US Attorney Bill Essayli says the 82-year-old tried to remove the device and is asking a court to revoke his release. Mr Markle has not entered a plea and denies the accusations.
Prosecutors allege that Thomas Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex, cut off his electronic ankle monitor days after his arrest on child sexual abuse material charges. US Attorney Bill Essayli said on Tuesday that the 82-year-old removed the location bracelet at 1.45am while released pending trial. Prosecutors have asked for his release to be revoked and for him to be held in custody. A spokesman for the US Marshals Service, which monitors the device, said it was working to establish exactly what happened.
The allegation
Mr Essayli said Mr Markle had been ordered to wear the GPS monitor ahead of his court appearances. He said the alleged removal had led prosecutors to seek detention. A statement in the reporting, which does not name its speaker, says the assisted-living facility would not take Mr Markle back and that he was released into the care of another daughter in Lakeland, Florida, and that nothing had been heard since. Mr Markle has not yet responded to the allegation, and none of the claims has been tested in court.
Release conditions
Mr Markle was released on personal recognisance rather than being made to post a cash bond, according to The Independent. His release was subject to home detention and electronic monitoring. Page Six, citing court documents, reported that the conditions also banned internet access and contact with minors. CBS News reported that his travel was limited to two federal judicial districts, the Middle District of Florida and the Central District of California, and that travelling elsewhere needed authorisation.
Mental competency evaluation
A federal judge has ordered an independent psychiatric evaluation to decide whether Mr Markle is mentally competent to face criminal proceedings, CBS News and AFP reported. US Magistrate Judge Lindsay Griffin raised concerns that his medical condition could affect his ability to understand the legal process or help in his defence. The judge cited his age, health and difficulty recalling information, CBS News said. The order does not find that he is incompetent. It requires a formal assessment.
The Independent reported that forensic psychiatrist Dr Amie Gerodimos has been appointed and must report to the court by 20 November. Mr Markle did not enter a plea at his first federal hearing, and the court has not determined his criminal responsibility. Federal prosecutors told WUSF and the Associated Press that the next stage of the case is expected to take place in California and that moving the proceedings there would probably take several weeks.
The US charge
Mr Markle was arrested last Friday after the seizure of about 78 items from storage units in the Los Angeles area, Mr Essayli said. They included slides, film negatives and books containing suspected child sexual abuse images. He faces one federal count of possessing child sexual abuse material, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. That is the maximum available, not a prediction of any sentence.
According to the US Department of Justice, the two units had been rented continuously since 2008, with payments still being made automatically in October 2026. Sky News reported, citing the FBI affidavit, that agents seized 27 items from one unit and 51 from the other, and that at least 18 images from the first were initially identified as suspected abuse material. A witness who identified Mr Markle in photographs had known him since the 1970s, Sky News reported. Federal investigators say photographs are potentially linked to a motel in the Philippines, and the circumstances remain part of the allegations. The Justice Department listed the prosecutors as Daniel H. Weiner, Kevin J. Butler and Kathy Yu. FBI Director Kash Patel has urged people with information on child exploitation to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Philippine and Mexican inquiries
Philippine Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said investigators recovered about 7,500 photographs and one video involving minors from electronic devices handed over in Cebu, The Philippine Star reported on 6 November. They are separate from the items seized in California. Initial forensic tests found suspected abuse material on three SD cards and one of five phones examined. Authorities have not established who owned, made or shared the files.
Mr Remulla said Thomas Markle Jr. had been named a person of interest, and that investigators were looking at reports that minors visited his home. Being a person of interest does not establish wrongdoing. Mr Remulla said officers checked his TikTok account but found no videos featuring underage girls to support the explanation that they visited to make TikTok videos. Mr Remulla told ITV News that police had not identified Thomas Markle Sr. in the files examined in the Philippines so far. That differs from the separate US case, in which federal investigators allege that images show Mr Markle with minors. The Philippine authorities have asked the FBI to help identify the owners of seized phones.
Mexican authorities searched a property in Baja California previously linked to Mr Markle on 29 October after a report to the 911 hotline, CBS News reported, citing state prosecutors. Investigators said they found three old magazines and VHS tapes containing suspected abuse material, and passed the evidence to the federal Attorney General’s Office. Sky News reported that Mr Markle moved out of the property about two years ago. Mexican authorities said the investigation continues.
Scotland Yard and the 2019 letter
The Metropolitan Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over its handling of a letter received in January 2019, ITV News reported on 29 October. ITV News, which examined the roughly six-page handwritten letter addressed to the force’s Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, said it was written by Mr Markle’s first wife, Roslyn Markle. The letter alleged that he had travelled to Thailand and the Philippines for sexual encounters with minors. They are allegations by his former wife, and he has denied them.
Scotland Yard acknowledged it did not share the allegations with overseas law enforcement and instead passed the letter to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s office. The referral covers both decisions. Meghan said she stopped contact with her father after receiving the letter in January 2019, and that she kept her children from him to protect them, according to ITV News.
Mr Markle’s response
Before his arrest, Mr Markle told the Daily Mail: “I could never do what I’m being accused of,” according to ITV News. He described the claims as lies and said he would work to clear his name. ITV News also reported that he has acknowledged paying for sex but denies any sexual contact with minors, saying he never had sex with anyone under 18.
