The distinction officials are drawing between a person of interest and a suspect matters: it signals that investigators regard the allegations as worth pursuing without yet treating them as established.
Philippine investigators are examining whether Thomas Markle Jnr, the half-brother of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was involved in alleged child sexual abuse offences, according to the country's interior secretary. The inquiry into their father, Thomas Markle Snr, is widening at the same time. Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla told reporters in Manila on Thursday that witnesses had alleged underage girls were brought to the younger Markle's home. He said Markle Jnr was being treated as a "person of interest", not a suspect.
The case became public last month, when media reports said suspected child sexual abuse material allegedly belonging to Markle Snr, 82, had been found at his former home in the central Philippine province of Cebu. Markle Snr, who has since returned to the United States, has denied the allegations, calling them "sick lies". Remulla said investigators had recovered around 7,500 photos and one video depicting boys and girls from Asia, Latin America and Europe who had allegedly been sexually abused. He described the material as "really, really disturbing".
Markle Jnr handed over four boxes of material, including computers, mobile phones, hard drives and old videotapes, according to local authorities. Police obtained a court warrant last week to examine the devices. The distinction officials are drawing between a person of interest and a suspect matters: it signals that investigators regard the allegations as worth pursuing without yet treating them as established. No charges are reported against either man, and the provenance and ownership of the material have not been confirmed in public.
Meghan said she was "deeply distressed" when the allegations became public. She said she had been informed of disturbing allegations against her father in 2018 and had kept him from having contact with her children to protect them. That statement places the story at the intersection of a criminal inquiry and a long-running family estrangement, and it is likely to shape how the couple's next public appearance is received.
Meghan and Prince Harry are due to speak in Brussels next week about the dangers children face on social media, in their first public appearance since the allegations emerged. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will attend the Tuesday opening of a video installation commemorating children who have lost their lives due to harm experienced via social media. It will also be the first time the couple appear together at a public event abroad since returning to live in Britain this summer.
The royals will open The Lost Screen Memorial at the European Parliament, displaying images of children affected by online abuse and exploitation, and give a joint speech before taking part in a panel event with international activists. The event, hosted by Spanish MEP Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, highlights the "urgent need to make the digital world safer for every child", a statement said, calling it a "call to action" for policymakers, technology companies and society. The couple unveiled the installation in New York in April 2025, and it has also been shown in Los Angeles; Meghan gave a speech at its opening in Geneva in May.
