Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and father-in-law of Britain’s Prince Harry, has been returned to federal custody after allegedly removing his court-ordered ankle monitor.
The 82-year-old was detained on Tuesday, 10 November, following an alleged breach of his release conditions while awaiting trial on a charge involving possession of child sexual abuse material.
A federal judge in Tampa, Florida, ordered Markle held without bond after prosecutors reported that he had cut off the electronic monitoring device.
His original arrest followed an FBI investigation into suspected illegal images recovered from storage units in California.
Meghan, a former actress who married Prince Harry in 2018, has publicly expressed distress over the allegations involving her father, from whom she has been estranged for years.
A court-ordered examination will assess Markle’s competence to stand trial.
He has denied the underlying allegations, and no conviction has been recorded.