The Duchess of Sussex’s 82-year-old father will appear in court in Tampa, Florida, on Friday, the US department of justice (DoJ) announced.

Bill Essayli, the first assistant US attorney, said: “Mr Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls.

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

Mr Markle Sr was arrested at a care home for dementia patients in Tampa, where he had been living.

In footage of the arrest obtained by The Sun, he can be seen handcuffed and surrounded by FBI officers while being lifted into the back of a van on a mechanical stretcher.

Mr Markle Sr had been reported to police in the Philippines and the FBI in October by his son, Thomas Markle Jr, who handed over alleged child abuse images he found in his father’s belongings in Cebu City.

A second tranche was reportedly discovered on Oct 30 in a storage unit that Mr Markle Sr was said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico, during a raid by Mexican police.

Earlier this week, Mr Markle Jr said he had also alerted the FBI to search storage boxes in the US belonging to his father.

The DoJ said nearly 80 items were seized from inside storage units rented by Mr Markle Sr, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected child sex abuse images.

In a statement, it said: “According to an affidavit filed with the complaint in October 2026, law enforcement learned that an individual signed an affidavit regarding their discovery of suspected CSAM [child sexual abuse material] among Markle’s possessions in the Philippines.

“Law enforcement also interviewed another individual who disclosed that Markle rented a storage unit in the Los Angeles area. Information from the first individual later led agents to a second unit.

“Pursuant to judicially authorised warrants, FBI special agents searched two storage units registered to Markle. Markle has rented both storage units since 2008, with his most recent payments on both made last month by auto-pay.”