Does the Thomas Markle scandal change how we see Meghan?

Manveen Rana (0:01)

From The Times and The Sunday Times, this is The Story. I'm Manveen Rana.

On Friday morning, the Sun broke the news of shocking allegations against Thomas Markle Sr. The Duchess of Sussex is a strange father.

SPEAKER_2 (0:24)

Thomas Markle Sr. is apparently being investigated over what it describes as a huge stash of child sex images after being reported to the police by his own son.

Manveen Rana (0:34)

Thomas Markle Jr. apparently found the material while clearing out his father's former home in the Philippines. The story led to lurid headlines around the world, and the reactions came swiftly.

SPEAKER_3 (0:54)

As paper came out this morning with these allegations, you know, it's been non-stop of attacking, the counter-attack and everything else.

SPEAKER_4 (1:03)

Mr. Markle Sr. said today the allegations against him were sick lies.

SPEAKER_5 (1:08)

His daughter Samantha Markle, Meghan's other half-siblings similarly accuses Tom of fabricating the allegations.

Manveen Rana (1:15)

The revelations also shed new light on Meghan Markle's decision to distance herself from her father in 2018, around the time of her wedding to Prince Harry, a decision she's been roundly criticised for.

SPEAKER_6 (1:30)

He's in poor health. All he wants to do is meet his grandchildren and she won't have anything to do with it. That's not compassionate.

Manveen Rana (1:37)

So what are the allegations? What happens next? And what does this mean for the public perception of the Duchess of Sussex?

SPEAKER_7 (1:52)

For the media and the nation, perhaps this is a moment for us to go to Meghan, prove how good we can be as British people and say, right, the past is forgotten.

Let's start over. And is there anything we can do to help?

Manveen Rana (2:07)

The story today. Does the Thomas Markle scandal change how we see Meghan?

Kate Mansey (2:24)

It's been an extraordinary kind of twist to a very long running story. For years, I've been covering this story, this relationship between Meghan Markle and her father.

Manveen Rana (2:35)

Kate Mansey is Assistant Editor and Royal Editor at The Times, and she's also the co-host of our sister podcast, The Royals.

Kate Mansey (2:44)

It's hard to imagine anything as distressing to the Duchess as these revelations. I think it was a shock to everybody. It's important to say, of course, that Tom Markle Sr denies any wrongdoing. We have the Interior Minister of the Philippines, where he was living until very recently, saying that while it will take a week to try to uncover all the evidence that had been handed over by Thomas Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr, that the police and the authorities in the Philippines think they're dealing with a possible sex offender of the grossest kind.

This is staggering news to hear and really kind of recasts in a new light that relationship between Meghan Markle and her estranged father.

Manveen Rana (3:36)

A big moment and a shock in terms of the headlines. Stepping back, just remind us a bit about Thomas Markle. You know, who is he? How old is he? What do we know about him?

Kate Mansey (3:47)

He's 82 years old. He had a very esteemed career, it seems. He won awards for being a television lighting director for various big shows in Los Angeles.

And this was where Meghan cut her teeth as an actor. She was around the set a lot of the time after school.

Before he met Meghan's mother, Doria, he had a relationship with Rosalind Loveless. He married her. Together they had two children, Samantha and Thomas Jr. They split up. He then met and married Doria Ragland and had Meghan Markle, who of course is now married to Prince Harry and a member of the royal family.

Manveen Rana (4:31)

And Kate, you mentioned these utterly startling revelations. What exactly is alleged? What are the allegations against him? And how did they come to light?

Kate Mansey (4:43)

The allegations against Tom Markle couldn't be more serious.

He has been accused of possessing child sex images. And this has all come to light in the past few weeks after his son decided to hand over a lot of his stuff to the Philippines authorities. It seems that Tom Markle Jr was going through his father's belongings in his apartment in the Philippines and came across some very disturbing images. We understand that they contain images of underage children, sex acts and really some very distressing discoveries that were made by Tom Markle Jr. He went to the police with this information and has since handed over a lot of the documents. Now, this is a staggering kind of twist because Tom Markle Jr. and Tom Markle Sr. up until now, though they've had fallings in and out, the past few years have been very, very close. Tom Markle Jr. has essentially been acting as a carer for his father. Tom Markle Sr. decided he was going to move to the Philippines. His son joined him there living very close by.