Meghan Markle’s closest friends say she wrote a heartbreaking letter to her father
According to Meghan Markle’s close friends, the Duchess of Sussex has tried to repair the relationship between her and her father, but there’s a good reason why she has distanced herself from him.
Meghan Markle's estranged father is begging the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry to reconcile with him so he can meet his grandson — but he also slammed them for their alleged hypocrisy and dishonesty at the same time.
Thomas Markle told The Mail on Sunday that he was hoping to meet baby Archie or at least to receive a photo of the infant, but that it hasn't happened.
"I would like them to send me a picture of Archie so I can frame it and put it on my wall beside the one of Meghan," Thomas, 74, said during an interview — for which he reportedly wasn't compensated — from his home. "Isn't that what any grandfather would want? I'd love to know if he's got the famous Markle nose."
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"Sometimes I get the feeling people think I don't love my daughter," he said. "I do love her very much. I would love nothing more than to put a picture of Archie in a frame and place it beside the one of Meghan ... Of course I'm disappointed not to see Archie. I had hoped becoming a mother would mellow Meghan and she would reach out."
The interview came as a bit of a surprise, as Thomas has kept a low profile for months, but he said he did so only to keep the former "Suits" star from getting too stressed during her pregnancy.
MEGHAN MARKLE'S ESTRANGED HALF-BROTHER BEGS HER TO REUNITE THEIR FAMILY
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry cooing over baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The royal baby is their firstborn son. (Getty, File)
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"There was never any problem between Meghan and me until recently," he said. "I've stayed quiet because Meghan was pregnant with Archie but I'm speaking out now because they and their PR people are continuing to ghost me out of her life."
He added that he sent Duchess Meghan, 38, a birthday card in August through her Los Angeles-based financial adviser but he didn't know if she ever received it.
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The father-daughter duo became estranged after Thomas arranged for a paparazzi photo shoot leading up to her royal wedding to Prince Harry, which Thomas said he did to improve his public image from that of a seemingly "homeless" guy.
"It was a huge mistake. I wanted to apologize to the Royal Family publicly but Meghan and Harry told me not to," he said of the mishap. "So I texted Jason Knauf, who was Harry and Meghan's then press secretary, and he asked me what I'd like to say? I said I wanted to apologize to the Queen and the Royal Family and that I meant no harm. That apology never came out. I don't know why."
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Thomas missed the wedding, reportedly due to suffering two heart attacks, leading to his hospitalization. He said he heard neither from Duchess Meghan nor from Harry after the harrowing cardiac episodes, though Duchess Meghan previously wrote in a letter to her father (that he shared with the press) that she'd reached out to him.
"All I'd like to ask people is, 'How would you feel if your father had a heart attack?' I texted them from my hospital bed and told them where I was," he said. "I have the texts to prove it. Yet never once has Meghan ever asked me how I'm doing. Not then, not since."
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Thomas also took issue with Duchess Meghan's claims that she relied solely on financial aid to pay for her college education at Northwestern University, saying, "I'm sorry but that is completely untrue. I paid every penny of her tuition and I have the bank statements to prove it. I paid for her trips to Spain and England. I paid for her internship in Argentina."
Thomas, an award-winning lighting director on film and television, said it was a "point of pride" to pay for his daughter's education.
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"Meghan is saying she wants nothing to do with me and she worked her way through college all by herself," he griped. "I haven't said anything about it, but I'm sure reporters are checking at Northwestern to see who paid her way through school. She cannot change history."
He continued, "I'm sick of the lies. I'm sick of being vilified and shut out of their lives. I always upheld my responsibilities as a father. Meghan's comments about paying her way through college are offensive to me."
Thomas also criticized his daughter and son-in-law for their use of private jets despite their proclamations of environmental consciousness and concern for climate change, likening their alleged hypocrisy to their treatment of him.
"I don't think it's racist. I think it's a shame that Meghan and Harry say one thing and act another way," he said. "Whoever is advising them isn't doing a great job."
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"I feel sorry for them in a way because they brought this on themselves. You can't say one thing and do another," he said. "Everyone raves about how gracious and wonderful they are, but they are not wonderful to their own family. That's hypocritical. You can't portray yourself as being charitable and bringing people together and then ghost your own father and your entire family. Their treatment of me has left a lot to be desired."
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"I've still never met my son-in-law. Why couldn't Prince Harry have got on a plane and flown to see me to ask for her hand? He obviously has no problem getting on private jets," he said. "If he wants to come and see me on a private jet, there's an airport near here in Tijuana, and San Diego is just over the border. There are dozens of commercial flights from England to San Diego and Los Angeles every day."
Despite his flurry of criticisms and insults, Thomas said he still wanted to mend fences with Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry someday.
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"I don't want anything from Meghan or Harry but I'm not going to shut up until the whole truth is out there. I will continue to contradict anything said about me that isn't true," he said. "I have to stand up for myself. I'm going to carry on speaking and I'm not going to shut up. No father deserves this kind of abuse when he's been that good to his daughter. Ask anyone who knows us both. I've been very kind and generous to my daughter."
He added, "Everybody thinks I had nothing to do with her after [her mother] Doria and I divorced. The truth is she lived with me most of the time until she went off to college. I believe all family differences can be resolved and I believe that can still happen for me, Meghan and Harry."
Meghan Markle, her father, Thomas Markle, and Prince Harry have been feuding since before the royal wedding. Thomas staged a paparazzi photoshoot, much to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's chagrin, and hasn't stopped speaking to the media since before the big day. (Getty / YouTube, File)
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Considering Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's feud with her family came after her father and estranged half-sister, Samantha, began speaking to the media, reconciliation may be unlikely.
In a documentary released in April — about a month before Archie's birth — royal expert Duncan Larcombe speculated that Thomas would never meet the child.
“I can’t think for a moment that Thomas Markle will ever be able to meet his grandson or granddaughter,” said Larcombe, one of the experts consulted in the documentary “Meghan & Harry: A Royal Baby Story.”
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In February, Thomas published the letter Duchess Meghan sent him after the royal wedding begging him not to speak with the media anymore.
“If you love me, as you tell the press you do, please stop,” Markle wrote. “Please allow us to live our lives in peace. Please stop lying, please stop creating so much pain, please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband. I realize you are so far down this rabbit hole that you feel (or may not feel) there’s no way out, but if you take a moment to pause I think you’ll see that being able to live with a clear conscience is more valuable than any payment in the world.”
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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor attend The King Power Royal Charity Polo Day at Billingbear Polo Club on July 10, 2019 in Wokingham, England. (Getty)
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Markle also claimed she never received messages from Thomas regarding his reported heart attack, which he said took place just before her nuptials.
“You’ve told the press that you called me to say you weren’t coming to the wedding — that didn’t happen because you never called,” Markle wrote. “I have only ever loved, protected, and defended you, offering whatever financial support I could, worrying about your health. So the week of the wedding to hear about you having a heart attack through a tabloid was horrifying. I called and texted… I begged you to accept help — we sent someone to your home… and instead of speaking to me to accept this or any help, you stopped answering your phone and chose to only speak to tabloids.”
In the letter, Markle also addressed Thomas’ relationship with her half-sister.
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“I pleaded with you to stop reading the tabloids,” wrote Markle. “On a daily basis, you fixated and clicked on the lies they were writing about me, especially those manufactured by your other daughter, who I barely know. You watched me silently suffer at the hands of your vicious lies, I crumbled inside.”
Fox News' Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
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