Father’s ‘lies’ over staged photographs
THOMAS Markle ‘lied’ to his daughter Meghan about collaborating with a paparazzi photographer, the explosive new book claims.
Shortly before his daughter’s wedding, he was pictured getting fitted for a suit and flicking through a book about British history at a coffee shop. Other images showed him reading about his daughter and Harry on a computer at an internet café near his home in Rosarito, Mexico.
But a week before he was due to walk his daughter down the aisle in May 2018, the Mail revealed Mr Markle, 76, had secretly worked with a paparazzi photographer for the pictures. According to Finding Freedom, Meghan called her father when she found out the paper was planning to run the story.
The book claims she told her father: ‘Dad, we need to know if this is true or not, because my team is going to try to stop this story running – if you are telling me
‘Devastated by deception’
it’s fake.’ Meghan then allegedly asked: ‘You’re telling me you’re being victimised, right?’
The next passage of the book says: ‘He lied to Meghan. “Of course,” he promised, failing to admit he had participated in the staging of the photos.’ The book describes Meghan as being ‘devastated by her father’s deception’ and ‘concerned for his welfare’.
A trusted confidant told the authors she called her father ‘at least 20 times’ – but he never replied. The source is quoted in the book as saying: ‘Every single time she was calling him, she was like, “Dad, I love you. I just want you to know I love you. Everything is fine. Just get here. We’ll have the wedding. We’ll celebrate. Don’t worry about any of this stuff. Let’s just put it behind us”.’ The source continued: ‘I’ve heard her say, “My dad never sought this out. I really believe that he’s the victim, and now I feel sad because I believe he’s been fully corrupted”.’
Four days before the wedding took place, Meghan discovered her father had suffered a heart attack and would be unable to attend.
She is said to have sent a text to her father, saying: ‘I’ve been reaching out to you all weekend but you’re not taking any of our calls or replying to any texts... Very concerned about your health and safety and have taken every measure to protect you but not sure what more we can do if you don’t respond... Do you need help?’
That evening, Mr Markle allegedly sent a short response to say that he appreciated the offer of security but did not feel in any danger. Their relationship continued to deteriorate and earlier this year it emerged Mr Markle is preparing to give evidence against his daughter in a court case she has brought against the Mail on Sunday.
Messages between the pair, which emerged from court documents, reveal a different narrative to that in the book. The documents say that after Mr Markle messaged his daughter saying he could not come to her wedding on health grounds, he received a text that appeared to be from Prince Harry.
The message admonished him for talking to the press, accused him of causing hurt to his daughter and did not ask about his health. It left Mr Markle ‘deeply hurt’.