Meghan Markle is estranged from her father Thomas Markle Snr as well as her half siblings Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr, with Prince Harry never having met these in-laws
Princess Kate had some reservations about Meghan Markle and was left concerned by her bitter family fallout, according to one royal expert.
The Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 is estranged from her father Thomas Markle Snr and half-siblings Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr. The feud was thrown into the spotlight when she married Prince Harry, with her father’s side of the family not attending the ceremony.
It’s believed Meghan has not spoken to her father since before her wedding and Thomas has never met his son-in-law. Royal expert Ingrid Seward said the Princess of Wales was concerned by the family dynamic. Here, we’ve taken a look inside the estrangement which Kate found “all a bit worrying”.
Father fallout
Meghan Markle is not close with her father ( Image: TIM STEWART NEWSLIMITED)
She hasn’t spoken to Thomas Markle Snr in years
Meghan had a close bond with her dad growing up, but the pair haven’t seen each other since before she married Harry. Royal author Ingrid Seward said the broken relationship between the father and daughter worried Princess Kate.
She The Sun: “She could not understand why Harry had never met his future father-in-law, nor why Meghan, who Harry assured was The One and ‘ticked all his boxes’, appeared embarrassed about her family and unwilling to speak about them apart from her mother.” According to Ingrid, Kate found it “all a bit worrying”.
Over the years, Thomas has made public pleas to his daughter to reconcile and has said he is “desperate” for Meghan to forgive him. His pleas for forgiveness come after the pair had a huge fall out in the run-up to Meghan and Harry’s 2018 wedding.
It was originally confirmed that Thomas would be in attendance at the wedding to give Meghan away. Things changed, however, when Thomas found himself at the centre of a media scandal.
He was caught staging paparazzi snaps of himself preparing for the wedding in exchange for payment. Thomas then announced he would not be attending the wedding after the fallout from the scandal left him looking “stupid and hammy”. The Palace instead announced Thomas had suffered a heart attack and reported this as the reason for his absence.
In 2021, Meghan opened up about her estranged father as she sat down for a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. “I grieve a lot,” she admitted before adding: “I mean, I’ve lost my father.”
Despite all the drama, Thomas has said he will love his daughter forever. Appearing on Good Morning Britain back in September, Thomas begged Meghan to let him see his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
“I’ve always been here for her, I love her, I’ll love her forever. I want her to reach out to me and let me see my grandkids and let me have a little peace. It’s been five years,” he pleaded. Elsewhere in the interview, Thomas spoke of how he still hasn’t seen his grandkids. He said: “I want to see my grandkids and I think the King wants to see his too.”
Sister’s court case
Samantha Markle accused Meghan of defamation ( Image: FOX via Getty Images)
Samantha Markle has made a number of attacks against Meghan over the years. In one scathing rant, she accused the Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 of lacking “empathy, remorse, or shame” and said she won’t reunite with her estranged family unless she has “a motive”.
Speaking about whether she would like to talk to her half-sister and “put all that water under the bridge”, Samantha said it is unlikely to happen. “I don’t think she would do it without a motive. I don’t think she’s capable of empathy, remorse, or shame. I don’t think she could feel enough to apologise,” she told Channel 7’s Liam Bartlett last April.
Meghan and Samantha’s relationship went from bad to worse when Samantha accused Meghan of defamation during her tell-all interview with Oprah. During the 2021 chat, Meghan said she had been raised as an “only child” and “doesn’t really know” Samantha.
Samantha then alleged Meghan defamed her when she made the claims. Samantha claimed the statements have damaged the credibility of her 2021 book The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister Part 1. In the book, Samantha details her relationship with Meghan growing up.
Samantha is seeking $75,000 (£59,000) in damages. A provisional trial date has been set for November 2024, with “in person” meetings set to take place beforehand.
The case comes after the Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 successfully had Samantha’s initial lawsuit dismissed. Samantha brought the defamation case against her younger half-sister in March 2022, alleging the Duchess had defamed her by giving information to an unauthorised biography called Finding Freedom and by discussing their relationship with Oprah on live TV.
The case was thrown out in March last year after a US District Judge ruled that Meghan’s comments were “not capable of being proven false” as they were opinions. Samantha then filed an amended complaint the following month.
A Florida judge ruled in favour of Meghan and dismissed the lawsuit, saying the former Suits actress was expressing “an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-sibling”. However, the judge did give Samantha the opportunity to partially refile her claim.
Cousin’s kindness
The Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 is also estranged from Shawn Johnson ( Image: Getty Images for Project Healthy Minds)
Shawn Johnson is estranged from his cousin Meghan Markle after the pair lost contact in their 20s. However, that didn’t stop him from speaking kindly about the Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍.
“She was always really sweet. She was kind and she always had a star quality about her,” he told the Daily Mail. Shawn added: “She was infectious with just the way she was and really mature for her age. She was always really looking after us and making sure that we’re all doing fine.”
Shawn, who is Meghan’s cousin on her mother’s side, said he hopes to get back in touch with the Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍. He also said he’s “happy that her life turned out the way it did” and said her family “all loved her”.
