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Thomas Markle Sr says he has paid for sex but denies child abuse allegations

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Besley, J. (2026, October 25). Thomas Markle Sr says he has paid for sex but denies child abuse allegations. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/philippines-duchess-sussex-samantha-markle-metropolitan-police-b1302246.html

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Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-25 · by John Besley
Content note This article describes abuse of a child.

Quick Summary

Thomas Markle Sr, father of Meghan Markle, has denied child abuse allegations by his son Thomas Jr, who reported finding suspicious images at their father’s home in the Philippines. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Markle Sr admitted to paying for sex with prostitutes during trips to the Philippines but insisted he never engaged in underage sexual activities. He also offered access to forensic examination of his computer and stated that he would cooperate fully with any investigation.
Written by AI on 2026-10-25, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 29, 2026, the Metropolitan Police announced they would refer allegations about Thomas Markle Sr. to overseas law enforcement agencies after a review found that serious accusations against him were not properly communicated when first received by British authorities in January 2018. These allegations include possession of child abuse images while living in the Philippines. Thomas Markle Jr., who had discovered and reported this material to the FBI, claims his father has an extensive collection of illegal images. The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, expressed deep distress over these reports and stated her thoughts are with any children potentially harmed by such actions. Buckingham Palace is reportedly concerned about potential new revelations from this review, given the close ties between the Royal Family and the controversy surrounding Thomas Markle Sr.'s allegations.

Written for “Met Police Refers Itself Over Markle Letter” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 71 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Met Police Refers Itself Over Markle Letter
Crime & Law · 72 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 27% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
Hedges 9 of 34 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 29 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 10 of 29 claims Outlet record 65/100
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 7 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A reports on the discovery and investigation of child pornography at Thomas Markle Sr.'s home, while Article B focuses on Thomas Markle Sr.'s denial of the allegations. They describe related but distinct events.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 33 claims Outlet record 65/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 6 of 40 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss Thomas Markle facing child abuse image allegations, they describe different aspects and timelines of the investigation and his denial of the accusations.”
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 12 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Thomas Markle Sr. and allegations involving child pornography in the Philippines, they describe different aspects or stages of the incident rather than a single specific occurrence.”
The Guardian
Hedges 6 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects and responses to the allegations against Thomas Markle Sr, with Article A focusing on Meghan's reaction and Article B primarily covering Markle Sr's denial of the accusations.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
33
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
27%
9 of 33 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
72
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
2
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 7769 article(s) · 62 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 62 correction(s)

Who wrote this

John Besley
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me.
🔮 I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me.
🔮 Lloyd Kembrey, a facilities manager at the University of Bristol, took on the challenges to fundraise for children’s hospice charity Jessie May.
🔮 Lloyd Kembrey, a facilities manager at the University of Bristol, took on the challenges to fundraise for children’s hospice charity Jessie May.
🔮 In an interview with the BBC, set to be aired on Sunday evening, the earl described the press’s coverage of Harry and Meghan as having a “cancerous influence”, adding it would be “beholden on people to learn from Diana’s example”.
🔮 “To get embroiled in further conflict would only do damage,” he said.
🔮 “I literally spoke to her six days before she died, because she asked me to do a charity gig for her because she couldn’t make it, and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s absolutely fine’,” he told the paper.
Also by John Besley
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by John Besley →

Topics

FBI Met Police Philippines The Sun the Mail on Sunday

Subjects

Meghan PERSON · 5× Philippines GPE · 4× Thomas Markle Sr PERSON · 3× the Duchess of Sussex PERSON · 3× MPS ORG · 2× Markle PERSON · 2× Met Police ORG · 2× The Sun ORG · 2× the Mail on Sunday ORG · 2× Thomas Markle Jr PERSON · 1×

Narrative

A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex said if police had a time-stamped record confirming the letter was reviewed in 2019, then that “should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the Duchess”.
framing: mixed · carried by 2 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-25
🔮 I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me.

Claims (33 extracted, 9 hedged)

According to The Sun, Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, alleged that he found a stash of images belonging to their father at his former home in the Philippines. uncertain
he → accord → Philippines
He reportedly told police in the country that he discovered the child abuse pictures and videos mixed up with innocent family mementos. uncertain
he → tell → mementos
The newspaper said he also contacted FBI investigators in the US in July. asserted
he → say → July
Authorities in the Philippines said they are investigating the allegations. asserted
they → say → allegations
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Thomas Markle Sr said he has “never had sex with anyone under the age of 18”. asserted
he → say → 18
He told the paper that when he was single he travelled to the Philippines at least twice and “slept with prostitutes”. asserted
he → tell → prostitutes
“I like Asian women but that is not a crime,” he said. “ asserted
he → like → women
I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me. asserted
who → go → me
I have nothing to hide.” asserted
I → have → nothing
Mr Markle is learning to walk again at a nursing facility in Florida after he had his leg amputated during life-saving surgery in 2025. asserted
leg → learn → 2025
He said he would also welcome any forensic examination of his computer, telling the Mail on Sunday: “If there is anything bad on there it was put there by someone else.” asserted
it → say → someone
It comes after the Metropolitan Police on Saturday confirmed it passed a letter featuring claims of alleged offending outside the UK by Thomas Markle Sr to Meghan and the Duke of Sussex but did not share details with other law enforcement agencies. uncertain
it → come → agencies
The force said it received a letter in 2019 about a “number of claims” relating to Mr Markle, adding it was “reviewing the handling of this matter” including whether the force needs to be referred to the police watchdog. uncertain
force → say → watchdog
On Friday, Meghan said she was made aware of “disturbing allegations” about her father in 2018. asserted
she → say → 2018
She said she was shown a letter sent to Scotland Yard eight years ago making “troubling” allegations against Thomas Markle Sr and she was assured that these were being investigated. asserted
these → say → Sr
A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex said if police had a time-stamped record confirming the letter was reviewed in 2019, then that “should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the Duchess”. asserted
it → say → Duchess
They said on Saturday afternoon that it was “understandable” because of the passage of time that Meghan “may have been mistaken by a few months”. uncertain
Meghan → say → months
A Met Police spokesperson said on Saturday afternoon: “Following a thorough review of Met Police systems and records, we have confirmed that in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom. “ uncertain
we → say → Kingdom
It was sent to the MPS Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex. asserted
It → send → Sussex
“The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. asserted
it → review → awareness
“The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies. asserted
details → share → agencies
“The MPS is reviewing the handling of this matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the IOPC is necessary to review our approach.” asserted
referral → review → approach
A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex said: “In recalling events from more than seven years ago, without the benefit of a diary entry or contemporaneous record, it is understandable that she may have been mistaken by a few months. “ uncertain
she → say → months
If the MPS holds a time-stamped record confirming that the letter was reviewed in 2019, that should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the duchess. asserted
it → hold → duchess
“I think it is reasonable to recognise that she is doing her best to recall the precise timing of events that were not diarised at the time, and that any discrepancy of a few months is an understandable consequence of that passage of time.” asserted
discrepancy → think → time
The Telegraph reported the duchess is “upset and frustrated” over the Met’s failure to act. asserted
duchess → report → failure
According to The Sun, Meghan sent a letter to her father last year which reportedly said she knew of the accusations against him and that she would never allow him to meet his grandchildren. uncertain
him → accord → grandchildren
Meghan became estranged from her former TV lighting director father in the run-up to her 2018 royal wedding after he was caught staging paparazzi photographs. asserted
he → become → photographs
Mr Markle did not attend the wedding, leaving the King to accompany Meghan down the aisle and meaning the only member of her family present was her mother, Doria Ragland. asserted
member → attend → family
Meghan was the only child of Mr Markle’s marriage to Ms Ragland, though he has two children, Samantha and Thomas Jr, from an earlier marriage. asserted
he → have → marriage
In 2021, Meghan won a High Court privacy and copyright claim against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over articles that reproduced parts of a “personal and private” handwritten letter she wrote to Mr Markle in a bid to get him to stop talking to the press. uncertain
him → win → press
She wrote the emotional five-page letter to him in August 2018 after taking advice from two unnamed senior royals. asserted
She → write → royals
In 2025, Mr Markle moved to the Philippines for a new life after suffering a series of strokes. asserted
Markle → move → strokes
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