Thomas Markle, father of Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle, has been arrested for possessing child pornography, the US Justice Department said on Friday.

Markle, 82, of Lakeland, Florida, is charged with one count of possession of child pornography, the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a statement. He is expected to appear in court in Tampa on Friday.

Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls, First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said.

“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.”

A Justice Department official said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had arrested Thomas Markle.

A spokesperson for Meghan Markle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Markle was taken into custody by FBI agents early on Friday at the retirement home where he lives in Lakeland, Florida. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of possession of child sex abuse material (CSAM).

The Justice Department said Markle allegedly kept CSAM, including “sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two Los Angeles-area storage units he rented for nearly two decades”.

“Inside the units, agents seized approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected CSAM,” it said.

Daily Mail, citing unnamed sources, said 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 had previously lived for some time, began investigating him last month over the allegations.

British tabloid The Sun reported last month that Markle’s son, Thomas Markle Jr, had discovered the child sex abuse images while going through boxes found in his father’s former home in the Philippines.

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, an American who married King Charles’ younger son in 2018, has said she was “deeply distressed” over the allegations. She said she had blocked contact between him and her children over previous “troubling and disturbing” allegations.

In December 2025, Meghan got in touch with her estranged father after he had his left lower leg amputated in the Philippines.

The relationship between Meghan and her father broke down in the run-up to her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. The fallout saw him pull out of his daughter’s wedding just days before the ceremony in Windsor, citing health problems.