Meghan's Father Thomas Markle Removes Ankle Monitor, DOJ Says

Thomas Markle cut off a court-ordered ankle monitor at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, four days after federal agents arrested him on charges tied to child sexual abuse material found in storage units he kept in the Los Angeles area, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. The 82-year-old father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was taken back into custody within hours and remains held pending a hearing in federal court in Tampa, Florida, Essayli said Tuesday, according to The Guardian.

What did investigators find in the storage units?

Agents seized approximately 78 items from storage units Markle kept in the Los Angeles area, Essayli said. The materials included slides, film negatives and books that authorities say contained suspected child sexual abuse images, according to the Guardian's account of the Associated Press report. The seizure led to Markle's initial arrest on Friday.

How was Markle first taken into custody?

On the day of his initial arrest, Markle was removed from a senior care center in Lakeland, Florida, by ambulance, Essayli said. A federal judge allowed his release hours later on the condition that he wear an electronic monitor — typically an ankle tether — while awaiting further proceedings. The same judge ordered a mental competency examination, with a report due to the court by Nov. 20, per the Guardian's account of the DOJ statement.

What happened when the monitor came off?

Markle cut the device off his ankle at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, Essayli said. He was arrested again shortly afterward and is now in federal custody awaiting the Tampa hearing, according to Essayli. The Guardian's report did not include additional detail on how Markle removed the monitor or the circumstances of his second arrest.

What has Meghan said about the allegations against her father?

The Duchess of Sussex said she was "deeply distressed" by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father's former home, according to a statement quoted by the Guardian. She said a letter containing "troubling allegations" about him had been sent to police in London in 2019. "It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated," she said. She added that her decision to keep her father away from her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, predates the current case: "Any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children was for one reason: to protect them," she said.

Where was Markle before his arrest?

Markle was living in the Philippines earlier this year when he suffered a stroke, the Guardian reported. He later moved to the senior care center in Lakeland, Florida, where agents first took him into custody on Friday.

The case by the numbers

Four figures anchor the DOJ's account, each attributed to Essayli's Tuesday statement as relayed by the Guardian. Markle is 82 years old. Agents recovered roughly 78 items from the Los Angeles-area storage units. He removed the ankle monitor at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, four days after his initial arrest. The court-ordered mental competency report is due by Nov. 20 — a deadline set the same day a judge approved his release under electronic monitoring, a condition he did not keep. No additional charges tied to the monitor removal were specified in the DOJ statement as reported.

Meghan has not commented publicly since Tuesday's development, and the Guardian's report did not include a response from Markle's legal representatives. The case continues in federal court in Tampa, where Markle is scheduled for a hearing following his second arrest.

Who is Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex?

Meghan married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018, and the couple have two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, according to the Guardian's report. She is an American citizen and actor who starred in the television drama "Suits" before her marriage. The Guardian's account did not detail any further public statement from Meghan addressing her father's second arrest or the monitor removal specifically, beyond the earlier remarks she gave about the storage-unit allegations and her reasons for restricting his contact with her children.

What comes next in the federal case?

Markle remains in federal custody ahead of the Tampa hearing, Essayli said Tuesday, with no new charges tied to the monitor removal specified in the DOJ's account as relayed by the Guardian. The competency evaluation ordered after his initial release is still due to the court by Nov. 20, a deadline that predates his second arrest.