Meghan Markle's father, the Duchess of Sussex, was convicted Tuesday to go to prison because he removed the electronic ankle monitoring device days after he was charged with possession of child sexual abuse material.
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11/11/2026
by
Lusa
O meghan Markle's father, the Duchess of Sussex, was convicted Tuesday to go to prison because he removed the electronic ankle monitoring device days after being charged with possession of child sexual abuse material.
Thomas Markle was arrested and attended the federal courthouse in Tampa, Florida, after authorities discovered that he had cut the device at 1:45 a.m., Federal Assistant Prosecutor Bill Essayli said.
“ The conditions of release are orders from the court, not suggestions ", said Essayli.
Markle's arrest on Friday in Lakeland, Florida, followed the seizure of approximately 78 items of storage units in the Los Angeles area, including slides, negatives of films and books containing suspicious images of child sexual abuse, said Essayli, a federal prosecutor in California.
At the time, Markle lived in an elderly care center. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsay Griffin agreed today that now Markle should be held in prison.
Authorities have not revealed where the 82-year-old man is being held while his case remains in court before a probable transfer to California.
In his written order, Griffin stated that Markle’s “household situation” had become “unsustainable”, but did not deepen.
Defense attorney Mary Claire Wolf wanted to keep him out of prison, but she didn't find a suitable place for Markle to stay, according to a summary of the hearing.
Essayli told the Associated Press news agency that he didn't know why the ankle device was removed. It wasn't clear where it happened either.
Still pending, in addition to the charges: a mental competence examination for Markle, who suffered a stroke earlier this year while living in the Philippines, and had to amputate his left leg. That forced him back to the States.
The Sun newspaper, a British tabloid, reported that Meghan's half-brother found a collection of images of child sexual abuse while emptying his father's home in the Philippines.
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex in the UK, recently said she was “deeply distressed” with allegations that a collection of child pornography images was found in her father’s old home.
American citizen and actress who starred in the television series “Suits”, Meghan married Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018, with the couple currently having two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
82-year-old Thomas Markle, a retired director of lighting and television photography, did not attend the wedding, which generated extensive coverage from the British press about the removal of the two.
To this day the princess has remained away from her father.
Thomas Markle had already been the subject of an investigation in the Philippines for allegedly keeping images of this type at home, accusations he always denied.