Meghan Markle's father moves to Florida care home during child abuse images probe

A move into memory care

Thomas Markle Sr, the 82-year-old father of the Duchess of Sussex, has reportedly been moved into a care home for dementia patients in Florida. According to The Sun, his daughter Samantha, 61, took him there on Friday, 30 October, after months at a rehabilitation centre in the same state that followed the amputation of part of his left leg. Samantha Markle called the home a "wonderful place" and said her father had been transferred there for his safety. Markle is believed to have been diagnosed with dementia after a series of health problems, including a stroke and a blood clot. Reports say the move could complicate the FBI inquiry, because questioning suspects with cognitive issues in care homes raises legal barriers.

The allegations and the denial

The case started when Thomas Markle Jr, the Duchess's half-brother, reported to police in the Philippines and to the FBI in October that he had found child sexual abuse images among his father's belongings in Cebu City. Philippine police now hold a warrant to examine the equipment where the images were allegedly found. According to reports, a second hoard turned up on 30 October in a storage unit Markle is said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico, during a raid by Mexican police. Thomas Markle Sr is under investigation over suspected possession, and he rejects the accusations. He responded to the Daily Mail in a statement that denied any wrongdoing.

“I'm shocked, I'm hurt and I'm very upset that my son is making these accusations against me.”

He also said that computers he had asked for were boxed up in Mexico and sent by cargo ship, a trip that took months to reach the Philippines. He said he had never downloaded anything like that and had not spoken to his son in months. He has also admitted paying for sex in the Philippines but denies ever possessing child abuse images.

Meghan's 2018 letter and the police response

The Duchess of Sussex has been estranged from her father since the run-up to her 2018 wedding, which he did not attend. Meghan Markle responded in a statement that addressed what she had been told about the earlier allegations.

“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.”

She said a letter had been sent in 2018 to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection, making "troubling and disturbing" allegations about her father, and that she had been assured they were being investigated. According to reports, she wanted to speak out after reading it, but police advised her against it. The Metropolitan Police has admitted it never shared the details with other law enforcement agencies, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct is now investigating the force's conduct. British police are trying to locate the officer who advised her to stay silent, to establish why police chiefs and other agencies were not alerted. Thomas Markle's first wife, Roslyn Loveless, had earlier alerted authorities that he travelled often to the Philippines and Thailand, but her claims were not taken seriously and stayed secret for years.