She has alleged there are factual inaccuracies in The Sun’s report, including the suggestion Thomas Snr’s possessions were packed in Mexico and shipped to the Philippines.
She told the Mail: “They were then in storage in the basement of a building in the Philippines. The boxes were then in Tom Jr’s house. Dad had no access to those computers for two years. Who knows who could have had access to them? Anyone could have set dad up.”
Samantha has said there is no proof her father downloaded any images. She has alleged Thomas Jr first made the accusations “weeks ago when the cash from my dad was cut off”.
She claims Thomas Jr has used his father as a “cash cow” for years and, when the money stopped, has made up “the most outrageous lies” to try to make money from the media.
Samantha told the Mail: “My brother has had this vendetta against my dad for years… He made up a story a few years ago about my dad snorting cocaine with hookers in Thailand.”
Thomas Jr, who had served as his father’s carer and relocated to a home just doors away from him in Cebu in January 2025, allegedly raised the alarm on July 10.
He contacted the FBI hotline, the National Centre for Exploited and Missing Children, and Pennsylvania state police, where his father had been residing.
However, weeks passed without any follow-up contact from investigators, which he says prompted him to inspect the remaining contents more thoroughly.
Inside the four large brown cardboard boxes, Thomas Jr says he found a jumble of old family home movies on VHS cassettes, books, nine mobile phones, and the Emmy Awards his father had earned during his television career.
He claims mixed in among these personal effects were the alleged items.
“Then the technician helped me turn on the first hard drive and I gasped when all of the icons suddenly appeared,” he told a friend.
After submitting his sworn statement to child abuse officers in the Philippines, Thomas Jr declared: “When I found this material I was horrified, and I had no option but to report my dad.
“I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.”
The Philippine Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking are understood to have taken action on Thursday, establishing a dedicated task force overseen by the specialist Women and Children’s Protection Centre to handle the case.
Court documents filed in Cebu City that day triggered the high-profile inquiry, with legal sources in the city confirming that Thomas Jr had consented to hand over all four cardboard boxes for a comprehensive forensic examination.
He was expected to formally relinquish the material in the presence of a legal team appointed at the investigating task force’s instruction.
The boxes were to be transported to the Cebu City Department of Justice, where Thomas Jr would sign paperwork authorising the detailed forensic analysis of their contents.
The FBI separately confirmed it had received his affidavit, according to The Sun, and appears poised to launch its own investigation.
Thomas Snr, a retired television lighting director, has been estranged from his daughter Meghan, now 45, for years and has never met her husband Prince Harry, 42.
He claimed to have suffered a heart attack just before their 2018 wedding at Windsor Castle and did not attend the ceremony.
For years afterwards, his son publicly backed his efforts to reconcile with Meghan, even ridiculing the Duchess on social media.
Samantha has claimed that Thomas Snr is “very disappointed” in Thomas Jr and that her brother has a “track record of lying about dad”.
She told the Mail her father has “always supported Tom”, including giving him tens of thousands of dollars and helping him to find employment, but has said: “It was never enough for Tom. He thinks dad didn’t love him enough.”
Thomas Snr is presently residing in a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Florida, where Samantha, 60, has been caring for him.
Both Samantha and Thomas Jr are children from his first marriage to Roslyn Loveless, which lasted 11 years before ending in 1975.
She died in 2024, aged 79. Meghan was born in 1981 to his second wife, Doria Ragland, 70, from whom he separated in 1987.
It is understood the Met has not and is not currently investigating Thomas Sr. It is also understood officers are carrying out an internal inquiry to confirm Scotland Yard’s royal protection unit passed on the letter to the Duchess.
Thomas Sr, Thomas Jr and Samantha have all been contacted for comment.
COMMONWEALTH CHIEF SUGGESTS KING SHOULD APOLOGISE FOR SLAVERY
Just days before the King jets off to the Caribbean to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the secretary-general of the Commonwealth says it “wouldn’t hurt” for him to apologise for slavery.
Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey also said the “time has come” for a discussion about reparations for Britain’s historic role in the transatlantic slave trade.
The intervention from the most senior figure in the Commonwealth (apart from King Charles himself) puts His Majesty in an incredibly awkward position.
He is visiting the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda next week, and a palace source told me he would “not shy away” from discussing the historical slave trade.
However, he will stop sort of an official apology.
It appears this is not good enough for some leaders of Commonwealth nations; Guyana’s President Ali has also publicly called for an official apology.
So why doesn’t King Charles do so?
Let us remember His Majesty is a constitutional monarch; he acts only on Government advice.
It remains firmly the UK Government’s position not to offer a formal apology for historic slavery.
It also refuses to pays reparations to descendants of slaves or the countries affected.
This is because legal advice, it is understood, states the transatlantic slave trade was legal at the time.
It would also open Pandora’s Box if one country were to pay reparations, because others would likely demand the same compensation.
It is also important not to forget Britain was one of the first countries to abolish slavery and even sent Royal Navy ships to intercept illegal crossings from West Africa and free captives.
Next week, King Charles will walk what is described as a “diplomatic tightrope”.
Will the focus stay on a prosperous future for the Commonwealth family of nations or descend into a bitter row over what Britain owes (or doesn’t owe) its former colonies?
PRINCE WILLIAM WOWS AUDIENCE ON GRAHAM NORTON SHOW
Last night, the Prince of Wales made a surprise appearance on Graham Norton’s sofa.
It was a special Earthshot Prize edition, where he appeared alongside Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and Hannah Waddingham. Graham spoke with Cate, Robert and Hannah about their work before revealing to the unsuspecting audience what connects them all: The Earthshot Prize.
He then welcomed the Prince onto the set to cheers and gasps from the audience.
He spoke of his support for Aston Villa, his love of Christopher Noland films, and his mission to tackle climate change through the Earthshot Prize.
He told Graham: “I’m a big fan of everything Christopher Nolan does. His films are fantastic – the ‘The Dark Knight’ series is psychologically dark and deep and I absolutely love that. He takes concepts that are completely out there and makes them incredibly entertaining.”
The Prince also revealed he loves The Traitors and watches the BBC One show with Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
He said: “I love it, the family love it. Charlotte and Louis are obsessed with it. It’s really good telly.
“I saw (Celebrity Traitors’ contestant) Ross Kemp the day after the first episode and I couldn’t help but try – in the most appropriate way – to touch him to see what reaction I got from him. Turns out he was really jumpy!”
William is thought to be only the third senior working royal to appear on a Prime Time British chat show sofa, after both Prince Philip and Princess Anne appeared on Sir Terry Wogan’s programme.