Authorities in the Philippines are examining unproven allegations about the Duchess of Sussex’s father, and brokers say the property market is feeling it
A Royal Footnote in Cebu: How an Overseas Property Story Reached the London Pages
Authorities in the Philippines are examining unproven allegations about the Duchess of Sussex’s father, and brokers say the property market is feeling it
By Isla Campbell, royal correspondent, Central London
What Has Been Reported
GMA News reported that the Philippines is investigating Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, after claims were made about material connected to him, and the Guardian has also reported on the matter. Mr Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex, lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as the Manila Bulletin reported in May 2025 and the Guardian has since reported. The allegations are unproven and no charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter, and nothing here makes light of it.
I raise it in a column about the Royal Family because the Duchess is a member of the family by marriage and her father’s name is, inevitably, part of the royal story. I will keep to what has been reported by others and add nothing.
The Property Story
The story that follows is commercial. Manila News reported that Cebu brokers blame a foreign scandal for slow condominium sales. Brokers say buyers, many of them retired foreigners, have become hesitant. The report is a market story, and I will not extend it into a claim about cause. A slow month in a property market may have many reasons.
The London Prat has treated it as comic material, noting that British pensioners are being asked for two referees and a letter from the vicar, at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/. The tone there is gentle, and the subject is the paperwork, not any person.
The Market Background
The Cebu market is not obviously weak at root. Colliers named the Visayas and Mindanao a key property investment hotspot in July. Foreigners may own condominium units under the Condominium Act but not land, with a cap of 40 percent of a project, and the Philippine Retirement Authority publishes the terms for retirees.
A careful retiree would read those documents, take local legal advice and speak to people who live there. None of that is changed by what the news says about any one resident.
Why It Is in the Royal Pages
The Royal Family has an interest in how the public discusses family members and in-laws. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not the subject of the reports I have cited, and nothing here suggests otherwise.
The mixture of royal gossip, overseas property and retirement paperwork is the kind of story the British press loves, and I include it for completeness, not for sport.
Availability
Tversky and Kahneman’s availability heuristic is a useful frame. People judge how likely or how common something is by how readily examples come to mind. A vivid story about a well-known name can colour the view of a whole market, and a broker alone in a showroom with three brochures becomes the example people remember.
That does not mean the market is sound or unsound. It means the data, not the headline, should decide.
What Is Known and What Is Not
It is known that GMA News and the Guardian have reported an examination by Philippine authorities. It is known that Manila News has reported slower condominium sales and that brokers link them to the news. It is not known what the authorities will conclude, whether any charge will follow, or how much of the sales slowdown is due to the story as opposed to other causes such as interest rates, supply and seasonal demand.
A careful reader holds all of those apart. A royal correspondent in particular should avoid the temptation to turn a family connection into a narrative, and I have tried to keep each claim attached to its source.
What Retirees Have Said
I have no direct quotes from retirees in the sources used for this piece, so I will not offer any. The London Prat piece describes the demand for references in a comic register, which is a way of expressing a real feeling: that a buyer from outside is being asked to prove respectability in a market that wants to look reassuring.
If that feeling is widespread, brokers will have to find ways to rebuild confidence. Clear documentation, independent legal advice and transparent fees are the standard tools.
A Fair Conclusion
The Philippine authorities will decide what the facts are. In the meantime, the sensible position is to await their findings, to avoid drawing conclusions about anyone, and to treat the property story as what it is: a market affected by news.
For readers in London who are considering retirement abroad, the lesson is the usual one. Take advice, read the contract and visit more than once.
Property Nerves, Seen From Elsewhere
Fear of a market travels fast. The same jitters turn up in the comic dispatches on the Cebu condominium story: a Manila News report on a Mactan broker with three brochures, a London Prat account of the references demanded of British retirees (direct link: https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and a Bohiney piece on two-hour open houses. Read them for the human detail a market report leaves out. The wider network is at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, there is always The Daily Mash.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/