The Duchess of Sussex’s mother has reportedly helped authorities identify her former husband in images found in relation to his child sex abuse charge, it has been revealed.

Thomas Markle has been charged with possessing child sex abuse material after being arrested at his care home in Florida last Friday (local time).

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Markle, 82, had been charged with one count of possession of child pornography.

Now it has emerged that Markle’s former wife, Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland, apparently helped authorities identify her ex-husband in some of the disturbing images found amid the ongoing probe into his alleged illegal activities.

People magazine reports that Ragland, 70, has assisted federal investigators in their investigation. Britain’s Sun newspaper reported at the weekend that Ragland, a former social worker, was shown redacted versions of the suspected child sexual abuse images and helped identify Markle as the man pictured.

People also reports that Meghan is prepared to assist the FBI and any other authorities investigating her estranged father.

Meghan and husband Prince Harry will step out in public in Brussels on Tuesday (local time) to promote the Lost Screen Memorial. It honours children who have lost their lives due to the harms of social media.

Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland. Photo: AAP

When the allegations against Thomas Markle first emerged, Meghan – who has been estranged from him since 2018 – released a statement saying her “thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed”.

“I hope it can now be understood that … 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.

Neither she nor Prince Harry has made any formal statement on her father’s arrest and subsequent charge.

Markle did not enter a plea during his first court appearance last Friday. He was subsequently released to return to his care home ahead of an unspecificed future court date in California.

He faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

The charge came after authorities searched Los Angeles storage units rented by Markle since 2008. They seized “approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected CSAM (child sexual abuse material)”.

“A Florida man was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint alleging he kept child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two Los Angeles-area storage units he rented for nearly two decades,” the US Department of Justice said.

“Thomas Wayne Markle, 82, of Lakeland, Florida, is charged with one count of possession of child pornography.”

US authorities have not confirmed Ragland’s involvement in the investigation. The federal complaint says a witness who had known Markle for decades identified him in two photographs, but does not name the witness.

The Sun reports that investigators believe Markle was in his 30s or 40s when the photographs were taken. That suggests they may date to a time when Meghan was very young, or even before she was born.

Markle and Ragland married in 1979. Meghan was born in 1981 and the couple divorced in 1987.

Thomas Markle was arrested at his Florida care home and charged last Friday. Photo: AAP Photo: Good Morning Britain

Last month Meghan confirmed that London’s Metropolitan Police had forwarded her a letter in 2019 that made “disturbing allegations” about her father.

It was written by Roslyn Loveless — who was married to Markle from 1964 to 1975. She is the mother of Meghan’s half-siblings, Samantha and Thomas Markle jr.

Loveless, who died in 2024, wrote that Markle allegedly told her he went to the Philippines and Thailand “because 12-year-olds are legal there”, according to British media reports.

Markle has since acknowledged paying for sex with adult women in the Philippines. He has denied ever having sex with anyone under the age of 18 or possessing child sexual abuse material.

Meanwhile, police in the Philippines were said at the weekend to also be close to bringing charges against Markle.