Meghan’s father’s hope of seeing Archie via video
THOMAS Markle wants his feuding family to reunite during the coronavirus crisis and is even hoping to meet his grandson Archie on his birthday this week.
Meghan, Prince Harry and their baby will still be under lockdown in Malibu, California, when Archie turns a year old onwednesday.
Mr Markle has appealed to his daughter to let him see Archie for the first time via videolink.
The mansion where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are staying with Archie is only 180 miles from Mr Markle’s retirement home, just across the Mexican border near the beach resort of Rosarito.
His plea comes as Meghan was dealt a huge blow on Friday in her court case against a UK newspaper.
Large parts of the case against the newspaper were dismissed as “irrelevant” by a High Court judge, including her claims of a malicious media agenda against her.
The judge also “struck out” her allegations that journalists had acted dishonestly and had caused the rift between her and her father.
A close friend of Mr Markle said: “Thomas says he has reached out in the hope that Meghan will allow some form of video contact.
“He’s painfully aware that he wouldn’t be allowed to visit right now, even if she wanted him to.
“He’s hoping that may change down the line, but for the moment he would be more than happy to meet Archie on screen so he can wave and say hi to the little fella.”
Former TV lighting director Mr Markle, 75, is still scheduled to give evidence against his daughter in the privacy case against the British newspaper filed by her and Harry.
But he and his son Thomas Jr – Meghan’s half-brother – have both made recent appeals for peace.
Mr Markle’s friend confirmed: “He wants nothing more than for this family feud to be over.
“Above all, Archie’s arrival has driven home to him that life’s too short to waste it squabbling and fighting. And the coronavirus pandemic has made him even more aware that everything can change in the blink of an eye.
“He has a ton of pictures of her and Harry with Archie that he’s clipped from magazines or printed out from the internet. If they can’t meet in the flesh anytime soon, it would be such a kind act to let him greet his grandson on screen.”
Meanwhile, in a podcast last month Prince Harry revealed that a “gaping hole” had been left in his life after leaving the military.
He made the remarks in a discussion about how veterans can find a new purpose by volunteering.
Friends of the prince last week talked about how his “life has been turned upside down” by his departure from army comrades.
Harry told the Declassified podcast about his own feelings when he joined a relief project to build a school in Nepal with other veterans. He said: “The moment I got there, mixing with the guys, you just have the hole filled again.
“That gaping hole that everyone feels once you have to hang up the uniform. The banter was there, got to meet some new people, got to see some familiar faces.”
The duke continued: “And at the end of the day you’re all trying to do the same thing. Which is use your skill set, your experience and your training to fix problems and make people’s lives better and to work together as a team.
“So in that sense it’s perfect for all of us. It’s incredibly fulfilling being able to do good, really.”
Friends say the prince is finding it increasingly difficult to cope in Los Angeles without the structure of the royal military appointments he surrendered as part of his exit deal.
A source explained: “He misses the camaraderie of the Forces.”
Now friends fear Friday’sve Day 75th anniversary celebrations will only increase Harry’s misery.
One said: “If things were different, he’d have been in uniform, supporting his comrades, chatting to veterans. That life seems like another world to him now.”
Harry told podcast host Michael Coates: “People say joining the military is like the university of life.
“It really is, because the life experiences you get in such a short space of time not only grow you up but turn you into what I think is an exceptional human being.
“The military community is a very, very special place and you only really understand that when you’re part of it. Its about purpose, belonging, meaning, giving back.”