Philippine police examine laptop found at Thomas Markle's former Cebu home
Forensic results are due in a week, the Philippine interior minister says, as Meghan's estranged father denies possessing child abuse images.
Philippine police are carrying out forensic tests on a laptop found at the former Cebu home of Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, after his son reported finding images of child abuse there, CNA, The Straits Times and The Guardian reported. Markle has denied the allegations.
Interior minister Jonvic Remulla told AFP in a text message late on Saturday that police had inspected the house "upon the reports of the son" and found "a trove of child pornography materials as well as a laptop". He said full results were expected in one week. Police would coordinate with counterparts to locate Markle and take "appropriate legal actions" if there was sufficient evidence to charge him, he said.
Remulla went further in comments to The Guardian. "Right now all signs point to a possible sex offender of the grossest kind," he said, while adding that where family disputes were involved, authorities had to "consider all the angles" and wanted to be sure before releasing findings.
Markle lived in Cebu until reportedly returning to the US earlier this year. The Guardian reported he told the Daily Mail the accusations were "sick lies" and that the computers had not been in his possession since he left Mexico with his son in 2025 and moved to the Philippines. In a Mail on Sunday interview, he said he had "never had sex with anyone under the age of 18". The Guardian said he is reportedly in a Florida rehabilitation centre after a leg amputation.
The Sun first reported last week that Thomas Markle Jr found the images while going through boxes at the house. The Guardian, citing the Sun, said Markle Jr, 60, told Philippine detectives he found "hundreds, if not thousands" of images on computers and mobile phones in four large boxes, and had also contacted the FBI. The FBI said on Friday it would support Philippine authorities as appropriate and investigate any related allegations of federal violations of US law.
Meghan said on Friday she was "deeply distressed". She said she had kept her father away from her children because of earlier "troubling and disturbing" allegations in a letter sent to London's Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. Her statement, reported by all three outlets, said the letter was sent in 2018. The Guardian reported that sources later said she had misremembered and that the Met contacted her in 2019.
The Met said it passed the information to Meghan and Prince Harry but did not share it with other law enforcement agencies. According to The Guardian, Scotland Yard is considering whether to refer itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The Sun reported on Sunday that Meghan wrote a final letter to her father last year telling him he would never meet his grandchildren. Remulla told The Guardian a statement would follow once the forensic data was analysed: "Please give us a week to determine the contents and to come up with a definitive picture."
Sources: CNA, Philippines investigates laptop found at Thomas Markle's former home; The Guardian, Signs suggest Thomas Markle Sr may be ‘sex offender of the grossest kind’, says Philippine minister; The Straits Times, Philippines investigates laptop found at Thomas Markle’s former home.
