Meghan Markle has confirmed she has contacted her father – just hours after saying she hadn’t done so via her aides. In a new statement, her spokesperson said: “I can confirm she has reached out to her father.”

Just hours earlier, her spokesperson dismissed reports that she had “instructed aides to make contact” with her father following his recent hospitalisation. The Duchess of Sussex’s father was reportedly hospitalised with one leg allegedly amputated recently.

Mr Markle was said to have undergone a three-hour operation due to a “life-threatening emergency,” according to his son, Thomas Jr.

Reports followed which claimed that Meghan, who has been estranged from her father since 2018, “instructed aides to verify the claims of her father’s ill health”.

The Times said the duchess was understood to have not been informed about her father’s health before it was published in the news.

However, Meghan’s representatives denied the claims on Friday evening, issuing a rare statement.

They told the Daily Express: “This is a complete fabrication. No aides have been instructed to reach out.”

Later in the night, her spokesperson issued a new statement which said: “ I can confirm she has reached out to her father.”

It is understood that the Duchess of Sussex made contact with her ill father in the last day.

The latest news about Mr Markle was announced by his son, Thomas Jr, who gave an update on his father’s condition.

He told the Daily Mail: “My dad is being very brave. His foot turned blue and then black. It happened very quickly. I took him to a local hospital and they did some scans and an ultrasound and said the leg had to be amputated.”

He added: “There was no option. I was told the leg had to be removed and it was a case of life or death.”

The former TV lighting director underwent the operation in the Philippines, where he moved to earlier this year.

Tom Jr said: “One of his doctors said the next two or three days are critical. His left leg has been removed below the knee. They were worried about infection setting in – sepsis or gangrene. The flesh was black and dying. There was no option given.

“It was either ‘we have to operate now and remove the leg or he may die’. It was a life-threatening situation.”