Prince Harry once said he had “shouldered” responsibility for Meghan Markle’s broken relationship with her father, Thomas Markle Sr. Those comments have resurfaced after Meghan revealed that she was told about disturbing allegations involving him years ago.
The Duke of Sussex’s reflections on the family rift are drawing renewed attention as police in the Philippines investigate claims that Thomas Sr. possessed child sexual abuse material.
In the couple’s 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, Harry, now 42, described his wife’s estrangement from her father as “incredibly sad.”
“Of course it’s incredibly sad what happened. She had a father before this, and now she doesn’t have a father,” he said.
“And I shouldered that because if Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad.”
Meghan and Thomas Sr. became estranged in 2018, shortly before her wedding to Harry, after he acknowledged arranging staged paparazzi photographs.
Thomas Sr. did not attend the royal wedding, held that May.
However, Page Six reported that Meghan learned of allegations involving her father that summer, just weeks after the wedding.
Thomas Sr., 82, is under investigation by the Cebu City Police Office in the Philippines after his son, Thomas Markle Jr., allegedly discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sexual abuse images at his home and turned the material over to police.
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“When I found this material, I was horrified, and I had no option but to report my dad,” Thomas Jr., 60, told the Sun on Thursday.
In a statement to Page Six on Friday, Meghan said she was “deeply disturbed” by the investigation.
She said a letter she received in 2018 had raised similar allegations about her father and that she had been told the matter “was being investigated.”
“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,” she said.
“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”
The Duchess of Sussex also expressed sympathy for “any children who may have been harmed,” saying she hoped justice would prevail and that protecting innocent children would remain the top priority.
Thomas Sr. has firmly denied the allegations. Speaking to the Daily Mail on Friday, he described his son’s claims as “sick lies” and said he was “shocked,” “hurt” and “very upset” by the accusations.
“I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of,” he said.
“This is bulls–t. It’s just a bunch of lies. It’s sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.”