The Daily Mail says it has referred Thomas Markle, the estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex, to the FBI after allegedly finding sexually abusive material involving children in a storage unit near his former home in Mexico.
The items reportedly include books discussing pedophilia, magazines depicting the sexual abuse of children and loose photographs of nude Asian women, some of whom appear unusually young.
The publication traveled to Rosarito Beach to examine Markle’s former life there after learning that he had rented and later abandoned a storage locker.
Receipts reviewed by Our News Outlet indicate that Markle rented the 5ft-by-10ft unit in 2017, six years after relocating to Rosarito, approximately 10 miles from the US border.
Our reporter was allowed inside after being told that Markle had fallen behind on payments and had not maintained the lease for roughly two years.
The approximately 20 boxes reportedly contain the alleged illicit material alongside family keepsakes, photographs and personal correspondence.
The Daily Mail also says it found 35mm negatives showing apparently spontaneous, voyeuristic images of children at a beach. Other negatives reportedly show a woman restrained with her limbs tied behind her while a man directs her during a photo session.
The discovery came as police obtained a warrant to examine child-sexual-abuse images allegedly found among Markle’s belongings at his son’s home in the Philippines. Markle moved there after leaving Rosarito in January 2025.
The Daily Mail says it alerted the FBI after finding sexually explicit books, magazines and photographs—including images of Asian women who appear unusually young—in a Mexican storage unit rented by Thomas Markle
Around 20 boxes were found inside the locker, including books about pedophilia and magazines said to depict the sexual abuse of children
Earlier this week, Filipino official Jonvic Remulla said the 82-year-old former Hollywood lighting technician could be a “sex offender of the grossest kind.” Remulla added that the available evidence suggested a serious offense may have taken place.
The Philippine investigation began after Thomas Markle Jr alerted the Philippine National Police to the material reportedly discovered among his father’s possessions.
Markle denies any wrongdoing.
The Mexican storage locker, located about three miles from Markle’s former home, adds another dramatic development to a case that could result in a prison sentence of 10 to 12 years if charges are brought and a conviction follows.
Markle was living in Rosarito when his relationship with Meghan broke down. Before her 2018 wedding, he was exposed for working privately with a paparazzo to stage photographs, even as Prince Harry appealed to the media to respect his future father-in-law’s privacy.
Many of the photographs found in the locker appear to date from the period when Markle was in his 40s or 50s. He was 43 when he and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, divorced in 1987 after eight years of marriage.
Almost half of the 31 black-and-white prints, each roughly 10 by 8 inches, appear to feature the same young woman. In one image, a bearded Markle wearing a polo shirt and jeans sits on a hotel bed beside her, his arm around her and a cigarette in his right hand as he looks toward the camera.
The woman appears to be smiling and relaxed. She is dressed in a white lace top, a white belt and dark jeans and holds a small bag.
One undated photograph shows Markle on a bed with his arm around a young Asian woman; both are clothed. She also appears alone and nude in several other images
More than 50 videotapes were reportedly found in the locker, including tapes labeled “Boys – Brother and Sister – Russian XX” and “Manila Nites”
Other photographs from the same hotel room reportedly show the woman nude and leaning forward, wearing a necklace with a heart-shaped pendant.
A further 16 black-and-white prints appear to show different nude women. The report says there is no evidence that Markle had sexual contact with any of them.
The locker also contained more than 50 videotapes, including titles such as “Boys – Brother and Sister – Russian XX” and “Manila Nites.” The contents of the tapes have not been established.
Among the books were titles including Forbidden Sexual Behavior and Morality, The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People and The Invisible Children.
Other books reportedly included Victorian Children, featuring historical photographs of nude young girls; Young Aphrodites; David Hamilton’s Private Collection; and Hollywood Lolitas. A soft-cover volume titled Le Fairy, printed in the Far East, allegedly contains nude images of girls who appear prepubescent.
A paper plate found in the unit reportedly had the words “DARK WEB” written in red ink beside a series of web addresses.
Seven hard drives, apparently removed from computers, were also found among Markle’s possessions.
An old computer tower bore a handwritten note reading “Overheated… Virus!”
The Daily Mail was told that Thomas Markle Sr rented the locker in 2017 and stopped paying for it in 2024
Several books reportedly address pedophilia, including titles such as Hollywood Lolitas
Another group of books included Forbidden Sexual Behavior and Morality, The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People and The Invisible Children
Instructions for running WinCleaner—a program designed to erase information from hard drives—were also attached to the tower, along with an activation code.
The unit contained four USB drives, two early-2000s digital cameras, two cameras made for children and an older Apple computer.
It remains unclear whether any data is still stored on the computers, drives or cameras.
Markle did not answer several requests from Our News Outlet for comment.
A source said Markle visited the locker several times a month during the early years of the lease, adding and removing belongings.
He was last seen there in March 2024, when he renewed the agreement for three months. He has not reportedly returned since.
According to the same source, neither Thomas Markle Jr nor anyone else visited the unit.
Markle is currently at a rehabilitation center in central Florida, where he is relearning how to walk after recovering from the amputation of his left leg in the Philippines 11 months ago.
The Daily Mail found VHS tapes, including one labeled “Manila Nites”; the contents have not been determined
An old computer tower carried a note reading “Overheated Virus!” and was found alongside cameras and flash drives. Their contents are unknown
The locker contained instructions and an activation code for WinCleaner, software that can erase data from hard drives
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A paper plate reportedly carried the words “DARK WEB” in red ink, alongside several web addresses
Soon afterward, exclusive images published by Our News Outlet appeared to show Markle receiving a letter from Meghan in which she cut him off from contact with her children.
The letter reportedly stated that Meghan knew her father had abused young girls and that he would never meet her children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.
Last week, Markle acknowledged paying for sex while he was single in the Philippines. “I never had sex with anyone under the age of 18,” he said. “I like Asian women but that is not a crime.”
He also rejected his son’s allegation that he downloaded child-sexual-abuse images onto computers and phones provided to investigators, calling it “the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.”
After moving to Mexico, Markle, who previously worked as a lighting director on shows including General Hospital and Married… with Children, lived privately in a rented home inside the gated San Antonio del Mar community.
The property he once occupied is now being rebuilt.
Residents who spoke with Our News Outlet this week said Markle was seldom seen, apart from occasional trips to an expatriate bar, a minimarket and Walmart.
“Frankly, he seemed to live like a hermit. Nobody in all the years he was here really got to know him,” one local resident said.
Receipts reviewed by Our News Outlet show that the storage locker was rented by the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father after he moved from Los Angeles to Mexico
Thomas Markle, a former lighting director on television dramas and soap operas, moved from Los Angeles to Rosarito in 2011. He is pictured in 2018
A general view of Thomas Markle’s former home in Rosarito, Mexico, roughly 10 miles south of the US border
Markle left the Philippines in May for a rehabilitation center in Florida, leaving his belongings in Cebu with Thomas Jr, who had been caring for him.
The Sun reported last week that Thomas Jr, 60, discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of alleged child-sexual-abuse images in four boxes and reported his father to Filipino investigators and the FBI. Both agencies are said to be examining the allegations.
One 35mm photograph reportedly shows a bearded man resembling Markle having sex with a young Asian girl. Markle has denied that the image depicts him, saying he has “never been in a photograph like that.”
Thomas Jr said: “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. I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.”
He later added: “I’m so, so sorry Meghan. I now know I have been protecting the wrong person for the past nine years. Having seen what I’ve seen, I believe the man I’ve been defending and caring for is a monster.”
Following the allegations, Meghan said she learned about claims involving child sexual abuse in 2019, after being contacted by British police.
She said authorities had assured her that the “troubling and disturbing” allegations were being investigated and warned that publicly discussing them could undermine a potential legal case.
The Daily Mail visited Samantha Markle’s Florida home to ask about the contents of her father’s Mexican storage locker. Her boyfriend, Mark Phillips, answered the door. Samantha was visible in the background but declined to comment.
Phillips said: “The only statement that you’re going to get is that Thomas Markle doesn’t even have fingerprints on the stuff in the Philippines… He didn’t even ever touch it the whole time it was there, he can’t be charged.
“Markle never had it in Mexico either… The FBI has no jurisdiction in Mexico. Thomas Markle Sr hasn’t lived in the States in 10 years. Even if there was bad [material] then the statute of limitations ran out five years ago. This is all bulls**t.”
Additional reporting by Andrea Noel and Emma James
Books about child sexual abuse and controversial images reportedly found among Thomas Markle’s possessions
The reported collection includes a photographic book assembled by a convicted child abuser and a study of pedophilia that has since been criticized for appearing to excuse or minimize the subject.
The dusty books found in the Mexican locker rented by the Duchess of Sussex’s father reportedly cover sexualized images of children, sex work and illicit behavior.
One title, Victorian Children, published in 1972, contains photographs of partially clothed youngsters in poses described as suggestive.
The book was co-authored by English photographer Graham Ovenden, whose explicit portraits of young girls formed part of the case that led to his 2013 conviction for abusing children as young as six during the 1970s and 1980s.
Following his conviction, institutions including the Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum removed Ovenden’s work. In 2015, a judge ordered the destruction of his private collection of paintings and photographs.
Another title, Young Aphrodites, is a photographic companion to Nikos Koundouros’s 1963 Greek film of the same name.
The film follows a 12-year-old village girl who is pursued and ultimately raped by a shepherd in ancient Greece.
The role was played by Kleopatra Rota when she was 16. The character appears partially nude for much of the film, whose storyline has been criticized for suggesting that she eventually welcomed the assault.
In Forbidden Sexual Behavior and Morality, a 1962 book by sexologist Robert Masters, an entire chapter addresses pedophilia.
Later reviews have criticized the book for downplaying the emotional harm caused by child sexual abuse while discussing the number of men attracted to underage girls.
The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People, written by Irving and Amy Wallace in 1981, catalogs celebrities and includes highly detailed accounts of their reported sexual behavior.
Its index categorizes people under headings including “prostitutes, ordinary and exotic,” “incest,” “baby fetish” and “men who enjoyed girls 16 years old or younger.”
In a section about silent-film star Charlie Chaplin, the authors claim that he pursued young women and describe relationships involving actresses, including his second wife, Lita Grey, who first attracted Chaplin’s attention when she was six.
The Invisible Children, also reportedly found in the locker, examines child and adolescent prostitution.
The 1984 book by investigative journalist Gitta Sereny describes how vulnerable runaways became involved in prostitution and how trafficked children were forced into sexual exploitation.
Another title, Stews and Strumpets, published in 1961, traces the history of sex work from early tribal societies through ancient Greece and Rome.
Nude and partially nude photographs of young girls feature prominently in Hollywood Lolitas: The Nymphet Syndrome in the Movies. Markle reportedly had at least two copies, with another said to have been among material removed by police in the Philippines.
Marianne Sinclair’s 1998 book is described as a gallery of cinema’s most famous “nymphettes.”
Recent critics, however, have accused the book of overlooking the exploitation of young performers, including Brooke Shields, who appeared nude on screen at the age of 12.
