Meghan Markle revealed she cut ties with dad Thomas Markle in 2018 to “protect” her two children after police informed her about “troubling and disturbing” allegations against him.
The Duchess of Sussex told Page Six in a statement on Friday — after news broke of Thomas’ child porn probe — that she was shown a letter initially sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection with claims about her estranged father, the same year of her and Prince Harry’s wedding.
Meghan, 45, said the allegations, which she claimed she was told “were being investigated” at the time, fueled her decision to end her relationship with Thomas, and forbid him from seeing her son Archie, 7, and daughter Lilibet, 5.
Getty Images
BACKGRID
“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,” Markle said in her statement.
“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”
The “Suits” alum said that “although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine,” she hopes “justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”
meghan/Instagram
Meghan Markle / Instagram
The Sun reported on Thursday that Thomas, 82, is being investigated over alleged child sex abuse images.
His son, Thomas Jr., discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in four boxes at his dad’s home in the the Philippines, and reported the alleged findings to the police and the FBI.
Thomas reportedly left the alleged images in storage boxes buried among family “mementos.”
Thomas Jr. told The Sun that “when I found this material I was horrified and I had no option but to report my dad.”
“I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now,” Thomas Jr. continued, before declaring that he “won’t speak” to his dad
This story is developing…