In almost every family, there are going to be problems that happen behind the scenes. This includes the British Royal family, and Meghan Markle is someone who understands this well.
Meghan Markle, who is married to Prince Harry and part of the British Royal family as a result also has two children. Her mother is very close to her, but her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, has not been going very well.
In 2021, Thomas was interviewed and he shared a memory about his daughter’s birth in 1981. He said that he was the first to hold her, relating: “I fell in love with her and I’d been that way for 40 years.” As you can tell, they used to have a warm relationship.
Meghan also spoke about her childhood in an interview and said that her parents met in the 70s. Her mother was working in a studio and her father was a lighting director for a soap opera.
They were married in 1979 but unfortunately, they were divorced in 1987. Things were going well, but when her father got mixed up in social media, it put a strain on the relationship.
Thomas had a heart attack a few days before Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018. He shared that his stress was partly due to his oldest daughter’s remarks against Meghan, which caused his condition to worsen.
He stayed in the hospital in Mexico for a little while and was afraid that he might have another heart attack. It was then said that he would not be attending the wedding.
Meghan said in an announcement: “Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding.” Rather than walking his daughter down the aisle, Prince Charles was given that honor.
Thomas was appreciative of it, saying that he couldn’t have asked for a better replacement, even though he would have loved to do it.
After some backlash occurred when he staged photos and sold them to a photo agency, things got even worse. He said that he didn’t intend on harming the royal family or his daughter, but the paparazzi had frustrated him and caught him in some unfortunate situations.
He ended up accepting a small fee from a photo agency and hoped that his public image would be improved. Later, he did admit that they were ‘stupid and hammy’ and he regretted the choice.
This caused some embarrassment for the royal family before the wedding, including for Prince Harry who had asked the media to restrain themselves during that time. He also reached out to Thomas and told him: “If you’d listened to me, none of this would have happened.”
After the fallout, there was a long time when Thomas did not speak to either Prince Harry or his daughter. He was afraid that he would never see her again.
Meghan had written him a letter which was leaked to the media and this caused her to pursue legal action against the outlet. Now that it was out, however, it could not be taken back.
Things have progressed and now Thomas has voiced his wishes to see his grandchildren in a 2023 interview. He had actually learned about the birth of his granddaughter through the media.
Reflecting on this, he said: “I’m heartbroken. I’m very upset” and said that it was very painful and cruel that he could not see his grandchildren.
You never know where things like this will land, but it doesn’t look very promising for this to be resolved anytime soon.
