Meghan Markle has been given a warning (Image: Getty)

Megham Markle has been told it would be “too dangerous” for her to fly to her stricken father’s side in the Philippines.

Aides have warned the Duchess of Sussex that only a major security operation costing millions could guarantee her safety in the strife-torn south-east Asian country.

And a grimly-worded US State Department advisory issued earlier this year – and still in effect – warned citizens travelling there of heightened risks of “crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping.”

A senior Hollywood source with commercial ties to Prince Harry and Meghan confirmed: “She understands she is an incredibly high-risk target and knows it would be too dangerous to attempt even a brief visit with too many unknown factors.”

A report by the Philippine National Police last spring recorded “scores” of recent kidnappings for ransom, including one high-profile case that ended in the brutal murder of Filipino-Chinese steel magnate Anson Que.

The terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and Islamic State affiliates are behind many of these kidnappings, while other organised crime groups, including Chinese Triads, control drug trafficking, prostitution, loan sharking and extortion rackets.

Since his election in June 2022, Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr has also faced civil unrest over alleged government corruption.

Last month 650,000 protesters took to the streets of capital city Manila for three days in a demonstration over billions of “missing” pounds in flood relief funds that led to countless arrests.

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In its travel warning, the US State Department declared: “Terrorists and armed groups have carried out kidnappings, bombings and other attacks targeting public areas. Violent crimes are also common in the Philippines.”

Our source added: “Given the extremely dangerous instability there, Meghan has accepted the risk factor is just too great to even contemplate any kind of in-person reunion with her dad right now.”

Meghan’s spokesperson confirmed the Duchess has, however, managed to have a letter hand-delivered “through reliable and trusted contacts” to her estranged father Thomas Markle, 81, at a hospital in Cebu City, where he is recovering after undergoing a three-hour life-saving operation to amputate his foot and lower leg.

Meghan sent a letter to her dad (Image: Getty)

Mr Markle’s son Thomas Jr – Meghan’s step-brother – who shares a high-rise apartment in central Cebu with their father, told a newspaper: “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. There was no option. It was a case of life or death.”

Mr Markle is expected to be transferred to a rehabilitation centre this week, where he will spend several months recovering.

He is reportedly hoping to have a prosthetic limb fitted once his leg wound has healed.

Mr Markle has been estranged from his daughter since posing for paparazzi photos on the eve of her royal wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/2145922/meghan-markle-issued-chilling-warning