WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) – US law enforcement officials have arrested the father of Meghan Markle, the wife of Britain’s Prince Harry, a source told Reuters on Friday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Thomas Markle Sr, according to a Justice Department official familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. They did not state a reason for the arrest.
Representatives for the FBI could not be immediately reached to confirm the arrest, and it was not immediately clear if he had been formally charged in the US with any specific crimes.
The Daily Mail, which first reported the arrest, said Markle Sr, 82, was arrested at his senior living community in Lakeland, Florida, over alleged possession of child sexual abuse material. Material had also been found in a storage unit in Mexico as well as the Philippines, it reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.
Authorities in the Philippines, where Markle Sr had previously lived for some time, began investigating him last month over the allegations. British police last month said they would refer allegations about him to overseas law enforcement agencies after finding that the claims had not been passed to other authorities when they were first received.
He has denied the accusations, telling the Daily Mail they were untrue and “sick lies.”
Meghan Markle, an American who married King Charles’ younger son in 2018, has said she was “deeply distressed” over the allegations.
(Reporting by Dan Ziff-Rosenzweig; additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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