Don’t get too grand for your own family, Meghan

Four weeks from today, Meghan Markle will walk down the aisle at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, to marry her prince. and although it’s a royal wedding, she and harry are in some ways just like any other couple planning their big day, agonising over who to invite and who not to invite.

at the moment, Barack obama — who is close to harry — is not invited. and Kensington Palace still has not confirmed if Meghan’s dad Thomas will be there, let alone whether he’ll walk her down the aisle.

one can understand the diplomatic minefield involved over the obamas — would inviting them mean the Trumps had to be on the list?

But why the question over Meghan’s dad? her half-brother Thomas Jnr said this week he thought only Meghan’s yoga teacher mother, Doria ragland, had been invited.

‘Meg likes to portray herself as a humanitarian, a people’s person and a charitable person, but she’s none of those things to her family,’ Thomas said. ‘She’s clearly forgotten her roots and her family. Maybe the normal american family she has is embarrassing to her.’

her half- sister Samantha has tweeted furiously that, for all their well-publicised good causes, the couple are being callous towards Meghan’s family: ‘It’s time to man up @hrhhenryWindsor. Shout-outs about humanitarianism don’t work when you are allowing Meg to ignore the Markles.’

You can see Meghan’s dilemma when she has to put up with siblings who gleefully capitalise on her fame. Samantha’s called her a ‘ social climber’ and is apparently writing a book with the working title The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister.

But Meghan should show generosity and invite even them, though she would want to hold her nose. a wedding is, above all else, a family occasion — warts and all. Invitations to the siblings might yet restore family harmony and shut them up.

More importantly, what daughter wouldn’t have her dad walk her down the aisle? It’s one of the most poignant rites of passage a father can perform. If Meghan isn’t on his arm, she may regret it for the rest of her life.

Yes, the former Tv lighting director is a portly T-shirt-wearing, bearded recluse — and in Meghan’s new world they may not like the cut of his jib. But if he isn’t there in that role, it will say more about Meghan than it does about him.