The Duchess of Sussex is reportedly hoping for a “thorough investigation” into her estranged father after he was charged with possessing child sexual abuse material.
A friend of Meghan, 45, said she wants “justice” for any victims of the alleged offences involving Thomas Markle Sr, 82, who is accused of appearing in images investigators say depict the abuse of children.
Markle, who strongly denies wrongdoing, was placed under house arrest after FBI agents allegedly found suspected child sexual abuse material in two Los Angeles storage units he had rented.
Federal agents arrested him at his Maravida Senior Living care home in Lakeland, Florida, on Friday morning after the alleged material was discovered in the units, which he had reportedly rented for almost two decades.
The former Hollywood lighting director, whose arrest was first reported by Our News Outlet, faces one count of possessing child pornography.
Markle did not enter a plea at his initial court appearance. He was released on bond later that afternoon and ordered to remain under house arrest at the care facility.
Exclusive Daily Mail photographs showed Markle, who uses a wheelchair after having a leg amputated in the Philippines last year, being led from the care home in handcuffs shortly after 9am local time as officers surrounded the property.
A friend of Meghan has now claimed that the Duchess wants justice for those allegedly harmed by her father.
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, 45, is pictured with her father, Thomas Markle Sr, 82, before they became estranged
Thomas Sr is pictured following his arrest over allegations that he possessed child sexual abuse material in Los Angeles
The Duchess and her husband, Harry, the Duke of Sussex, were informed about the FBI’s findings in her father’s Los Angeles storage units on Friday
The friend told The Sun: “It is her sincerest hope that a full and thorough investigation will now help deliver justice for the victims.”
Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, 42, were reportedly told about the FBI’s discovery as Markle was taken to court on Friday.
The Daily Mail has contacted the Sussexes for comment.
Markle had reportedly not visited either storage unit for years, although he continued paying around £520 a month in rent.
His arrest came two weeks after his son, Thomas Markle Jr, 60, reportedly contacted police in the Philippines about him.
Thomas Jr had been living in the Philippines before his father returned to the United States after a blood clot led to the amputation of his leg last December.
He is said to have contacted police after allegedly finding the material among his father’s abandoned belongings in Cebu.
Thomas Jr then reportedly alerted the FBI to material allegedly stored by his father in Los Angeles.
Investigators allege that the material included images said to show Thomas Sr abusing pre-pubescent girls
A friend of Meghan has claimed that the Duchess wants a “thorough investigation” into her father
A security guard stands outside an assisted-living facility in Lakeland, Florida, on November 6, 2026, before Thomas Markle Sr’s arrival following his charge of possessing child pornography
US authorities allege that the evidence includes film negatives and books containing child pornography.
The FBI reportedly used specialist equipment to convert the negatives into colour digital images. Among them, investigators allege, were images showing Thomas Sr abusing a naked pre-pubescent girl.
In a sworn affidavit published on Thursday, an FBI agent said one negative showed “an image of an adult man wearing a white button-down shirt and blue jeans sitting on a white surface”.
The affidavit continued: “A nude pre-pubescent girl is sitting on the adult man’s lap so that her back is against his left chest.”
The agent alleged that the man was touching the child while engaging in an act of abuse.
“Based on my training and experience, the girl pictured in image one is pre-pubescent,” the agent said.
The agent added: “The child’s nudity, pose, and the adult man’s actions appear designed to elicit a sexual response from the viewer.”
Another image allegedly showed an adult man with his arm around the girl’s hips, apparently looking down at her nude body.
A third photograph reportedly depicted a naked child sitting on a bed, with another partially clothed girl standing behind her.
FBI agents have interviewed witnesses as part of efforts to identify the adult shown in the images. A source who reportedly knew Thomas Sr since the 1970s is said to have identified him.
During his arrest, Markle appeared distressed, scowling and looking around as officers placed him in a waiting ambulance.
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Asked by a Daily Mail reporter whether he was a paedophile, the 82-year-old replied “no” in a quiet voice. He did not answer when asked whether he had ever collected child pornography.
The silver-haired retiree was wearing the same T-shirt and black sweatpants when he was wheeled into court on Friday afternoon, his hands visibly trembling during the hearing.
He listened as Judge Lindsay Griffin summarised the allegations and explained that the criminal complaint claimed he appeared in two of the images.
When asked whether he understood the allegations, Markle winced and answered “yes” in a low voice.
The arrest followed days after Our News Outlet alerted US authorities to a suspected cache of child pornography discovered in a storage unit Markle had rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico.
Thomas Sr has strongly denied wrongdoing and told a Daily Mail reporter “no” when asked whether he was a paedophile
Police in the Philippines are also reportedly close to filing formal charges against Markle after suspected child abuse images were allegedly found at his former home there last month.
“Mr Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.
“Working with our Justice Department partners, our agents moved quickly, identified and located the explicit material, and arrested Mr Markle in Florida.”
After spending years overseas, Markle moved to Florida in the spring. Shortly before his arrest, he had relocated to a senior-living facility specialising in dementia care, where accommodation is estimated to cost $3,900 (£2,900) a month.
The international investigation into Thomas Sr began after suspected child pornography was allegedly discovered at two locations linked to his retirement.
During the California search, FBI agents seized approximately 78 items from the two units, including slides, film negatives and books that court documents describe as containing suspected child pornography.
Investigators developed some of the negatives into photographs said to have been taken decades ago. Court papers allege that some showed Markle sexually abusing young girls at a motel in the Philippines.
Other images allegedly showed Markle with children in various stages of undress at what the FBI believes may have been the Anahaw Lodge motel, according to the criminal complaint.
Markle had rented the Los Angeles storage units since 2008 and reportedly made an automatic payment as recently as last month, according to the complaint.
“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said.
The Los Angeles raid followed a search by Mexican police at a Rosarito storage facility the previous weekend, one day after Our News Outlet notified the FBI about the alleged discovery.
Guardia Nacional officers who identified themselves as state sex-crimes investigators were seen entering the 5ft by 10ft unit, located around three miles from Markle’s former home in the Mexican resort town.
The team included forensic-computing specialists, a crime-scene investigator and officials from the Baja state attorney general’s office. They were seen examining the boxes with a flashlight and searching through their contents.
According to an onlooker, one agent appeared to recoil and said “Ay cabron”, a Spanish expression that can mean “holy crap” or “oh, damn”, after viewing the material.
A search warrant obtained by Our News Outlet showed that a judge had authorised investigators to look for “evidence consisting of child sexual abuse material” and “the alleged commission of the crime of human trafficking in its aggravated form”.
Investigators reportedly catalogued and seized items including a computer, USB drives, VHS tapes and magazines before sealing the unit with an official seizure notice, according to a source.
The search at Baja Storage, a gated facility about ten miles south of the US border, came after Our News Outlet reported finding photographs of naked Asian women and magazines depicting the sexual abuse of children inside Unit 22.
After the operation, the unit was locked and covered with Mexican Guardia Nacional notices reading “Aseguramiento de inmuebles”, meaning “seizure of property”, indicating that its contents had been taken by authorities.
The reporting team located the unit while examining Markle’s former life in the gated expatriate community of San Antonio del Mar.
Unit 22 had reportedly been rented to Meghan’s estranged father in 2017. He is said to have fallen behind on payments two years ago and moved to the Philippines in early 2025 without clearing the unit.
Staff and the owner of the storage business said they knew nothing about the alleged cache and were appalled by what was found.
Markle has strongly denied wrongdoing. After reports of the alleged cache emerged, he told Our News Outlet on Saturday: “I had no storage units in Rosarito!”
Alongside family photographs, letters and other personal mementoes, investigators reportedly found black-and-white prints of naked Asian women, some of whom appeared to be very young, as well as books and magazines that sexualised children as “Lolitas”.
The unit also allegedly contained strips of 35mm negatives showing voyeuristic images of children on a beach and dusty VHS tapes with titles including “Boys – Brother and Sister – Russian XX” and “Manila Nites”.
Old computers, hard drives and a paper plate bearing the words “DARK WEB” in red ink alongside several URLs were also reportedly found. It remains unclear what the hard drives or tapes contain.
The Daily Mail’s tip-off led to an investigation involving officials from the United States and Mexico.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle’s estranged father Thomas is charged after Our News Outlet alerted the FBI, as another storage unit containing alleged images of him abusing girls is discovered in Los Angeles
