All the claims against Meghan Markle’s father as brother named ‘person of interest’

A child abuse police probe into Meghan Markle’s father has been widened to include her half-brother. Thomas Markle Snr is alleged to have kept a collection of indecent images of children at his former home in the Philippines. The images were allegedly discovered and reported to local police and the FBI by his son. But the Philippines’ interior and local government secretary Jonvic Remulla told a press conference in Manila today that Thomas Markle Jr was now a “person of interest” in the case. Remulla said there are “signs that the son is involved in the crime as well”, after a witness came forward to say underaged girls had been brought to his house. However he said Markle Jr is not yet being treated as a suspect. Markle Jr said he was making TikTok videos with the girls. Shorts ‘Deplorable’ images of children In October, Markle Jr handed police four boxes of child sexual abuse images he had discovered, which allegedly belonged to his 82-year-old father, Thomas Markle Snr. He also reported the find to the FBI. Remulla told The Guardian that “all signs point to a possible sex offender of the grossest kind”. The interior minister described the images, which he said numbered over 7,000 and featured children as young as 10 and 11, as “the most deplorable displays of impunity towards sexual activity that I have ever seen”. They also included one video, and all depicted under-age children of Asian, Latin and European descent. Speaking at a press conference today, Remulla said: “There are signs that the son is involved in the crime. But only as a person of interest.” He added: “We had witnesses that underaged girls were brought to his house with ring lights.” Remulla said Markle Jr had claimed to be making TikTok videos with the girls, but that authorities had not found any young girls on his TikTok account. Police were investigating whether he was involved, and Remulla said they would know in “the next few days.” Images also discovered at Mexican lock-up The images were discovered at the property where Markle Sr had lived before returning to the United States earlier this year, police have said. Markle Sr called the allegations “sick lies”, though admitted he had travelled to the Philippines to pay for sex. He is reported to be living in a dementia care home, prompting fears the FBI will not be able to interview him. He moved to the Philippines in 2025. In December of that year he had his leg amputated during life-saving surgery. Thursday’s development followed reports that Markle Jr had also alerted the FBI to two storage units in Los Angeles, just days after a raid by Mexican police on a storage unit Markle Sr is said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico. Meghan cut off contact over allegations The Duchess of Sussex cut off contact with her father last year, telling him he would never see his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lillibet, again. She learned of allegations against him in 2019, through a letter from Roslyn Loveless, her father’s first wife. The letter was delivered to Meghan through the Metropolitan Police, and she said she was given assurances the claims were being investigated. However, after the allegations emerged last month, the Met said it had not shared the details with any other law enforcement agencies. In a statement describing the allegations as troubling and disturbing, Meghan said: “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.”