Meghan Markle Allegedly Feels 'She Can't Win' as Her Dad Looks to Earn Big With TV Interview
According to columnist Rob Shuter, Meghan Markle is 'upset and frustrated' at her father's attempts to air their dirty laundry to the press.
Meghan Markle was estranged from her father, Thomas Markle, after he admitted to staging paparazzi photos in the lead-up to her 2018 royal wedding. That hostility changed on December 2, when Thomas was admitted in critical condition and underwent leg amputation. After Markle's spokesperson confirmed she had reached out to him, several reports questioned its veracity. Commenting on the same, a source claims that the Duchess has lost hope, as no matter what she does, Thomas would not stop fishing for paydays with his 'post-surgery' interview.
According to the royal columnist Rob Shuter, Markle is reportedly 'upset, frustrated, but mostly tired,' at her father's attempts to make quick cash by airing their dirty laundry to the press, as he has done time and again. In a new article on his Substack, he claimed a source told him, "Thomas is angling for a payday. He wants a TV deal. He's already done the print interview and the photo — now he's shopping the on-air version." Similarly, another insisted, "He [Thomas] keeps saying the picture of him without a leg would be 'powerful.' He thinks TV networks will bite. He's asking around for numbers. He knows exactly how this tango works — he's done it before."
Despite Markle's best attempts to mend fences with her father, an insider revealed that she is allegedly tired of his antics. They said, "She feels she can't win. If she calls him, it's a headline. If she doesn't, it's a headline too…Damned if she does, damned if she doesn't." Meanwhile, Prince Harry is reportedly in his peacemaker mode, urging his wife to forgive Thomas before it's too late. A source stressed, "He's [Harry] nudging her [Markle] to call Thomas again…He keeps saying, 'Just call him, it might calm things down.' But Meghan doesn't think it ever does." As another aptly put it that Markle was trying to protect her peace, while Harry was trying to de-escalate the situation.
Just two days after Thomas's hospitalization in the Philippines went public, Shuter documented the accounts of his sources on the situation on his Substack. According to him, an insider shared, "Harry knows estrangement. He made peace with his dad; now he wants Meghan to have the same chance. He's been saying, 'Don't wait, do it now.'" A close friend also cautioned that if the Duchess chose 'silence' over 'family,' she risked losing her father.
Meanwhile, Markle has reportedly issued Thomas an urgent message, asking him to check his emails. A source told The Independent, "The Mail made no attempt to contact the Duchess's team, prior to publication, to verify the claims in their report. Had they asked – particularly in light of the quotes they relied upon from Mr Markle and hospital staff – we would simply have told them to ask Mr Markle to check his email." They were referring to the Daily Mail's report on December 7, which alleged that Thomas had received no messages from his daughter post-surgery.
