Meghan Markle has revealed that her decision to remain distanced from her father and not allow him contact with her children was borne out of a desire to protect them after she learned in 2018 of “troubling” allegations against him that were being investigated by police.
The revelation came after The Sun reported Thursday that Thomas Markle Sr. was under investigation following allegations made by his son. Thomas Markle Jr., 60, told the newspaper that he reported his father to police after discovering child sexual images while clearing out his father’s former home in the Philippines.
Markle Sr. has denied the allegations and has not been charged with any offense.
Meghan’s Statement
In a statement provided to Newsweek, Meghan said she was “deeply distressed” by the reports about her father. She also revealed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about her father had been sent to the Metropolitan Police Service’s Royal and Specialist Protection unit in 2018, which later shared the letter’s contents with her.
“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” she said. “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.”
The Context
Meghan’s statement did not specify the nature of the allegations raised by the letter in 2018 or establish whether they were connected to those reported this week. Newsweek understands that Meghan was made aware of the allegations in the summer of 2018, after her wedding to Harry in May.
It is likely that any ongoing investigation would have prevented her from speaking openly about the reasons for the rift with her father. That also coincides with the timing of a letter she wrote to her father in August that year, urging him to stop speaking with the media. Her father leaked the letter to the Mail on Sunday, which published extensive portions of it.
Meghan later sued the newspaper’s publisher for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement, winning a resounding victory in 2021 when a judge ruled that publication of the personal letter was “manifestly excessive” and unlawful.
The Reaction
Experts say the allegations, though not proven, could change the public’s attitude toward Meghan.
“I think they will also help her gain a certain amount of public sympathy at a time when that has seemed in short supply in the UK,” Pauline Maclaran, a professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, told Newsweek. “Her distancing from her father now seems vindicated and certainly changes the narrative about her being heartless toward him.”
The Bottom Line
Meghan Markle has revealed that she kept her father from her children because of “troubling” allegations against him that were being investigated by police in 2018. The allegations, reported this week, involve child sexual images found by her brother. Thomas Markle Sr. denies the claims and has not been charged. Meghan says her decision was about protecting her children, not punishing her father. The revelation could shift public opinion in her favor after years of negative coverage.
My Opinion
For years, the tabloids told a simple story. Meghan Markle was the cold, calculating daughter who abandoned her ailing father. She married a prince and forgot the man who raised her. She was cruel. She was heartless. She was everything the British press wanted her to be.
Now we know what she knew. In 2018, weeks after her wedding, she was told that her father was the subject of a police investigation involving troubling allegations. She was told the investigation was ongoing. And she was told to stay silent while the media painted her as the villain. She did. Not because she did not care. Because she was protecting her children. She said nothing for eight years while her father gave interview after interview, accusing her of cruelty and abandonment. She could have ended the narrative at any point. She chose not to. Because the truth, if it came out, would not just hurt her father. It would hurt her children.
That is not heartless. That is what a mother does. The people who vilified her should be ashamed. The tabloids that built a narrative on a lie should be held accountable. And Meghan Markle should be allowed to tell her story on her own terms, in her own time, without the world demanding she explain herself to people who never wanted to listen.
