Why Has Meghan Markle’s Father Never Met Prince Harry? Expert Claims There Are 3 Reasons For It
Meghan Markle's father hasn't met her since she married the Duke of Sussex in 2018.
Thomas Markle's absence from Meghan Markle's wedding to Prince Harry sparked widespread discussions about their strained father-daughter relationship. Since then, Meghan and her father have remained estranged, to the point where the retired television lighting director hasn't met his son-in-law or his two grandchildren. Royal experts recently revisited Meghan's relationship with her father, sharing possible reasons that may have kept them apart.
Talking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, royal author and broadcaster Hugo Vickers said, “Why did Mr. Markle never meet Prince Harry?” He further continued, “There can only be three reasons for that. One that she was ashamed of him, which I think is a bit unattractive.” Before stating the second reason, Vickers recounted Harry's proposal to Meghan and shared, “Two, possibly that she thought he'd done something, but when Prince Harry rang Mr. Markle up and asked if he could marry his daughter, he said ‘you can marry her as long as you never raise your hand against her.’ Of course, we don't talk like that, so maybe he lives in a world where people have done that sort of thing.” Coming to the third one, Vickers claimed, “The third reason is that I think she was worried that he might actually have warned Prince Harry - this is not what you're getting, this girl.”
Thomas, who is now 80, did not attend his daughter’s televised royal wedding, which was viewed by nearly 1.9 billion people worldwide. His health issues were cited as the reason he missed the royal wedding. In his absence, King Charles walked Markle down the aisle and gave her away. As with any other viewer, Thomas watched the wedding from an Airbnb in the country. Sharing his thoughts on this, Vickers opined, “Mr Markle should have been at the wedding and they should have flown him over and stuck him in a health farm in the Shetlands or somewhere.” In his views, the Duke of Sussex should have visited him, and “if he couldn't have walked the aisle, he should have been sitting there” after everything he has done for his daughter.
Despite the strained relationship he shares with his daughter, Thomas has expressed his desperation to see his grandkids: Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Speaking with the Daily Mail, he said, “I’ve never been one for birthdays, but I know the one person I most want to hear from, Meghan, won’t be in touch.” He continued, “I would love to meet my grandchildren, but I would be happy with a photograph at this stage.”
Comparing his situation to that of King Charles, he added, “They have two grandpas who want to see them, one of whom is the King of England. I never in my 80 years thought I’d be in the same boat as the king.” The 80-year-old also criticized his son-in-law Harry for never making an effort to meet him, saying, “What man gets married without meeting his wife’s father?” Thomas has allegedly moved to Southeast Asia after living in California for 10 years to spend his time surrounded by ‘kinder people.’
