Meghan Markle's father accused of cutting off ankle monitor

The estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has allegedly cut an electronic monitoring device off his ankle just days after being arrested over child sexual abuse material.

US prosecutor Bill Essayli said the 82-year-old was in custody awaiting a hearing in federal court in Tampa, Florida.

Mr Essayli said Mr Markle was arrested shortly after he cut off his ankle bracelet in the early hours of Tuesday morning, local time.

Mr Markle was arrested on Friday, local time, after US authorities charged him with possessing child sexual abuse material, alleging he had pictures of himself with prepubescent girls.

Mr Essayli said authorities seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected child sexual abuse images, in storage in the Los Angeles area.

Hours later, a judge allowed Mr Markle to be released on the condition that he be electronically monitored, which typically means wearing an ankle tether.

Duchess distressed by allegations against father

Mr Markle's daughter, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018, and the couple have two children.

Meghan recently said she was "deeply distressed" by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father's former home.

She also revealed that a letter containing "troubling allegations" about him had been sent to police in London in 2019.

"It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated," She said of the letter.

"I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications' distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children was for one reason: to protect them."

Mr Markle was living in the Philippines this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated.

That forced him to return to the US.

His arrest followed reports by The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, that the duchess's half-brother found a collection of child sexual abuse images while clearing out their father's home in the Philippines.

That discovery led to information about two US storage units in California, which Mr Markle had rented since 2008.