Meghan Cut Off Father by Letter Citing Child Abuse Allegations He Denies

Last year, while Thomas Markle lay in a hospital bed in the Philippines after having his leg amputated, a letter reached him from his daughter. According to sources close to the Duchess of Sussex, who spoke to the BBC, it told him he would never meet his grandchildren, Archie and Lillibet, and that she would never contact him again.

The letter, whose details were first reported in the Sun on Sunday, also said something more serious. Meghan reportedly told her father that she and the authorities knew he had abused young girls. Markle, who is 82 and based in the US, denies all such allegations. None of them has been proven.

The background is a long estrangement. Father and daughter have not been close since 2018, when he pulled out of her royal wedding, citing ill health. The 2025 letter appears to close what the BBC describes as a troubled relationship. Meghan is the only daughter of Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland.

The allegations have since moved into the hands of officials. The Philippines confirmed to the BBC on Friday that its anti-human trafficking and child sexual exploitation task force is investigating. Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla said separately that national police have secured Markle's computer and will carry out a digital forensic examination. Markle moved to the Philippines last year after a series of strokes.

It has been reported that images of child sexual abuse allegedly belonging to him were found in his former home there. The Sun reported that Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jnr, who is Meghan's half-brother, claimed to have found a stash of images belonging to their father at that house. He is said to have told police that the items included child abuse videos and pictures. He is understood to have contacted the FBI about it in July, and the FBI has since confirmed it is aware of the allegations.

In Britain, attention has turned to the Metropolitan Police. On Saturday the force confirmed that in 2019 it received a letter making a "number of claims" relating to Meghan's father. It said it shared that letter with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the time, but did not pass the contents to other law enforcement agencies. The Met said it is now reviewing how it handled the matter.

Meghan herself revealed the letter's existence in a statement on Friday, saying it contained "disturbing allegations" about her father. "I am deeply distressed," she wrote, adding that her thoughts were with any children who may have been harmed. She said she hoped it could be understood why she had largely cut off contact with him and did "not allow him to have contact with our children."

Markle has answered in an interview with the Mail on Sunday. He acknowledged paying for sex on past visits to the Philippines, but denied sleeping with underage girls and denied ever possessing child abuse images. He is reportedly now living in a Florida rehabilitation centre, learning to walk again after the amputation.

What to watch next: whatever the Philippine task force concludes, the results of the forensic examination of Markle's computer, any action by the FBI following his son's July report, and the outcome of the Met's review of its 2019 handling of the letter.