Thomas Markle Sr., Meghan Markle's father, has been moved from a Florida rehabilitation center to a facility specializing in dementia care. The 82-year-old had been in the rehabilitation center since May after having his lower left leg amputated.
The move took place on Friday. According to the Daily Mail, Markle was diagnosed with dementia and the new facility offers so-called memory care. The development could complicate the FBI's investigation into allegations of alleged possession of child sexual abuse material.
The FBI has confirmed that it has launched an investigation after materials that it claims may contain illegal images were found in a storage facility in Rosarito, Mexico. Police have seized items from the facility.
In parallel, claims by Thomas Markle Jr. that he found child sexual abuse images among his father's belongings are being investigated in the Philippines. Prosecutors in the Philippines say that if the charges are proven, Markle Sr. could face the full force of the law. Such a crime carries a possible sentence of up to 12 years in prison.
Thomas Markle Sr. himself denies the charges. He told the Daily Mail that he had no storage facilities in Rosarito and described the allegations as “sick lies“.
“You can't just barge into a dementia care facility and conduct an interrogation. Any good lawyer could ask for such an interrogation to be excluded, and the FBI knows that,“ says Florida lawyer Spencer Cowin.
The case is developing against the backdrop of a separate investigation in the UK. In January 2019, the Metropolitan Police received a letter addressed to the Public Figures Threat Assessment Unit. It contained allegations of alleged crimes outside the UK linked to Thomas Markle Sr.
The letter, written by Markle's first wife Roslyn Lovelace, was handed over to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. According to the publication, Meghan wanted to speak publicly about the case, but an officer from the Royal and Special Protection Unit advised her to leave the matter to the police.
The Metropolitan Police admitted that the information in the letter was not passed on to other law enforcement agencies. The force has referred the matter to the Independent Police Conduct Office, which is reviewing the decision to pass the letter on to Harry and Meghan's office, as well as the failure to notify foreign agencies.
The police also said that they are starting a procedure to pass the information on to relevant law enforcement agencies abroad. The identity of the officer who gave Meghan the letter remains unknown.