Thomas Markle speaks out about child abuse image allegations after own son reported him to police

Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.

Thomas Markle has said allegations that he possessed images of child sexual abuse are 'sick lies' and 'the worst thing anyone could accuse me of'.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he denied the allegations his own son, Thomas Markle Jr, had made against him and told the paper he had 'no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies'.

He said: "I'm shocked, I'm hurt and I'm very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what I'm being accused of. It's the worst thing anyone could accuse me of."

Markle Sr also insisted that he didn't have access to the computers which his son alleged he found images of abuse on.

Thomas Markle Jr, half-brother of Meghan Markle, claimed to The Sun that he found 'hundreds' of child sexual abuse images on computers and a phone that had been left by his father during a move from the Philippines to the US earlier in the year.

The allegations were made by Thomas Markle Jr, the half-brother of Meghan Markle (Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images)

Markle Sr claimed the computers hadn't been his since moving to the Philippines from Mexico in January 2025.

He said: "Those computers were boxed up in Mexico and put on a cargo ship which took months to get to the Philippines. I kept asking Tom for my computers but he wouldn't give them to me.

"Tom told me they were in the basement of an apartment block we were living in. I could never understand why he wouldn't give them to me.

"I don't know who had access to the computers."

He said he hadn't spoken to his son for months and suggested Markle Jr might have made the allegations 'to make money', insisting he'd never downloaded any such images.

The Duchess of Sussex said she had been made aware of 'disturbing allegations' about her father back in 2018, and said she hoped 'justice will be fully served'.

Meghan Markle said she had been made aware of allegations against her father in 2018 and had kept her children away from him to protect them (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

In a statement issued to LADbible, Meghan said: “I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.

“In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were 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. I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.

“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”