Harry and Meghan take children overseas amid Thomas Markle inquiry

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have taken their two children out of Britain for a short break overseas, days after Philippine authorities confirmed an investigation into her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr.

The family's departure was reported on Monday by HELLO!, whose royal editor, Emily Nash, wrote that the couple had taken Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet overseas and were spending time with close friends. The magazine did not say where they had gone.

Thomas Markle Sr. is under investigation in the Philippines over the alleged possession of child sexual abuse material. The state-run Philippine News Agency said in a Facebook post on Friday that the Department of Justice "is investigating reports involving an octogenarian American national who left child abuse videos and photos in his home in Cebu province." He has denied the allegations.

Where the investigation stands

Col. Allen Rae Co, spokesperson for the Philippine National Police, told CBS News in a statement on Saturday that the force was "conducting an investigation into the reported discovery of suspected child sexual abuse and exploitation materials" allegedly linked to Markle Sr. The items were handed over by Markle's son and are now in police custody. A warrant will be secured before any examination of the digital devices.

Co said U.S. authorities had also offered assistance should Philippine investigators decide their support was needed as the inquiry progressed.

The FBI is aware of the allegations and will provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities, an FBI official told ABC News on Friday. The bureau will also investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law. The official did not say whether the bureau had opened an inquiry of its own.

In London, the Metropolitan Police said on Saturday that it received a letter in January 2019 containing claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom. The force passed it to the Sussexes' office but did not share the allegations with other law enforcement agencies, and is now reviewing its handling of the matter, including whether to refer itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The claim and the denial

Thomas Markle Jr. told The Sun on Thursday that he had found images in storage boxes at his father's home in the Philippines and reported them to local authorities. "I had no option but to report my dad," he said.

The Daily Mail reported that the son made the discovery while his father was in the United States being treated for a stroke and a blood clot, first seeing some of the material after switching on an old cell phone. He reported it in July to an FBI hotline, to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to state police in Pennsylvania.

Markle Sr. denied the allegations in an interview with the Daily Mail published on Friday, dismissing them as "sick lies." "I have never downloaded anything like that in my life," he was quoted as saying. He also said the computers had not been in his possession since he left Rosarito, Mexico, in January 2025.

Nicholas Ty, an undersecretary at the Philippine Department of Justice, told the state news agency that the department's anti-trafficking and online sexual abuse and exploitation of children task force was investigating the matter. The agency also said Markle Sr. had since travelled from the Philippines to the United States for medical treatment.

A letter to the Met

Meghan said in a statement issued on Friday that she was "deeply distressed" by the news and that her thoughts were with any children who may have been harmed. A letter she dated to 2018, sent to the Metropolitan Police and to Royalty and Specialist Protection, was later shared with her. It made "troubling and disturbing allegations" against her father, and she was given assurances that they were being investigated.

The letter was written by Markle Sr.'s first wife, Roslyn Loveless, who was also the mother of Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr., HELLO! reported. Meghan had met her once or twice. She was advised at the time not to go public with the allegations, and decided then to cut off her father, a retired Hollywood lighting director.

Markle Sr. had continued to complain about the estrangement in media interviews, and Meghan wrote to him a final time in December 2025 to explain why she had cut contact, HELLO! reported. Page Six reported that the letter was sent while he was recovering from the amputation of a leg, and that she told him he would never meet her children or hear from her again.

The estrangement dates to the weeks before the couple's wedding in May 2018. Markle Sr. did not attend after he was found to have been paid by paparazzi to pose for photographs, and then-Prince Charles walked Meghan down the aisle at St. George's Chapel in Windsor, England, ABC News reported. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the allegations.

His daughter Samantha Markle has defended him, telling the Daily Mail that her brother made the claims days after their father cut off his money.

A friend's account, a statement

The duchess is "really, really upset," a friend told HELLO!, which reported that her circle have been calling her daily to check in. "She keeps on looking at Lili and she's in tears, and thinking about all the children, the alleged victims," the friend said. "It's just devastating."

The friend said Meghan had decided some time before the allegations surfaced to take herself away from the media and not look at anything, for her own mental health. Messages had still reached her from friends in the UK and elsewhere, the friend said, describing the period since as an emotional rollercoaster. "She's in bits," the friend added, saying there was some relief that it was finally out there.

Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.

Meghan said in the same statement that she hoped it could now be understood that, despite distortion by certain media publications over the years, any distance from her father and her choice not to allow him contact with her children was for one reason, to protect them.

She added that she had trusted the authorities were doing the same for other families. Her statement did not describe the nature of the 2018 allegations, ABC News reported.

A representative for Meghan and Harry was not immediately available for comment, Page Six reported in its account of the family's departure from Britain.

A booking in Australia

Meghan is joining Junior MasterChef Australia as a special guest alongside host Poh Ling Yeow, Page Six reported, citing a press release from the Australian network 10. The series returns after a six-year hiatus. The duchess described agreeing to appear as "an easy yes."

"I love cooking with my own kids, so seeing what these young stars create in the kitchen is going to be a lot of fun," she said in the release. The series returns to 10 in 2027.

The Philippine interior secretary, who oversees the national police, has said forensic results on the seized laptop are expected within a week.