How one royal baby could help salve the wounds between Meghan, her ‘daddy’ and the Windsors

IN terms of royal pedigree, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s unborn baby may be way down the pecking order, but in one respect there is perhaps more hanging on the child’s birth than, say, the arrival of Prince George.

The latter’s birth was of historical importance, given his destiny as king, but while his first cousin is of slight constitutional relevance, in terms of creating harmony along the warring branches of the family tree, this as-yetunborn child could be hugely significant.

The interview with Thomas Markle in The Irish Mail on Sunday shows that relations have soured further between the lighting director, who lives in selfimposed exile near the Mexican-US border, and his youngest daughter.

Motives

Bristling with hurt and rejection, the 74-year-old senior citizen, who suffered two heart attacks in the run-up to his daughter’s royal wedding, admits to making mistakes – but claims that his banishment from Meghan’s life in no way fits his crime.

Meanwhile, in the UK, a froideur is said to exist between Princes William and Harry, once the closest of brothers, because of what Harry sees as his sibling’s lukewarm welcome for his bride. It appears that Prince Harry ‘went mental’ when his older brother questioned Meghan Markle’s motives and their hasty courtship.

To escape the tense and fractious atmosphere, the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex have decided to strike out on their own in Windsor, some 30 kilometres away from the Kensington Palace goldfish bowl.

It is there that their newborn son or daughter will be raised, showered in love and privilege, wanting for nothing except perhaps the support of a large extended family spanning two continents.

But it is also perfectly possible that this child could heal rifts that now seem unbridgeable, or be the glue to bring warring family factions together. For as many families who have been splintered by divorce or marital betrayal can tell, it’s often the arrival of an innocent newborn in their midst that causes hearts to melt or forgiveness to flow, and creates bonds of love and affection in all sorts of directions.

Firstly, the arrival of the new Duke and Duchess’s first child can’t but improve the reputation of the baby’s mother, which has suffered such a battering in recent weeks.

The baby’s existence transforms Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from cooing lovebirds into parents, and from that flows a well of public respect and goodwill for the future stability of their family unit and children.

Meghan’s status in British public life will be reaffirmed by motherhood and help rehabilitate her image as a demanding and difficult boss who has lost not one but two key assistants.

The frost between Princes Harry and William, and between their respective spouses, is also sure to melt as the latest addition to the youngest generation of the Windsors makes their presence felt.

But the new arrival’s influence on relations with Meghan’s estranged father, and the child’s grandfather, Thomas Markle, is just as key, given how his regular soul-baring interviews are such a source of hurt and humiliation for his daughter.

Thomas Markle cut a pitiful figure in his latest interview, speaking of his dread of the gathering festive season, the first without a card, call or visit from Meghan. ‘I have been frozen out and I can’t stay silent,’ he said. ‘I have made dozens of attempts to reach my daughter via text and letters, but she and Harry have put up a wall of silence.

Buffoon

‘They have done what they once told me not to do – they are believing everything negative that has been written about me. So I am reaching out to them, once again, to try to correct the lies and get the truth out there.’

Of course there are many who believe that Thomas Markle is nothing but a selfpitying buffoon and the author of his own downfall. How could his daughter trust him, they ask, when his indiscretion and collaborations with the media have caused her such distress and mortification?

His recent cry from the heart, they might say, is just a fig leaf for his latest betrayal, which is to put the spotlight back on Meghan’s first wedding, a relaxed beach affair in Jamaica which led to only two years of marriage to Hollywood producer Trevor Engelson.

The free and easy wedding, where all the guests were given a bag of cannabis on arrival, is the last thing the bride needs to be reminded of as she embarks upon her new marriage.

Firstly there is the contrast between this event and the pomp and ceremony of her Windsor wedding, where her requirements were so exact that there were rows about her tiara; about the flower girls’ dress fitting, which reduced Kate Middleton to tears; and air fresheners for ‘musty’ St George’s Chapel.

Secondly, the fact of the matter is that while Meghan and Harry may be perfectly justified in keeping Mr Markle at arm’s length, his heartbreak at his rejection undermines their reputation as serious humanitarians.

From this vantage point, it must seem to Meghan that from now on, every milestone, every change of season, every Christmas and birthday will be marked by her father sobbing in an interview about his love for his lost daughter.

She may want to ‘reach out’, as the Americans say, but how can she do so without giving ground to him and a licence for more betrayals?

Gushing

The arrival of his new grandchild may be the excuse she needs to climb down from the battlements and forge a reconciliation.

Not only that, but motherhood might make Meghan aware of the deep well of unconditional love that parents have for their offspring and cause her to be more forgiving of her own flesh and blood.

As a parent she might see her father through new eyes. Contrary to his shambolic image, he was not a deadbeat dad. He paid her school and college fees and he raised her alone from when she was 11 until she headed off to college. He cashed in Facebook shares to help pay for her first wedding.

Child-rearing might also teach Meghan that parenting is a tricky business and that steering a child along the path to adulthood is littered with land mines and mistakes.

Thomas Markle has an archive of gushing postcards, letters and cards from his once-adoring daughter which he treasures. ‘Daddy,’ goes one. ‘Everything you do for me has turned me into who I am and I am so grateful. All I want to do is make you proud… and I promise, no matter what, I’ll do it. Thank you for everything, Daddy. I love you with all my heart, now and forever.’

As Meghan penned those heartfelt lines she could not have imagined how she and her father would one day become so alienated from one another. Or that in order to restore relations, she might have to become the bigger person – and the parent.