Thomas Markle Sr, the father of Meghan Markle who is under investigation over alleged child sexual abuse images, has reportedly been transferred to a specialist memory care unit for dementia patients in Florida.
The 82-year-old was admitted to the facility on Friday, according to The Sun. The move has raised concerns that the FBI may be unable to question Meghan's estranged father due to legal protections surrounding the interrogation of suspects with cognitive impairments who reside in care facilities.
Investigation and allegations
Mr Markle was reported to authorities in the Philippines and the FBI last month by his son Thomas Markle Jnr, who handed over a cache of alleged child abuse material he said he found among his father's possessions in Cebu City.
A second collection was reportedly uncovered on Friday in a storage facility Mr Markle is believed to have hired near his previous residence in Rosarito, Mexico, during a police operation by Mexican authorities.
Mr Markle denies the allegations against him. He has admitted to paying for sex in the Philippines but denied ever possessing child abuse imagery, and denied ever having sex with anyone under the age of 18.
Meghan's response and police handling
Meghan was left "deeply distressed" by the allegations and said she received correspondence via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection seven years ago containing "troubling and disturbing allegations" about her father, though she was assured these matters were under investigation.
The Metropolitan Police has acknowledged it failed to pass the information to other law enforcement bodies, and the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), is now examining the force's handling of the matter.
The Duchess had been eager to "speak out" immediately upon reading the letter, but police advised her against this, sources said.
Family background
Meghan's relationship with her father broke down in the lead-up to her 2018 wedding, after he was caught staging paparazzi photographs before suffering a heart attack, prompting the King, then the Prince of Wales, to step in and walk Meghan down the aisle.
When former TV lighting director Mr Markle underwent a leg amputation in the Philippines last year, he publicly appealed for the Duchess to get in touch, expressing his fear of dying while the pair remained on bad terms. A spokesperson for the Duchess confirmed at the time that she had "reached out to her father".
It emerged last week that in a final letter, Meghan wrote that she knew he was an abuser and that he would never see his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Mr Markle returned to the US in May.
