Many people are intrigued by the conflict occurring within the royal family. It stems from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who seem to be at odds with the rest of the family.
When you look at it closer, you find out that it is not only the royal family that is at odds with Harry and Meghan, it is also her father. In fact, he has never had an opportunity to see the grandchildren.
After Meghan Markle became part of the royal family by marrying Prince Harry, it wasn’t long before issues were happening. Issues had already been occurring within her family, as she was estranged from her father, Thomas Markle for years.
The Duchess of Sussex made the decision to keep her father from seeing the two children that she shares with Prince Harry. On the other hand, she continues to have a close relationship with her mother, Doria Ragland.
They didn’t always have such a difficult relationship. When Thomas was interviewed in 2021, he shared a fond memory of his daughter’s birth in 1981. He said that he was the first to hold her and said: “I fell in love with her and I’d been that way for 40 years.”
Meghan also spoke fondly of her childhood when giving an essay for Elle magazine. She said that her parents met in the 1970s, with her father being a lighting director for a soap opera and her mother working as a temp at the studio.
They got married in 1979 and moved to a neighborhood in an LA suburb. She was close to her parents then but when her parents divorced in 1987, things changed direction.
She grew up and pursued a career in acting and did quite well but when she met Harry in 2016, her father made a big mistake. He talked to the media, and that put a strain on their relationship.
When Meghan and Prince Harry were engaged in 2017, her father had a heart attack and other health issues just before the wedding. He said that it was partly due to the stress that his oldest daughter gave him when she made public remarks against Meghan.
He stayed at a hospital in Mexico to get better and ended up still being concerned about his health. He was afraid that he would have another heart attack. He didn’t attend the wedding and the news was that it was due to his health.
Meghan shared a statement from Kensington Palace before the ceremony. It said: “Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding.” As a result, Thomas missed the opportunity to walk his daughter down the aisle though he felt her mother was a good choice to do the honors.”
Charles was able to walk her down the aisle. Thomas was appreciative of this, and said: “I certainly couldn’t have asked for a better replacement. Although, I would love to have done that.”
Along with having health problems, he also faced criticism because of staged photos sold to a photo agency. He said that he wasn’t trying to harm the royal family but the paparazzi had frustrated him and often caught him in bad situations to misrepresent him.
He had declined some interviews that would’ve paid well since she started dating the prince. The photo agency offered him a small fee and he hoped that it would do well for his public image. Later, he admitted that the pictures looked ‘stupid and hammy’ and he regretted it.
Since he collaborated with a British paparazzo to offer the staged photos, the royal family was embarrassed before the wedding. Prince Harry had already asked the media to calm down during that time.
The Duke of Sussex was especially stressed out over the situation. He had previously voiced his negative opinion about the paparazzi and their behavior, especially considering how it led to his mother’s death in 1997.
As Thomas was in the hospital recovering, Prince Harry reached out to him and told him: “If you’d listened to me, none of this would have happened.”
Thomas did not end the call well and he regretted that decision, acknowledging that it was a moment that started the rift in the family. Later, he told friends in July 2018 that he had not spoken to either of them in quite some time and he was afraid he would never see his daughter again.
Further issues continued to occur which resulted in Meghan sending her father a letter, which was leaked to the media. Because of the lack of privacy, she ended up suing the media outlet.
Through it all, Thomas has never seen his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. He still hopes to see his grandchildren someday so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
