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The relationship between the Duchess of Sussex and her father has made for some royal drama.
By Roman Chiarello — Written on Jun 29, 2018
Just days before the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle, Meghan’s father Thomas Markle made headlines for allegedly staging paparazzi photos in order to improve his public image.
It was then revealed just days later that Thomas Markle would not attend Meghan’s wedding, where he had been slated to walk his daughter down the aisle.
This controversial series of events played out in the media as Meghan, now known as “Meghan, Duchess of Sussex,” prepared to join the British Royal Family. But the relationship between Meghan and Thomas Markle has much more to it than just these few events. Read on for some of the most interesting details about their father-daughter relationship.
1. Thomas divorced Meghan’s mother when Meghan was young.
Thomas met Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, in the late 1970s; the two divorced during Meghan's early childhood.
Last year, Meghan told Vanity Fair about the relationship between her mother and father after their divorce: “What’s so incredible, you know, is that my parents split up when I was two, [but] I never saw them fight. We would still take vacations together. My dad would come on Sundays to drop me off, and we’d watch Jeopardy! eating dinner on TV trays, the three of us... We were still so close-knit.”
2. Meghan's half-siblings accused her of abandoning the family.
Prior to marrying Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, Thomas had also been married to Roslyn Loveless, Vanity Fair reports. Thomas has two children with Loveless, named Samantha and Thomas Jr.
Though Meghan has spoken about the close relationship between her and her parents, this warmth apparently does not extend to her half-siblings, who have both accused Meghan of abandoning the family.
Back in April in an interview with In Touch, Thomas Jr. described a conversation between his and Meghan’s lawyers in which Meghan allegedly referred to her half-brother as “distant family.” And Samantha Grant, Meghan’s half-sister, infamously expressed doubts about Meghan and Harry’s relationship to The Sun in November 2016, shortly after the two began dating: “Her behaviour is certainly not befitting of a Royal Family member,” said Grant.
3. Thomas has only spoken to Prince Harry over the phone.
In a controversial interview with Good Morning Britain, Thomas described a phone conversation he had with Prince Harry months before Harry and Meghan’s engagement was announced. Thomas revealed that the conversation had mostly been about American and British politics.
Thomas described Prince Harry’s political beliefs, saying “I would hope not now, but at the time, he might have been” a Trump supporter, and “I think he was open to the experiment” of Brexit."
Though the two have never met in person, Thomas told Good Morning Britain he had no doubts that Meghan was making the right decision in marrying Prince Harry: “My daughter’s very intelligent, she knows how to choose who she wants to be with. She’s a smart girl, and she made a good pick, didn’t she!”
4. Thomas allegedly staged paparazzi photos of himself ahead of the Royal Wedding.
In the weeks leading up to the Royal Wedding, Thomas Markle is alleged to have staged and sold paparazzi photos of himself in an internet cafe. Photographs published by The Daily Mail appear to show Thomas meeting with photographer Jeff Rayner, booking a computer to use in the café, and reading a story about his daughter Meghan and Prince Harry.
This event apparently caused tension between Thomas and Meghan as Meghan prepared for her wedding day. An unnamed source told Us Weekly, “Meghan is upset and disturbed by the entire ordeal and just wants to move past it. […] She doesn’t want to let anything ruin her day and is trying to keep focus on the weekend.”
5. Meghan's dad didn't attend the Royal Wedding.
Later in the Good Morning Britain interview, Thomas explained the health scares that he says plagued him in the days leading up to the Royal Wedding and prevented him from walking Meghan down the aisle.
“The truth is that I couldn’t get over the fact that [the photo incident] had happened, all of that stuff was working on me,” said Thomas, who was transported to the hospital because of heart palpitations and had a heart attack just a few days before the wedding. After this, he checked himself out of the hospital, only to return with more palpitations and undergo a heart surgery, ultimately which prevented him from traveling to the wedding.
6. Meghan was allegedly upset after her father appeared on Good Morning Britain.
After her father’s Good Morning Britain appearance, Meghan is reported to have felt “blindsided” and “devastated.” A source identified as a close friend of Meghan told Yahoo News about Meghan’s reactions in the wake of her father’s paid interview.
“Meghan does not understand why her father is doing all this,” said the source. “She is trying so hard to fit in and adapt to this very new way of life and she was once again blindsided by a father who supposedly cares about her and doesn’t want to embarrass her. Given the media circus surrounding her father’s actions before the wedding, Meghan had hoped he would have learned his lesson. She is devastated over this.”
7. Thomas is making waves with Meghan’s new in-laws.
Thomas has been outspoken about Queen Elizabeth’s willingness to meet with American President Donald Trump. According to TMZ, the two world leaders are scheduled to meet next month in the U.K., and Thomas feels slighted that the British monarch would meet with Trump over him.
“If the Queen is willing to meet our arrogant, ignorant, and insensitive president she has no excuse not to meet me, I’m nowhere near as bad,” Thomas told TMZ.
Roman Chiarello is a writer and aspiring journalist who is committed to helping others. He currently attends Pace University and resides in New Jersey.