As Filipino authorities investigate child abuse claims made against Thomas Markle Sr., his granddaughter is claiming she felt something “off” about him when she was a child.
“Maybe it was a vibe that I subconsciously got … something’s not right about a person, and you don’t actively register it. But your body tells you when something’s off,” Noelle Rasmussen told The Telegraph in an article published on Tuesday, October 27.
The outlet noted that it had spoken to Rasmussen, who is the niece of Thomas Sr.’s daughter Meghan Markle, five days after the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged dad was publicly accused of possessing a collection of child pornography materials inside his Philippines home.
Thomas Sr. has denied possessing the images and historical accusations of child sexual abuse, branding the accusations as “sick lies.” He has not been charged with any crimes.
Us has reached out to representatives for Thomas Sr. for comment.
Rasmussen, whose mother, Samantha Markle, has publicly defended her father, Thomas Sr., in light of the allegations, added that news of the claims did not shock her. “It doesn’t surprise me,” Rasmussen told the outlet. “The more and more I think about it, it just doesn’t … I don’t know why it’s not a surprise.”
She continued, “It might have been something I just didn’t register at the time, or subconsciously put any thought behind. Even as a child, it may have just been something that I registered that I didn’t know [I had].”
News of the alleged child sex abuse materials (CSAM) surfaced on Thursday, October 22, after Thomas Markle Jr. alerted Filipino authorities to what he allegedly discovered in-person inside his father’s Cebu home.
According to The Sun, Thomas Jr. reportedly told friends that he was a “shaking wreck” as a result of the discovery and “realized I had to report him.”
One day later, Meghan, 45, released a statement that addressed the news while also revealing that she has received a “troubling and disturbing” letter in 2018 that detailed allegations against her father. The letter had been written and originally sent to the U.K.’s Metropolitan Police and Specialist Protection by Thomas Sr.’s late ex-wife, Roslyn Loveless, who died in 2024. (Loveless was married to Thomas Sr. from 1964 to 1975.)
Rasmussen’s interview with The Telegraph discussed her late grandmother’s letter, which was written when Rasmussen was age 16.
“I remember her writing the letter … she had guts that I’ve never seen before, and she did not care what would come to her. She would just do whatever she felt was right, and she was incredible,” she said. “If she put something in a letter, it’s more than likely what she had seen to be the truth or what she had experienced. It was something that she either saw or heard or believed to be 100 percent true.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453. https://www.childhelphotline.org/
