abuse pictures, is said to show Thomas Markle Sr on a bed with a young Asian girl.
The claims emerged as the Duchess of Sussex revealed she had been warned about 'troubling and disturbing' allegations concerning her father in 2018, shortly after marrying Prince Harry.
Meghan said police had shared a letter containing the allegations with her, prompting her decision to keep her father away from her family.
Meanwhile, her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr, 60, has handed four large boxes of material from his father's former home in Cebu City, in the Philippines, to police.
According to The Sun, the alleged stash includes an old 35mm film negative showing a bearded man considered possibly to be Mr Markle, now 82, on a bed with an Asian girl, while another image reportedly shows the same man, believed to have been in his late 40s or early 50s, partly obscured by the girl's arm.
Thomas Jr spent more than nine hours formally submitting the material, which he claims contains 'hundreds, if not thousands' of obscene images. Mr Markle has vehemently denied the allegations.
Scotland Yard was last night scrambling to find a letter that told the Duchess of Sussex eight years ago of child abuse claims against her father.
Meghan Markle with her father Thomas Markle in 2011. They have been estranged since 2018
A photograph allegedly showing Meghan Markle's estranged father having sex with a girl who appears to be underage is among a stash of disturbing images handed to police
Meghan's bombshell announcement about its 'troubling and disturbing' contents made headlines around the world yesterday.
She said it was the reason she refused to let Thomas Markle into their lives – to protect Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, from harm.
The Met said officers were trying to find the letter it had received in 2018, while sources stressed that it had never investigated Mr Markle.
Last night, the Sussexes said they still had a copy and offered to share it with police if officers could not locate it.
Meghan's explosive statement came soon after it was revealed that her father was being investigated in the Philippines for allegedly hoarding child-sex images.
Her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, told police there that he had found horrifying photos of naked youngsters in boxes belongings to their father, who branded the claims 'sick lies' made up by his son for money.
She spoke of her 'deep distress' at the allegations which were 'more sickening than one could ever imagine', adding: 'My thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.'
The duchess, 45, said she hoped 'it can now be understood' that her decision to cut ties with Mr Markle 'and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason – to protect them'.
The mystery deepened when sources at the Metropolitan Police revealed it had not carried out any investigation into Mr Markle, either in 2018 or since, and that officers were trying to trace the letter his daughter mentioned.
A Met spokesman said: 'We are aware of media reports that officers from the Met's Royalty and Specialist Protection Command were involved in the passing on of a letter in 2018.
'We are undertaking inquiries internally in an effort to confirm this.'
Meghan's statement did not specify exactly when in 2018 the letter was sent to the police or when it was subsequently shared with her. She married Prince Harry in May that year.
Thomas Sr, pictured with nurse Rio Canedo, 46, is now the subject of a child sex probe
Meghan's brother Thomas Markle Jr (above) claimed to have found the child abuse material
Other unanswered questions include who sent the letter to the Yard, who assured the duchess that it was being investigated, and which police force had investigated her father if not the Met?
The latest drama unfolded after Tom Jr, 60, told police in the Philippines he had discovered 'hundreds, if not thousands' of child-sex images in four large boxes 'left behind' at his 82-year-old father's home, where he had been living until earlier this year.
Tom Jr allegedly saw a computer screensaver with 'hundreds' of disturbing thumbnail images, videos of girls under 12 involved in sex acts, and 'old books that turned out to be full of naked little girls'.
He said he was 'horrified' and 'had no option but to report my dad', first contacting the FBI in America and the US Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
This week, he took the material to police in the Philippine city of Cebu, accompanied by Sun journalists.
Mr Markle is now under investigation by a child-sex abuse task force in Cebu, with the FBI also poised to join the probe now that he is living in the US in a nursing and rehab centre in Florida.
A source close to Meghan was quoted in The Sun saying: 'Now maybe people will finally understand why she has had nothing to do with her father since 2018.'
Yesterday, Mr Markle told the Mail that the accusations were 'sick lies', adding: 'I'm shocked, I'm hurt and I'm very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what I'm being accused of.
The letter is believed to have been sent to the Duchess during summer 2018, soon after she married Harry in May that year at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle (pictured)
Samantha Markle, left, pictured with her father Thomas Sr and brother Thomas Jnr
Thomas Sr recovering in a hospital bed after surgery in the Philippines last December
'It's the worst thing anyone could accuse me of. This is bulls***. It's just a bunch of lies. It's sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.'
Speaking exclusively to this paper, he challenged his son's account. He claimed the computers had not been in his possession since he left Rosarito, Mexico, in January 2025 and moved to the Philippines 'for a fresh start'.
Asked by the Mail, 'Did you download porn on to your computers?', Mr Markle said: 'Never. Never. Never. I have never done that.' Authorities in the Philippines confirmed they were investigating. Interior minister Jonvic Remulla said Tom Jr had given police evidence including a laptop.
Meghan and her father had a very public falling-out before her marriage after he posed for paparazzi pictures on the eve of her wedding to Prince Harry.
Within days he had two heart attacks and was unable to walk her down the aisle.
The Sussexes left the UK in 2020, but returned this month.
In her statement, Meghan said: '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. In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection.
'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.
'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.
'I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families. 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.'
The FBI said it was 'aware of the allegations and will provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities. We will also investigate any related allegations of federal violations of US law'.
A source close to the Royal Family said: 'This is a matter for the Sussex household.'
Last night, The Sun reported that the letter sent to the Met in 2018 alleged Mr Markle sexually abused a child. The author also claimed Mr Markle had admitted travelling to Thailand and the Philippines to abuse children.
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