Everything Meghan Markle has said about her estranged dad as he speaks out

04 December 2023 , 13:00

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Meghan Markle and her father Thomas have a strained relationship

Meghan Markle used to have a close relationship with her dad Thomas Markle, but the pair haven't seen each other since before her wedding to Prince Harry.

Over the weekend however, the actress-turned-Duchess' estranged father spoke out about his daughter. The 79-year-old described the current silence from the Duke and Duchess of Suessex as "unusual", amid the fallout from the "translation error" in the Dutch version of Omid Scobie's new book Endgame.

Meghan and her husband Prince Harry - as well as the entire British Royal Family - have maintained their silence since the alleged Royal race row was reignited after King Charles and the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton were named in the Dutch version of Scobie's new book.

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Thomas Markle is Meghan's estranged father whom she has not seen since 2018

Last week, they were named in the book as the royals who allegedly discussed what colour skin Harry and Meghan’s first baby Archie would have when he was born. Meghan and Harry first told the story in 2021 without naming anybody during their chat with Oprah Winfrey. Meghan alleged a senior royal had raised “concerns” over how dark Archie would be in a private conversation with Harry.

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When the Sussexes made their explosive allegations on Oprah, in an interview broadcast around the world, they set in train a public debate about who in the royal family have questioned Archie's skin tone. In a multicultural modern Britain such allegations against the monarchy generated debate on a matter of such public importance with Scobie's new book claiming to add to that public debate.

Talking to the Daily Mail about the fallout and the Sussexes', Mr Markle has said: "The fact that Harry and Meghan have not publicly distanced themselves from this strikes me as unusual."

But what has Meghan said about her estranged father in the past? And why did the pair fall out?

Although the Duchess' father Thomas split from her mother Doria Ragland when Meghan was young, the former actress was rather close to her dad as she grew up. But then when Meghan began dating Prince Harry, something shifted.

As Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry approached in 2018, the Duchess-to-be's relationship with her father began hitting the headlines. At first, Kensington Palace had confirmed that Meghan's father would be in attendance at the wedding to give her away.

But things took a turn when Thomas became the centre of a scandal when he was caught staging paparazzi snaps of himself preparing for the wedding in exchange for payment. Thomas then confirmed later that he would not attend the wedding after the fallout from the scandal left him looking "stupid and hammy".

The pair were said to be close as the Duchess grew up (Netflix)

But the Palace went on to confirm that the real reason behind Thomas not attending his daughter's wedding was due to health issues after he was reported to have had a heart attack.

A statement from Meghan distributed by the Palace said: "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health."

Then, in 2021, following Meghan and Harry's departure from England the British Royal, the couple sat down for a tell-all chat with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. And while in conversation with the beloved TV star, Meghan addressed her falling out with her estranged father.

"I grieve a lot," she told Oprah. "I mean, I’ve lost my father. I lost a baby. I nearly lost my name. I mean, there’s the loss of identity. But I’m still standing, and my hope for people in the takeaway from this is to know that there’s another side.

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"For over a year, the UK tabloids were trying to find my dad, offering people so much money to try to find his address. Once they did, I remember being told there was a huge headline like, ‘We Found Him!’ or ‘We Got Him!’. The whole thing brings us to where we are today."

Also in the interview with Oprah, Meghan was asked if she felt betrayed by her father speaking to the UK tabloids. Meghan said she did not know if she was comfortable "even talking about that."

"If we were going to use the word betrayal, it's because when I asked him, when we were told by the comms team, this is a story that was going to be coming out, which, by the way, the tabloids had apparently known for a month or so and decided to hold until the Sunday before our wedding because they wanted to create drama, which is also a really key point in all this," she said.

Mollie Quirk