Meghan has released a blistering statement after spending days desperately trying to get in touch with her estranged father – Thomas Markle, who is reportedly gravely ill
It’s no secret that Meghan’s relationship with her father has been sour for years, but now experts have revealed just how painful and deeply complicated the broken bond is for the Duchess.
Their estrangement stems all the way back to 2018, when Meghan was thrust into a global spotlight in the build-up to her wedding to Prince Harry, but now there’s been a new development in the sad fall-out.
After suffering a spate of health issues over recent years, including two heart attacks and a stroke that saw him needing speech therapy, Thomas was rushed to hospital earlier this month in the Philippines as his health took a worrying turn. The pensioner had to endure gruelling surgery to have his leg amputated, which resulted in his son Thomas Junior – Meghan’s half-brother – to plead with her to “reach out” and show “compassion”.
Despite initial claims that Meghan had failed to contact her father, it has now emerged that she desperately called round local hospitals to try and find out more details about her estranged father’s health. Her spokesperson then confirmed she had “reached out” by delivering a letter to her dad. But the mystery deepened when Thomas claimed he was “confused” by reports that his youngest child had tried to get in touch with him.
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With speculation ramping up about whether Meghan had managed to get her olive branch message to her father in his hospital in Cebu, her spokesperson has today released a blistering statement in an attempt to clarify the conflicting reports. “It has been exceedingly difficult for the Duchess to contact her father privately, despite her efforts over the past several days,” it read.
“With the support of reliable and trusted contacts, her correspondence is now safely in his hands.” Meghan has previously been candid about the breakdown of her relationship with her father, and the huge amount of emotional distress it has caused her over the years, admitting she “lost her dad” and was “grieving”. She also told her dad in a letter back in 2019 that her heart was “broken into a million pieces”.
And now as the delicate situation unravels behind the scenes, family counselling expert Dr Jane Halsall has told the Mirror just how tough these types of strained relationships can be, especially when they are playing out on the public stage.
The chartered counselling psychologist explained that for adults like Meghan who are estranged from their parents, it can be challenging to navigate the delicate balance between self-protection, and their fundamental care and concern for their parent, particularly if they become unwell as Thomas has.
“Estrangement between adult children and parents is emotionally painful, often arising from boundary violations or disappointment,” the expert explained. “Depending on the dynamics, adult children may worry for their parent, while needing to protect themselves, which leads to them experiencing both grief and ambivalence.”
Thomas’s repeated public criticisms of Meghan might only make things harder for the Duchess to manage, especially when she has been clear over the years that his comments to the media are definitely not welcome.
“Public statements against their wishes, as in this case, can intensify this tension,” Dr Halsall warns. “Healing relies on respecting boundaries, careful communication, and therapeutic support. If there is estrangement within a family, then it takes time to heal and resilience—the effort to balance love, concern, and self-protection while maintaining psychological well-being for yourself.”
Ahead of Harry and Meghan’s wedding, Thomas staged papparazzi photographs of himself getting a suit fitted in order to make some money, something he later called “stupid and hammy”. He suffered a heart attack shortly before the nuptials, when he was living in Mexico, and it claimed by the Palace that this was why he would not attend.
For her part, Meghan later claimed she found out from the press that Thomas was not coming to her wedding, with King Charles stepping in and walking her down the aisle. She also said in the Sussex’ Netflix documentary that she asked her father if he had been speaking to the media, and he denied it initially.
She also alleged that when her father text messaged her around this time, she started to believe his phone had been “compromised” because the messages did not match his usual writing style, and he called her “Meghan”, not the usual nickname of “Meg”.
Meghan also opened up about her estranged father during the Sussexes’ explosive sit-down with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. “I grieve a lot,” she confessed, before adding: “I mean, I’ve lost my father.”
Despite Thomas and Meghan’s mum Doria breaking up when the duchess was just three-years-old, Meghan always had a close relationship with her father while growing up in California. She lived with Thomas between the ages of 11 and 18 while her mum travelled, and even called him “thoughtful, inspiring, hardworking” in a 2014 social media post.
But her mother, Doria, blasted her ex for his actions of staging the photos and talking to the press, saying in the Sussex’s documentary that she was “absolutely stunned” by his behaviour, adding that “as a parent, that’s not what you do. That’s not parenting.”
Thomas did not stay quiet over the years that followed about his daughter, repeatedly taking part in further interviews about her. He dubbed their exit from royal life the “dumbest thing they could have done”, and due to the estrangement, has never met his grandchildren, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four.
Harry has opened up about his own feelings on the strained relationship, indicating to some degree he blames himself. “She had a father before this, and now she doesn’t have a father,” he said in the documentary.
But despite the ongoing turmoil, Thomas has said he will love his daughter forever. Appearing on Good Morning Britain back in September, he claimed: “I’ve always been here for her, I love her, I’ll love her forever. I want her to reach out to me and let me see my grandkids and let me have a little peace. It’s been five years.”
More recently, Thomas make a painful reflection when he experienced a “terrifying” earthquake in the Phillipines, leaving his 19th-floor apartment swaying. He said: “If we die tonight, do you think Meghan will come to my funeral?” Then, apparently with a chuckle, he added: “Will I get a better funeral because my son-in-law is fifth in line to the throne?”
