‘NO WAY BACK!’ Meghan’s dad’s final betrayal
It started out as a mere annoyance that had palace officials rolling their eyes. But the feud between Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and her father Thomas Markle has escalated into a full-blown crisis that’s left courtiers despairing it’ll ever be fixed.
Thomas’ decision last week to show media a deeply personal letter Meghan sent, asking him
to stop ‘victimising’ her and speaking out about her and husband Prince Harry, has further fuelled a fire that staff have been trying to extinguish since the days leading up to the couple’s wedding last year.
Meghan’s relationship with her dad has been strained since it was revealed that Thomas (74) posed for so-called paparazzi shots, and has been made worse by his insistence on speaking to the media about his daughter and son-in-law.
The retired lighting director took the drastic step of releasing the five-page letter, sent by Meghan in August last year, after several of her friends criticised him in a magazine article. Meanwhile, the royals’ press team is said to be furious that Meghan bypassed them and gave her pals the go-ahead to be interviewed for the People story.
Royal observers say the fact she permitted her pals, who spoke positively about her, to talk to the media, while telling her dad to keep his comments to himself, is hypocritical.
And stuck in the middle of the whole mess is Harry (34). Fiercely protective of Meghan (37) – while they were dating he issued a strongly worded statement asking the media and online trolls to stop harassing her – he has so far kept quiet about the issues with her family.
But those who know him well say he’s angry and upset that Thomas continues to speak to the media and this latest incident is likely to ruin any chance of a reconciliation.
Some fear that the stress of the situation may cause him to blow, which would have repercussions throughout the royal family.