Is Meghan about to cut all ties with her father?
They haven’t spoken since that bombshell interview and courtiers are at a loss over how to handle him . . .
plane, he didn’t even need to pack, everything would be provided for him,’ says a friend who speaks to him frequently.
‘He said he felt he would just get in the way and he would come nearer the time. Meghan arranged for suits to be made under a false name by a Beverly Hills tailor and shoes had been ordered from [luxury shoe manufacturer] Crockett and Jones. He told me he had written his father-of–the-bride speech in good time.’
Markle also told friends that Prince Harry offered to arrange for an embassy official to be a ‘liaison’ figure for him — an offer he had declined.
It has recently been suggested that the royal strategy is to do nothing in the hope that the storm will die down. In fact, royal advisers have met to discuss what they can possibly do, and there is concern about his long-term health.
One idea was to provide Markle with a property and an allowance, but it was discarded early on. ‘There are other Markles out there and it might encourage them to come out of the woodwork,’ seems to be the refrain.
Instead, what seems to be inevitable is that if he continues to speak out, Meghan will be forced to distance herself from her father even further.
‘She’s a royal now — a cultural gulf is opening up between them,’ says one figure who has observed the crisis at close hand.
With all their experience of welcoming new blood into the family, the approach to Meghan’s father does seem to border on careless.
I understand that one Palace aide communicated with him only by text message — although that is Markle’s preferred method of conversing — even with his daughter.
‘This is new territory for the royals, to have an out-of-control inlaw,’ says a former courtier. When Sophie Rhys-Jones married Prince Edward, the Queen went out of her way to welcome her parents into the family, something that continues to this day with her widowed father, Christopher Bournes Rhys-Jones.
The same can be said, up to a point, with Kate Middleton’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton.
The idea behind royal thinking can be gauged from a remark Prince Philip once made.
‘It is much safer to unburden yourself to a member of the family rather than to just a friend,’ he declared.
‘You see, you are never quite sure. A small indiscretion can lead to all sorts of difficulties.’
The question is, why wasn’t more effort made with Tom Markle?
Clearly distance, the seven-hour time difference and Markle’s stubborn refusal to accept help have been big contributory factors.
‘He’s actually not as short of money as has been suggested,’ says one Markle source in Mexico.
‘He has a decent pension because the studios where he worked are unionised and he did long service, plus he doesn’t have any hobbies — certainly not expensive ones.’
While Markle remains off-line with his daughter, his relationship with website TMZ flourishes.
‘They report his views uncut,’ says a friend, ‘that’s why he goes to them.’
As for royal sensitivities about his comments, his friend says: ‘He doesn’t understand the protocol, all he wants is to see his daughter and meet his son-in-law.
‘The way he sees it, he’s the only Markle that counts — and he should count to them.’
‘He thinks he’s the only Markle that counts’