Meghan ‘deeply distressed’ over child sex abuse image allegations against father

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Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, said Friday she was “deeply distressed” by a report that her father had a large collection of images depicting child sex abuse and revealed she had been told of “disturbing allegations” against him in 2018.

Britain’s The Sun newspaper reported late Thursday that the son of Thomas Markle said he had uncovered a stash of indecent images of underage children at the father’s house in the Philippines, and reported him to authorities in that country.

Thomas Markle Sr. has denied the allegations.

In an interview with The Sun, Thomas Markle Jr. said: “When I found this material I was horrified and I had no option but to report my dad.” The Sun reports that Markle Jr. told Philippine officials that he had discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of images of child sex abuse at his father’s house, and that the images were found in storage boxes and computer hard drives.

The Philippines Justice Department’s child abuse unit told CNN on Friday that the matter was “under investigation.”

In a statement on Friday, 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.”

Thomas Markle Sr. has vigorously denied the allegations, telling Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper they were “a bunch of lies” and saying the computers had not been in his possession since he left Mexico with his son in 2025.

“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,” Markle Sr. told the Mail, which said it had spoken to him from a rehabilitation center in Florida, where the paper said he was learning to walk with a prosthetic limb after his leg was amputated last year due to a blood clot.

Thomas Markle Sr.’s other daughter, Samantha Markle, told the Mail that the allegations were not true and that her brother had made them up.

Meghan said that she was made aware of allegations against her father – from whom she is estranged – eight years ago. “In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me,” she said in the statement Friday. “It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.”

It is not clear what specific allegations Meghan was referring to in the letter.

“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,” Meghan said.

“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.”

CNN is attempting to contact Thomas Markle Sr., Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Markle. CNN has reached out to the Metropolitan Police and the FBI for comment.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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苏塞克斯公爵夫人梅根周五表示，她对有关她父亲收藏大量描绘儿童性虐待的图片的报道感到“非常难过”，并透露她在 2018 年就被告知了针对她的“令人不安的指控”。

英国《太阳报》周四晚间报道称，托马斯·马克尔的儿子表示，他在父亲位于菲律宾的家中发现了一批未成年儿童的不雅照片，并已向该国当局举报了他。

老托马斯·马克尔否认了这些指控。

小托马斯·马克尔在接受《太阳报》采访时表示：“当我发现这些资料时，我感到非常震惊，我别无选择，只能举报我父亲。”《太阳报》报道称，小马克尔告诉菲律宾官员，他在父亲家中发现了“数百张，甚至数千张”儿童性虐待图片，这些图片是在储物箱和电脑硬盘中发现的。

菲律宾司法部儿童虐待部门周五告诉 CNN，此事“正在调查中”。

梅根周五发表声明称：“我对过去24小时内曝光的消息深感痛心，我为所有可能受到伤害的孩子们感到难过。”

老托马斯·马克尔强烈否认了这些指控，他告诉英国《每日邮报》，这些指控“纯属谎言”，并表示自从他2025年带着儿子离开墨西哥以来，这些电脑就一直不在他的手中。

“我感到震惊、伤心和非常难过，我的儿子竟然这样指控我。我永远不可能做出他指控我的事情，”马克尔先生告诉《每日邮报》。该报称，他们是从佛罗里达州的一家康复中心采访到他的，当时他正在那里学习使用假肢走路，因为他去年因血栓截肢。

托马斯·马克尔的另一个女儿萨曼莎·马克尔告诉《每日邮报》，这些指控不属实，是她哥哥捏造的。

梅根表示，她早在八年前就得知了针对她父亲（两人关系疏远）的指控。“2018年，一封信寄给了伦敦警察厅和王室及专业保护部门。后来我收到了这封信，”她在周五的声明中说。“信中对我父亲提出了令人不安的指控，他们向我保证正在调查此事。”

目前尚不清楚梅根在信中具体指的是哪些指控。

梅根说：“我希望大家现在能够理解，尽管某些媒体多年来歪曲事实，但我与父亲保持距离，以及我选择不让他与我们的孩子接触，只有一个原因：保护他们。”

“我相信当局也会为其他家庭做同样的事情。”

“虽然目前揭露的罪行范围之广令人难以置信，但我衷心希望正义能够得到充分伸张，并且保护无辜儿童的安全和福祉仍然是首要任务。”

CNN正在尝试联系托马斯·马克尔（老马克尔）、托马斯·马克尔（小马克尔）和萨曼莎·马克尔。CNN已联系大都会警察局和联邦调查局寻求置评。

这是一则正在更新的新闻。