Meghan Markle‘s estranged father Thomas has been pictured for the first time since the Daily Mail discovered child pornography in a storage unit he was renting in Mexico, as the FBI confirms he is officially under investigation.
A wheelchair-bound Markle, 82, was spotted being pushed between care facilities in Lakeland, Florida, on Friday.
Hours earlier, the Daily Mail had revealed the contents of his vault in Rosarito, Mexico, which Markle rented between 2017 and 2024, when he stopped making payments. It contains books about pedophilia and magazines showing children being sexually abused, as well as several loose photographs of naked Asian females – who, in some cases, look conspicuously young.
After the Daily Mail reported its findings to the FBI, a senior source within the bureau confirmed it has now launched an investigation into Markle, and is working with the Mexican authorities.
The investigation comes as authorities in the Philippines continue to search devices found in Markle’s former home, which his estranged son alleges also contain child pornography.
Markle Sr, who previously had his left leg amputated due to a blood clot and is now being treated for a newly-diagnosed cognitive illness, wore a grim expression as he was wheeled out of the Florida rehab facility on Friday.
He was accompanied by his daughter, Samantha Markle – the only one of his children with whom he maintains a relationship – and her boyfriend.
Thomas Markle, the estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex, has been pictured for the first time since the Daily Mail reported him to the FBI after finding child pornography in his storage unit
The 82-year-old, who denies all wrongdoing, was moved from the facility into a van waiting outside. He was then transported to a different center, where he will continue to receive treatment
When a Daily Mail reporter approached her at her home, her boyfriend Mark Phillips defended the elderly Markle, as Samantha sat nearby but did not speak.
‘The only statement that you’re going to get is that Thomas Markle doesn’t even have fingerprints on the stuff in the Philippines,’ Phillips said.
‘He didn’t even ever touch it the whole time it was there, he can’t be charged.
‘Markle never had it in Mexico either… The FBI has no jurisdiction in Mexico.
‘Thomas Markle Sr hasn’t lived in the States in 10 years. Even if there was bad [material] then the statute of limitations ran out five years ago. This is all bulls**t.’
The Duchess of Sussex said earlier this week that she was ‘deeply distressed’ by the allegations in the Philippines. She was first made aware of the claims against her father in January 2019, by the Metropolitan Police in London.
Markle denies all wrongdoing. He did not respond to Daily Mail’s repeated requests to for comment regarding the Mexican storage unit.
The unit not only contained books about pedophilia and magazines, but also printed photographs of young Asian females.
In one of those photographs, Markle is seen sitting on a bed next to a young female. He appears to be in his 40s or 50s, though the photograph is undated.
Markle began renting the 5ft by 10ft storage unit in 2017, six years after he moved to the area. He abandoned it upon moving to the Philippines in January 2025.
Samantha Markle was also spotted at the facility. She is supporting her father, while her half-siblings, Thomas Markle Jr. and the Duchess of Sussex, are estranged
Markle is being investigated over the sordid discovery in his Philippines home, and in a storage unit in Mexico
Our reporter was granted access to the unit after Markle failed to keep up with his lease-agreement payments.
Alongside the stash, which includes magazines published in Asia and depicting child pornography, are family mementoes, photographs and letters.
The Daily Mail also uncovered 35mm negatives showing apparently random, voyeuristic images of children on a beach.
Other negatives show a woman with her limbs bound or ‘hogtied’ and being directed by a man during a photo shoot.
Elsewhere in the storage unit are more than 50 video tapes, with titles such as ‘Boys – Brother and Sister – Russian XX’ and ‘Manila Nites.’ Precisely what is on these tapes is currently unknown.
A stack of books includes titles such as Forbidden Sexual Behavior and Morality, The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People and The Invisible Children.
The Daily Mail alerted the FBI after uncovering a stash of sexually explicit books, magazines and photos – including of Asian females who look conspicuously young – in a Mexican storage unit rented by Thomas Markle
There are around 20 boxes in the storage unit, some containing books about pedophilia and magazines showing children being sexually abused
Among the photos in the unit is an undated image of Markle on a bed and with his arm wrapped around a young Asian female, both fully clothed. She appears, alone and naked, in several other pictures as well
The Daily Mail also uncovered VHS tapes – including one labeled ‘Manila Nites.’ The precise contents of the tapes are not known
There is also a paper plate with the words ‘DARK WEB’ scribbled in red ink alongside various URLs. Markle has seven hard drives stripped from computers in the storage unit.
Earlier this week, a Filipino official, Jonvic Remulla, said the former Hollywood lighting technician, 82, could be a ‘sex offender of the grossest kind.’ Remulla added that ‘all signs’ pointed to the possibility that a serious offense had been committed.
The investigation was launched into the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father after his son, Thomas Markle Jr, alerted Philippine National Police to the reported stash.
Markle is recovering and learning to walk again following the amputation of his left leg in the Philippines 11 months ago.
It was shortly after that operation that exclusive images taken by the Daily Mail showed the moment Markle was given a letter from Meghan cutting him out of his grandchildren’s lives.
The message revealed Meghan ‘knew her father had abused young girls’ and that he would never meet his grandchildren, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.
Last week Markle admitted that he paid for sex in the Philippines when he was single. ‘I never had sex with anyone under the age of 18,’ he said. ‘I like Asian women but that is not a crime.’
And he strongly denied his son’s claims that he downloaded child sex images onto computers and cellphones shared with authorities in the first haul, saying they are ‘the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.’
