Meghan Markle has cut all contact with her father, Thomas Markle Sr – and her estrangement from members of her family is said to have greatly concerned Princess Kate
It’s not only the royal family who are estranged from the Sussexes; Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also cut all contact with her father Thomas Markle, as well as her half-siblings Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr.
It was revealed this week that 80-year-old Thomas is ‘struggling’ with his new life in the Philippines, where he lives in a £500-a-month high-rise flat. The former Hollywood lighting director has settled on the densely populated island of Cebu, more than 7,000 miles from his daughter, son-in-law Prince Harry, and grandchildren Archie and Lilibet.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle’s half-brother Thomas set to spill memories in new book
Thomas has never met the children, nor has he met Harry—despite the fact that the couple has been married since 2018. Speaking earlier this year about his decision to move abroad, Thomas said: “At 80, it is time to go somewhere where the people are lovely and I can enjoy a quieter, friendlier existence.
“Mostly, I just want peace. At 80, none of us know how long we have left. I want whatever time I have to be peaceful with none of the awful drama of recent years.”
That “drama” includes his public fallout with Meghan, which began in the lead-up to her royal wedding in May 2018, and is said to have especially concerned Princess Kate. It was originally confirmed that Thomas would be at the nuptials to give Meghan away.
But things changed when he found himself at the centre of a media scandal. Thomas was caught staging paparazzi snaps of himself preparing for the wedding in exchange for payment, and then announced he would not be attending after the fallout from the scandal left him looking “stupid and hammy”.
The Palace, meanwhile, announced Thomas had suffered a heart attack, suggesting this was the reason for his absence. Over the years, Thomas has made public pleas to his daughter to reconcile and has said he is “desperate” for Meghan to forgive him.
In 2021, Meghan opened up about her estranged father as she sat down for the Sussexes’ bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. “I grieve a lot,” she admitted before adding: “I mean, I’ve lost my father.”
Royal author Ingrid Seward said of the future Queen Catherine: “She could not understand why Harry had never met his future father-in-law, nor why Meghan, who Harry assured was The One and ‘ticked all his boxes’, appeared embarrassed about her family and unwilling to speak about them apart from her mother.”
According to Ingrid, Kate – who is incredibly close to her own family – found it “all a bit worrying”.
Harry, meanwhile, was accused of pouring fuel onto the fire in 2017 during a Radio 4 interview, when he was asked if there were family traditions he needed to explain to his future wife. “Plenty. We’ve got one of the biggest families that I know of and every family is complex as well,” he said. “She’s done an absolutely amazing job. She’s getting in there and it’s the family, I suppose, she’s never had.”
Writing in their book, Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, noted: “Harry’s comment only heightened the already tenuous family dynamic and foreshadowed what was to come.”
In response to Harry’s remarks, Meghan’s half-sister Samantha took to X (formerly Twitter ), writing: “Actually she has a large family who were always there with her and for her. Our household was very normal and when dad and Doria divorced, we all made it so it was like she had two houses. No one was estranged, she was just too busy.”
Source: Mirror
Leave a Reply