Noelle Rasmussen, the Duchess of Sussex’s niece from Albuquerque, New Mexico, has spoken out about the child abuse allegations strongly denied by her grandfather, Thomas Markle Sr., in the Philippines, adding that she supports Meghan’s decision to keep her children at a distance from him.
Speaking just five days after the accusations emerged, Ms Rasmussen described the situation as deeply unsettling for the entire family.
“It’s a disturbing allegation for everybody involved and everybody reading it. Nobody likes to hear things like that,” she said.
Last week, unproven allegations that Thomas Markle Sr. possessed child sex abuse images were made by his son, Thomas Markle Jr., which are currently under investigation by Philippine authorities. Investigators in the Philippines have not brought charges or established any guilt.
Thomas Markle Sr. has categorically denied possessing child sexual abuse images, telling the Daily Mail the accusations were “sick lies”.
Despite not having been in contact with the Duchess for years, Ms Rasmussen told the Telegraph: “I support her decision to prevent her kids from seeing him.”
She added that she “100 per cent backs” the Duchess’s decision to keep Archie and Lilibet away from him.
Mr Markle Snr has categorically denied engaging in sexual activity with anyone under 18.
In 2019, Ms Rasmussen’s grandmother Roslyn Loveless, Thomas Markle’s first wife, reportedly penned a letter to the Metropolitan Police in which she allegedly expressed fears for the safety of Meghan and Prince Harry.
Ms Rasmussen claims she recalls her grandmother composing the letter, telling the Telegraph: “I remember her writing the letter.”
The Duchess of Sussex was informed of the accusations and has recently suggested this was why she chose to restrict contact with her father.
Scotland Yard has acknowledged that it failed to forward the letter received to the FBI or any overseas law enforcement agency for investigation, though it did inform the Duchess of the claims made against her father. The author of the letter has not been confirmed by the force.
The Metropolitan Police also reportedly lost the letter, according to The Times, a revelation that Ms Rasmussen believes demands scrutiny. The failure “needs to be looked into,” she claimed.
“It blows my mind [that it wasn’t passed over to the FBI],” Ms Rasmussen said. “That is a failure on the police’s part…that is such a failure of the system. It’s embarrassing.”
The Metropolitan Police is declining to make further comments, instead pointing to its statement from the weekend which reads: “Following a thorough review of Met Police systems and records, we have confirmed that in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom. It was sent to the MPS Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex.
“The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies. The MPS is reviewing the handling of this matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the IOPC is necessary to review our approach.”
The Duchess was left “upset and frustrated” upon learning that the London force had not acted on the sex abuse allegations, GB News understands.
Ms Loveless would “absolutely” have demanded a full investigation, her granddaughter said.
Samantha Markle, 61, has come to her father’s defence, dismissing the accusations as the product of “hatred and bitterness” and questioning Ms Loveless’s reliability by labelling her an alcoholic.
Ms Rasmussen firmly rejects any attempt to undermine her grandmother’s character. “Roslyn liked her drinks. We all like our drinks. Who doesn’t like a drink?” she said. “But she was extremely coherent. She was very well spoken.”
Her granddaughter insists that Ms Loveless was not someone capable of fabricating allegations to tarnish another person’s name.
“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.”
Looking back on her limited childhood encounters with her grandfather, Ms Rasmussen claimed she sensed something was amiss, even if she could not articulate it at the time.
“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,” she said.
The allegations, she also claimed, did not come as a shock. “It doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “The more and more I think about it, it just doesn’t. I don’t know why it’s not a surprise.”
She said her grandmother shielded her from potential harm. “She loved to protect people, and if she loved you, she would go to the ends of the earth to protect you. And so that was more than likely,” Ms Rasmussen claimed.
Ms Rasmussen further alleges her mother, Samantha Markle, subjected her to emotional and physical abuse, a period she claims was “hell.” She claimed that at 16, Ms Loveless intervened by writing to the police and Child Protective Services to seek to have her removed from Samantha’s care.
Samantha Markle strongly denied the abuse allegations in 2019, telling the Sun: “The lies that she told in public are horribly defamatory and constitute defamation, libel and slander and I didn’t deserve any of it.” She claimed at the time that a court found there was no evidence to support the claims.
GB News has contacted Ms Markle and Thomas Markle Sr. for comment.
Thomas Markle Sr. has previously strongly denied all allegations made against him in an interview with the Daily Mail, claiming they have been fabricated: “I’m shocked, I’m hurt, and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me.
“I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of. This is bull****. It’s just a bunch of lies. It’s sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.”
No criminal charges have been filed against Thomas Markle Sr., and all claims remain unverified allegations subject to ongoing review by law enforcement.
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