CAROLINE GRAHAM

IT WAS the middle of the night as Thomas Markle drove his trusty 20year-old silver Volvo towards the USMexico border.

The 74-year-old retired Hollywood lighting director was listening to KABC Talk Radio when the conversation was suddenly interrupted just before 1am with a newsflash: ‘Kensington Palace confirmed that Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry are expecting their first child in the spring.’

For Mr Markle, Meghan’s estranged father, the news was ‘overwhelming and joyful’.

In his first interview since the pregnancy was announced, Mr Markle, said: ‘The first thing I thought about was holding Meghan in my arms as a newborn 37 years ago.

‘I thought, “My baby is having a baby.” It was a very proud moment.

‘I was filled with love, joy and happiness for both my beautiful daughter and my son-in-law. A new baby is a blessing and I look forward to seeing a little Meghan or a little Harry.’

He recalled how, in the early hours of August 4, 1981, his daughter was born in Canoga Park hospital in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

‘It was in the middle of the night when Meghan was born by caesarean section. Doria [Meghan’s mother] was sleeping [anaesthetised] and so I was the first person in the world to hold Meghan.

‘When they handed her to me and I held her in my arms for the first time it was love at first sight. She was the most beautiful baby.

‘Meghan winked at me and I fell in love and have never stopped loving her from that day forward.’

When Kensington Palace made the announcement on Monday – shortly after Harry and Meghan landed in Sydney for a 16-day royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji – a spokesman said: ‘The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted for the couple. Ms Doria Ragland [Meghan’s mother] is very happy about the lovely news and she looks forward to welcoming her first grandchild.’

It was not known at that stage if Mr Markle had been told. He has denied stories claiming that Doria revealed the news to him before the official announcement. She is understood to be planning to move to Britain to help care for the baby.

Mr Markle refuses to say anything negative about his daughter and

Doria was asleep, so I was the first one in the world to hold Meghan