Samantha Markle is publicly defending her father, Thomas Markle, after her brother Thomas Markle Jr. reportedly turned over material to police that led to a child sex abuse investigation targeting their dad.
Thomas Markle Sr. is allegedly under investigation for “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images reportedly found in his home in the Philippines. According to a report by the Sun, Thomas Jr. found the material inside several boxes and handed it over to authorities. The content reportedly included sexual images of girls as young as 10 to 11 years old.
Samantha, 61, Meghan Markle’s half-sister, rejects the allegations entirely and says her brother, 60, is lying for money and out of spite toward their father.
“There is no merit in these disgusting allegations whatsoever and my brother is disgusting for making them up. He wants to destroy our dad. Shame on him,” Samantha told the Daily Mail on Thursday.
Samantha claims the allegations surfaced only after their father cut off financial support to Thomas Jr.
“My brother first came out with these lies a few weeks ago when the cash from my dad was cut off. He has used dad as a cash cow for years and once the money stopped he made up the most outrageous lies he could to try and make money from the media,” she said.
She also argued the computers in question were not in her father’s possession for a two-year stretch, leaving room for someone else to have planted the material.
“There is no proof my dad downloaded any images. Those computers were out of his possession for two years. That leaves a lot of room for tampering. These are unsubstantiated allegations. Anyone could have been in contact with those computers over a couple of years. Dad was in a rehabilitation facility and did not have access to those computers,” she said.
Samantha repeated her defense in a separate appearance on Dan Wootton Outspoken the same day, saying, “I see Dad every day.” She again said she believes her brother is motivated by having been cut off from their father’s finances and “wants revenge.”
An insider close to Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, told the Sun, “Now maybe people will finally understand why she has had nothing to do with her father since 2018.”
Thomas Markle Sr. and Thomas Markle Jr. did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Representatives for Meghan and Prince Harry also did not respond.
