The sickening claims against Thomas Markle set a family test for the royals

London: Royal aides at Buckingham Palace have worked hard to shield King Charles from the dramas surrounding Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

But it will be impossible to fully isolate the King from the allegations against Meghan’s father Thomas Markle, who faces charges of possessing child sexual abuse material.

And in any case, it may not be wise to pretend that the royal family can stay out of the unfolding scandal. The family dimension to this scandal is inescapable because most families would want to support a son and daughter-in-law dealing with such a nightmare

The royal family is not just any family, of course, but this case will end up testing the various members of the House of Windsor over how they respond.

The US Department of Justice has outlined sickening allegations against Markle. In the department’s words, he is charged with one count of possession of child pornography. In the criminal complaint, the evidence is said to include photographs of Markle posing with young girls.

The special agent investigating Markle describes film negatives, slides and books found in two storage units in California. One example of this material is a photograph showing a man identified as Markle lying on a bed and dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans. In an affidavit, the agent says: “A nude prepubescent girl is lying in front of him so that her back is pressed against his chest.”

The agent states that witnesses identified Markle as the man in the photographs. The photographs show the man touching the young girls between their legs. The agent draws on background details in the images to assert that they were taken at Anahaw Lodge, part of a motel chain in the Philippines.

The department alleges Markle was responsible for the material in the storage units from 2008, and that his most recent payment for the storage was made on or about October 20 this year. Two witnesses led the authorities to the storage units.

Markle, 82, has previously denied claims he possessed child sexual abuse material. He appeared in court in Florida on Friday and was released at about 4.30pm local time (about 8.30am on Saturday, AEDT) into home detention with electronic monitoring. He did not enter a plea.

Other investigations are under way. Police in the Philippines have seized material from Markle’s former home near Cebu City, on one of the country’s southern islands. One image is said to show Markle having sex with a young girl.

In Mexico a storage unit linked to Markle was discovered last week with material including photographs of young girls naked. The Daily Mail reports the videotapes found included one called “Manila Nights”.

Markle was a lighting technician who worked in Hollywood for many years, on shows including General Hospital. He filed for bankruptcy in 2016, moved to Mexico, and then moved again, to the Philippines, in 2025.

When did the alleged offending occur? The FBI agent does not name dates in his affidavit but describes Markle as being in his “30s to 40s” in the photographs, and says he was identified by someone who has known him since the 1970s. Markle was born in 1944.

Some of the more odious commentary around the internet tries to taint Meghan over what has emerged, but the sins of the father should not be visited upon his daughter. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, left Thomas Markle when their daughter was two years old.

While Meghan is reported to have lived with her father from the age of nine to 18, she later broke off contact. The Duchess of Sussex has been estranged from her father since 2018 and he did not attend her wedding to Prince Harry that year.

Now we know why. Meghan has said in recent weeks that she learnt of the allegations against her father in 2018 when she saw a letter that set out the accusations. The letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police in London but there was no investigation. The Met last month referred itself to the police watchdog over its handling of that letter.

In a statement on October 24, she said she kept her two children, Archie and Lilibet, away from her father.

“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,” she said.

“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.”

Harry and Meghan do not get much sympathy from the British media or the wider public. As the royal couple who chose to flee to California as “non-working” members of the family, they are disliked for shirking their duties and complaining about their lot in their tell-all interviews and Netflix series.

The couple chose their distance from the family, even if Harry talks of reconciliation. The response from the King, and more so from Prince William, is to enforce the separation.

Will this change? Or should the Sussexes and their children be shunned because of a tainted bloodline, as might happen in a Jane Austen novel?

In a happy family a father might find a way to support a son and daughter-in-law going through a horrendous experience like the case against Meghan’s father. That would be too much to expect for the royals, given all the backstabbing that has gone on. But it might be worth attempting.

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