The truth about when Meghan Markle first learned of dad Thomas’ child porn allegations

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Zenna, J. (2026, October 23). The truth about when Meghan Markle first learned of dad Thomas’ child porn allegations. New York Post. https://pagesix.com/2026/10/23/royal-family/the-truth-about-when-meghan-markle-first-heard-about-dad-thomas-child-porn-allegations/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-23 · by Jolie Zenna
Content note This article describes abuse of a child.

Quick Summary

Meghan Markle learned of disturbing allegations against her father, Thomas Markle, in the summer of 2018, just weeks after her wedding to Prince Harry. She received a letter about these claims, which she believed were under investigation by authorities at the time, leading to her decision to cut off contact with him and prevent him from seeing his grandchildren. Meanwhile, Page Six reports that Thomas Markle is currently being investigated in the Philippines for child pornography found in his home by his son, Thomas Jr., who discovered hundreds or thousands of images of young girls engaged in sexual acts among family mementos stored in boxes at his father’s residence.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-23, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, is "deeply distressed" by reports that her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., allegedly possesses hundreds or thousands of child sex abuse images in the Philippines. Her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., discovered these images while clearing out their father's home in Cebu and reported them to local police. The FBI is also considering an investigation since Thomas Markle Sr. currently resides in the U.S. after a leg amputation. In response to the 2018 allegations shared with her by UK authorities, Meghan had blocked contact between her father and his grandchildren for their protection. Her father denies all accusations, calling them "sick lies."

Written for “Meghan Markle’s Father Investigated” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 23 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Meghan Markle’s Father Investigated
Entertainment · 24 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 36% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Straits Times
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 50% hedged 4 of 8 📰 publisher trust 68
“While both articles discuss Meghan Markle's distress over allegations against her father involving child abuse images, Article A focuses on recent events from October 23rd, while Article B specifically addresses when she first learned of the allegations in 2018.”
Daily Mail · 0.93 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 19% hedged 17 of 90 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe Meghan Markle learning of disturbing allegations against her father Thomas Markle in 2018 shortly after her marriage to Prince Harry, involving a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police.”
New York Post · 0.89 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 33% hedged 8 of 24 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on Thomas Markle Sr. being under investigation for child pornography in 2026, while Article B discusses Meghan Markle learning of allegations against her father in 2018.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 43% hedged 3 of 7 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles describe different stages of related events: one about Thomas Markle Sr. currently under investigation for child pornography, and another about Meghan Markle learning of allegations in 2018.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 12% hedged 10 of 82 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A describes Thomas Markle Sr. being reported to police in 2026 over a stash of child abuse photos found at his home, while Article B discusses Meghan Markle learning about allegations against her father in 2018.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 32% hedged 6 of 19 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles describe different aspects of the Thomas Markle child porn investigation: one focuses on Samantha's defense of their father against accusations by Thomas Jr., while the other discusses when Meghan first learned about the allegations in 2018.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 25% hedged 3 of 12 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A discusses Thomas Markle Sr.'s move to the Philippines and subsequent investigation for child pornography in 2026, while Article B describes Meghan Markle learning of allegations against her father in 2018.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 12% hedged 3 of 24 📰 publisher trust 61
“The articles describe different stages of related events: one about an ongoing investigation and alleged discovery in 2026, and another about Meghan Markle learning of allegations in 2018.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 29% hedged 2 of 7 📰 publisher trust 65
“Article A discusses Meghan's reaction to recent allegations and an interview with Thomas Sr., while Article B focuses on when Meghan first learned of the allegations in 2018, providing context about her decision-making process.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 27% hedged 6 of 22 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Meghan Markle's distress over accusations involving child sexual abuse images against her father Thomas Markle Sr., and mention she was made aware of these allegations in 2018 by the Metropolitan police.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
11
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
36%
4 of 11 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
24
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 13251 article(s) · 33 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 33 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jolie Zenna
65 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 She received the letter in the summer of 2018, just weeks after the royal wedding which took place in May.
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🔮 But I’ll tell you this, if I was a judge instead of Carrie Ann, I would never, ever, ever call out that lift.”
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Also by Jolie Zenna
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 65 articles by Jolie Zenna →

Topics

Page Six Philippines Royalty and Specialist Protection the Cebu City Police Office the Metropolitan Police

Subjects

Page Six ORG · 2× Philippines GPE · 2× Thomas PERSON · 2× Thomas Jr. PERSON · 2× Meghan PERSON · 1× Meghan Markle PERSON · 1× Prince Harry PERSON · 1× Royalty and Specialist Protection ORG · 1× Thomas Markle PERSON · 1× the Metropolitan Police ORG · 1×

Narrative

“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,” Meghan said in her statement.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
🔮 She received the letter in the summer of 2018, just weeks after the royal wedding which took place in May.

Claims (11 extracted, 4 hedged)

Meghan Markle learned of “disturbing allegations” against her father, Thomas Markle, in 2018 just weeks after marrying Prince Harry, Page Six can confirm. asserted
Page → learn → Harry
The Duchess of Sussex told us in a statement Friday that she was shown a letter initially sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection with claims about her estranged father in 2018. uncertain
she → tell → 2018
She received the letter in the summer of 2018, just weeks after the royal wedding which took place in May. uncertain
which → receive → May
The 45-year-old said the 2018 allegations, which she claimed she was told “were being investigated” at the time, fueled her decision to end her relationship with Thomas, and forbid him from seeing her kids. asserted
she → say → kids
“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,” Meghan said in her statement. asserted
Meghan → hope → statement
“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.” asserted
authorities → trust → families
Page Six can confirm that the Cebu City Police Office in the Philippines is investigating Thomas Sr. after child sex abuse material was allegedly discovered in his home. uncertain
material → confirm → home
According to The Sun, Thomas’ son, Thomas Jr., discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in four boxes at his dad’s home in the Philippines, and reported the alleged findings to the police and the FBI. The content allegedly included images of girls around 10-11 years old engaged in sex acts and was found in storage boxes buried among family “mementos. uncertain
content → accord → mementos
“I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now,” Thomas Jr. told the outlet, before declaring that he will never speak to his father again, unless he’s “called to give evidence against him.” asserted
he → support → him
Story developing… Conversation Your voice matters. asserted
voice → develop → Story
Discussions are moderated for civility. asserted
Discussions → moderate → civility
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