The FBI reportedly found photographs allegedly showing Thomas Markle sexually abusing children in the Philippines, according to a criminal complaint filed against him on Friday.
Markle, 82, was arrested by FBI agents Friday morning at the rehabilitation facility in Lakeland, Florida, where he had been staying since undergoing an amputation of his lower left leg last year.
Agents handcuffed Markle and removed him from the facility in his wheelchair. When asked by the Daily Mail whether he was a pedophile, the former Hollywood lighting director, who was born in Pennsylvania, replied: “No.”
The investigation began after the Daily Mail reported in late October that a storage unit near Markle’s beachfront home in Mexico contained images of child sexual abuse.
The newspaper referred the information to the FBI. Investigators subsequently identified two more storage units Markle had rented in Los Angeles, where he lived before moving to Mexico in 2011.
The Department of Justice charged Thomas Markle with possessing child pornography after investigators located two additional storage units in Los Angeles
Thomas Markle, the 82-year-old father of the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested by the FBI Friday morning in Lakeland, Florida
According to an affidavit filed by the Department of Justice, the units held photographs apparently taken decades ago that investigators believe showed Markle sexually abusing young girls at a motel in the Philippines.
The first unit, rented by Markle from 2008 through the present, contained 27 items seized by the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children unit.
Court documents described the evidence as slides, film negatives and books suspected of containing child pornography.
Investigators developed the negatives and said they showed Markle inside what they believe was the Anahaw Lodge motel, alongside naked “pre-pubescent” girls.
At least three images allegedly depict Markle sexually abusing one of the girls, according to the filing.
One of those images also appears to show another girl of “indeterminate” age in the room with Markle and the child, the affidavit states.
Other images allegedly show Markle with children who were partially or fully undressed.
The FBI said Markle’s identity was confirmed after agents showed the photographs on November 5 to a person who had known him since the 1970s.
Markle was seen being taken into FBI custody in Florida on Friday
Three witnesses told the FBI that the man shown in the disturbing photographs was Markle
The second storage unit had likewise been rented from June 2008 through the present.
Agents seized 51 items from that unit, including film negatives, books and slides that investigators suspect contain child pornography.
Markle was scheduled to appear before United States Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
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In an interview with the Mail on Sunday last month, Markle said he had paid for sex in the Philippines while single. “I never had sex with anyone under the age of 18,” he said. “I like Asian women, but that is not a crime.”
Markle separated from Doria Ragland, the Duchess of Sussex’s mother, when their daughter was about two years old, around 1983.
The couple formally divorced several years later.
After retiring in 2011, Markle moved to Rosarito, a beach town in northern Mexico just south of Tijuana.
Mexican Guardia Nacional sex-crimes investigators raided Thomas Markle’s storage locker in Rosarito on Halloween morning, hours after the Daily Mail reported that it contained child pornography
The Daily Mail accessed Markle’s storage locker after he fell behind on rent; investigators found photographs of Asian women who appeared unusually young, along with books and magazines portraying children as “Lolitas”
His son from his first marriage, Thomas Jr, told the Daily Mail around the time of the 2018 royal wedding that Markle spent his retirement watching classic Hollywood movies and keeping a quiet lifestyle.
Thomas Jr said his father enjoyed photography and travel, and had developed an interest in Asian culture after visiting Thailand and Vietnam.
In January 2025, Markle moved to the Philippines with Thomas Jr. They settled in a short-term rental on the 19th floor of a high-rise apartment building near the beach in Cebu.
“I am ready for a change,” he told the Daily Mail at the time. “I have felt stuck in a rut for some time and I am ready to meet new people and experience kindness.”
“At 80, it is time to go somewhere where the people are lovely and I can enjoy a quieter, friendlier existence.
“In Southeast Asia, the medical care is good, you can live reasonably cheaply, people are kind and respect older people, and the food is healthy.
“Mostly, I just want peace. At 80, none of us knows how long we have left. I want whatever time I have to be peaceful, without any of the awful drama of recent years.”
In December 2025, Markle was hospitalized and underwent surgery for blood clots. Doctors amputated his left leg, and he spent Christmas in the hospital.
By May this year, he had returned to the United States, first going to his native Pennsylvania before moving to Florida to recover from the procedures.
On October 22, The Sun reported that Thomas Jr had discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of images depicting child sexual abuse on a laptop and phone belonging to his father. He reported the discovery to police in the Philippines, who opened an investigation.
Markle has dismissed the allegations as “sick lies.”
On October 29, the Daily Mail reported finding a storage unit near Rosarito, Mexico, that allegedly contained child pornography. The newspaper notified the FBI.
The FBI later located the two additional storage units in Los Angeles.