Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been charged in the US with possession of child abuse material.
Mr Markle, 82, was taken into custody in Tampa and is due to appear in court in Florida on Friday, US time. He faces one count of possession of child pornography.
Federal prosecutors allege that he kept material, including sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two storage units in the Los Angeles area.
FBI agents searched the units, which had been registered to Mr Markle since 2008, under warrants. Authorities allege they found dozens of slides, film negatives and books containing child abuse material.
An affidavit filed with the complaint alleges that Mr Markle was identified in two images with a nude girl.
“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said.
FBI director Kash Patel said: “Mr Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions.
“Working with our Justice Department partners, our agents moved quickly, identified and located the explicit material, and arrested Mr Markle in Florida.”
Mr Markle had previously admitted paying for sex but denied allegations that he possessed a collection of child sex abuse images, describing the claims as “sick lies”.
The allegations followed claims by his son, Meghan’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jr, that he had found a stash of images belonging to their father at his former home in the Philippines.
It is understood that the Duchess of Sussex has not spoken to her father for eight years.
In October, Meghan said she was “deeply distressed” by the allegations and added: “My thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.”
