Meghan’s saviour! Oprah to the rescue Can she solve the Markle debacle?
Thetalkqueen plansafamily peacesummit!
As her toxic family feud rages on, the Duchess of Sussex could be forgiven for seeming downcast and distracted. But as she attended a wedding last week – on the same day she turned 37 – Meghan looked radiant and full of joy.
Wowing onlookers in a chic pleated midi-dress, the former
Suits actress was seen chatting happily with pals outside a church in Surrey, where her husband Prince Harry’s childhood pal Charlie van Straubenzee wed filmmaker Daisy Jenks.
And now Woman’sDay can reveal that after months of stress and heartache over her father Thomas Markle’s public attacks against her and the royal family, Meghan finally feels hopeful that a resolution might be in sight.
According to our wellplaced source, it’s all thanks to Hollywood heavyweight Oprah Winfrey, who has stepped in, promising to act as a mediator between the duchess and dad.
“Oprah has got involved in helping Meghan work things out,” discloses our source. “And her magic seems to be working because Thomas has calmed down and he’s taking calls from Meghan for the first time in weeks. Things are still difficult between them, but they are moving in the right direction – and a lot of the credit for that must go to Oprah.”
The talk-show legend was a guest when Harry, 33, married Meghan in May and is said to be close friends with the duchess’ mum, Los Angeles yoga teacher Doria Ragland. Oprah has been appalled by Thomas’ apparent lack of loyalty, with the former lighting director saying recently, “I refuse to stay quiet. What riles me is Meghan’s sense of superiority. She’d be nothing without me. I made her the duchess she is today. Everything that Meghan is, I made her.”
Our source reveals, “Oprah has closely followed all the drama and just feels so sorry for Meghan because she has behaved with such class and dignity while all the nonsense has been going on with her family. That’s why she decided to call her dad and try to talk some sense into him.”
And Oprah’s strategy appears to have worked, with Thomas, 74, and Meghan now considering meeting at the star’s Santa Barbara mansion for a peace summit.
“Oprah and Thomas have a surprising lot in common and they hit it off straight away,” says the source. “It turns out they have a lot of mutual friends, and they’ve had a lot of chats about people they know and the old days, as well as Meghan. Oprah has been trying to get to the bottom of his issues with his daughter.”
Oprah has told Meghan that her dad – who pulled out of walking her down the aisle just days before the May 12 wedding – is proud of her, but that he’s “in emotional turmoil”.
“He is racked with guilt for
letting l i her h down d over the h years and feels bad for walking out on her mum when Meghan was little,” reports our source. “He knows that speaking publicly about his daughter is making things worse, but he hopes it will get her attention.
“It’s totally misguided and Oprah is trying to get him to see that. She’s urging them both to meet at her own home to work through their issues. They’re both open to it and are hopeful that with Oprah’s help, they might finally be making progress.”
Our source says that while Meghan feels betrayed, hurt and angry, there’s no doubt she’s open to forgiving him and desperately wants to rebuild their relationship. “Meghan just wants to start afresh, but she needs to know she can trust him and that he will learn to keep his mouth shut.”
Bridewars
Meanwhile, as if she didn’t have enough to worry about, Meghan’s feud with Princess Eugenie has come to a dramatic head. As earlier reported in
Woman’sDay, tension has been mounting between the two women for some time, with 28-year-old Eugenie said to be terrified that the glamorous duchess will steal her limelight when she weds boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, 32, on October 12.
Meghan has complained to friends that Eugenie and her sister Princess Beatrice have been nothing but cold and unfriendly since she started dating their cousin Harry, but a palace insider claims
Meghan finally plucked up the courage to confront the bride-to-be when they came face to face at their mutual friends’ wedding.
“Meghan had tried to be civil and attempted to make conversation with Eugenie, but once again she was met with a cold shoulder. It was at this point that she decided she would no longer put up with it.
“She finally fill pluckedlk duptheh courage to ask her directly what she’d done to receive such a bad reception from both her and Beatrice since she came into the family.”
Eugenie initially played dumb and insisted she didn’t know what Meghan was talking about, but as the duchess continued to question her, the princess accused her of ruining r her close relationship with w Harry.
Apparently, Eugenie then claimed c Meghan had stolen her h wedding thunder, before she s delivered the final blow – criticising c her for falling out with w her dad and estranged sister Samantha.
Our source claims Meghan is now refusing to attend Eugenie’s wedding.
“Unless she gets an apology from Eugenie, Meghan won’t even entertain the thought of being at her wedding. Harry is doing all he can to try to broker a truce, but it’s not looking likely. There’s so much bad blood.”