The US Department of Justice announced that federal agents arrested Thomas Markle, the 82-year-old father of Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry, in Lakeland, Florida on Friday, November 6. He faces one federal count of possession of child sexual abuse material.
The FBI's investigation began in October 2026 after a witness reported finding a suspicious substance among Markle's personal belongings in the Philippines.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, agents searched Markle's two rented warehouses in the Los Angeles area with a warrant and seized about 78 items, including slides, negatives and books, that prosecutors say contained suspicious content.
According to court documents, at least two frames of the negatives show a man next to a minor girl. One of the witnesses said the man in the photos is Thomas Markle.