In recent years, the strained relationship between Meghan Markle and her father has been a subject of intense media scrutiny. The father and daughter have been out of touch, and it is reported that the Duchess of Sussex has limited her father’s access to his grandchildren due to the persisting family discord.
Meghan Markle, who entered the British Royal Family through her marriage to Prince Harry, has two children with him. While she has a strong connection with her mother, Doria Ragland, her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, took a turn for the worse, leading to a widely publicized estrangement.
Back in 2021, during an interview, Thomas shared a poignant memory of Meghan’s birth in 1961, stating that he was the first to hold her. “I fell in love with her and remained that way for 40 years,” said the Pennsylvania native, who also has two older children from his first marriage.
Meghan herself, in an essay for Elle magazine, reminisced about her childhood and disclosed that her parents met in the late 1970s. Her father worked as a lighting director for a soap opera, and her mother was a temp at the studio.
After getting married in 1979, the couple settled in an affordable, tree-lined neighborhood in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley. However, Meghan’s family life changed when her parents divorced in 1987, despite the close bond she had with both parents in her early years.
As Meghan grew up, she pursued an acting career and eventually crossed paths with Prince Harry. But in the midst of her rising stardom and high-profile relationship, her father’s actions led to a strain in their relationship.
During Meghan and Prince Harry’s engagement in 2017, Thomas faced health problems, including a heart attack just days before the wedding in May 2018. He attributed the worsening of his condition, in part, to stress caused by his eldest daughter’s public remarks about Meghan.
Thomas revealed that he hadn’t heard from Meghan since the news broke that he wouldn’t be attending the wedding. Although he thought her mother was a suitable choice to accompany her down the aisle, he expressed concerns about his health after being hospitalized in Mexico, fearing another heart attack.
Subsequently, just before the wedding, Meghan announced in a statement from Kensington Palace, “Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding.”
In his absence, King Charles III walked Meghan down the aisle when she married Prince Harry. Thomas expressed his gratitude to the King, saying, “I certainly couldn’t have asked for a better replacement. Although, I would have loved to have done that.”
The reason Thomas missed the wedding was the backlash over the staged photos he sold to a photo agency. He claimed that he didn’t mean to harm Meghan or the Royal Family but was frustrated with the paparazzi who had repeatedly photographed him in unflattering situations and misrepresented him.
Thomas also disclosed that he had declined high-paying interview offers since Meghan started dating the prince. He accepted a smaller fee from a photo agency, hoping the images would improve his public image. However, he later regretted his decision, admitting that the photos looked “stupid and hammy.”
Thomas’s secret cooperation with a British paparazzo for the staged photos embarrassed the Royal Family before the wedding, especially considering Prince Harry’s previous pleas for media restraint.
The situation was particularly distressing for the Duke of Sussex, who had previously spoken out against paparazzi behavior, remembering how similar pursuits had led to the tragic death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.
During Thomas’s hospital recovery, the royal contacted him, saying, “If you’d listened to me, none of this would have happened,” referring to the staged photo controversy.
Thomas reportedly ended the call abruptly, a decision he later regretted, as he believed this moment marked the start of their rift.
After the initial fallout, he confided to friends in July 2018 that he hadn’t spoken to Meghan or Prince Harry for a long time and feared he might never see his daughter again.
Heartbroken over the growing estrangement, he felt a sense of finality, saying, “I think they’re shot of me now,” as he struggled to understand why he had been excluded from Meghan’s life. Thomas later claimed he had been set up to disrupt the wedding, portraying himself as a victim.
Adding to the strain, Meghan had written him a personal letter, which was leaked by a media outlet. This invasion of privacy led Meghan to take legal action against the outlet for sharing the contents of her private message.
With the ongoing rift, Meghan has prevented her father from meeting her two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who were born in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
Thomas has since expressed his desire to see his grandchildren. In a 2023 interview, he revealed that he first learned of Lilibet’s birth through media reports.