ITV drops plan to hire relatives
ITV yesterday dropped plans to employ Meghan Markle’s extended family as special correspondents in its coverage on Good Morning Britain.
Meghan’s former sister-in-law Tracy Dooley and her sons Tyler and Thomas arrived in London on Monday despite not being invited to the wedding.
They have appeared on the show on several occasions and were understood to have been lined up to feature in the wedding day coverage, with Tracy reporting live from Windsor.
But there has been a change of mind by ITV, which until earlier this week employed Meghan’s estranged half-sister Samantha Markle on its Loose Women show and other ITV programmes including GMB.
She said it was an exclusive contract that prevented her speaking to other media in Britain.
An ITV spokesman declined to respond to questions about earlier plans to use the Dooleys but confirmed: “The Dooleys will not be contributing to Good Morning Britain’s coverage of the royal wedding.”
The channel has faced criticism from viewers for giving air time to Meghan’s estranged relatives amid her father Thomas Markle’s claim that his daughter Samantha and son Thomas Jr have caused him stress and contributed to his health problems.
Thomas Jr, 51, who has a drink problem, was married to Tracy Dooley for 11 years and had Thomas, 26, and Tyler, 25, with her. He was spotted posing for pictures in the public grounds of Kensington Palace yesterday.
Tyler, who is a legal cannabis farmer in Oregon has developed a blend called Markle Sparkle to celebrate the
wedding.