Meghan Markle has a lot to process this holiday season.
The Duchess of Sussex, who just recently moved back to the United Kingdom with her husband, Prince Harry, and their children, now has to live with the reality that the father she grew up is being investigated for possessing child sexual abuse material.
In late October, news first broke that Meghan’s half brother, Thomas Markle Jr., had allegedly discovered an insane amount of CSAM images in their father’s home in the Philippines.
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At the time, Meghan released a statement revealing she had learned her father had been accused of “disturbing allegations” back in 2018, and that was the reason she ultimately distanced herself from him and kept her children from ever meeting him.
“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.”
In the weeks since, authorities in the United States began their own investigation. The FBI raided storage units Thomas Sr. had rented in California, and they claim to have found even more CSAM — including images allegedly depicting Thomas with prepubescent girls.
Thomas Sr. was arrested at his senior living facility in Florida on November 6. He was later released, so long as he agreed to wear an ankle monitor, but then he allegedly cut his ankle monitor off on November 10, resulting in a second arrest. He now remains in federal custody.
Now, on Thursday, People magazine’s sources are speaking out about the toll this has all taken on Meghan. While she may have first been made aware of “disturbing allegations” against him in 2018, the subsequent investigations — learning just how far it all goes — will obviously make new impact:
“She is devastated. This is her dad, someone she grew up trusting and was very close to for many years. The allegations are devastating for her. There’s a lot of sadness.”
The insider continues, saying that while things are hard for her right now, she’s still “holding up” best she can, with “a lot of friends and family to lean on.”
Thomas Markle Sr. denies the allegations from the Philippines, and has not entered a plea in the current U.S. investigation.
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