Meghan’s mum to the rescue
MEGHAN Markle’s mother Doria Ragland has bunkered down with her daughter in London, as chaos caused by her father’s side of the family escalated hours ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry.
After arriving at Heathrow Airport, Ms Ragland, 61, was whisked through Windsor VIP terminal, before she was driven away in a convoy of cars with blacked-out windows.
She was taken straight to see her distraught daughter, who has been holed up for days at Kensington Palace in preparation for her wedding to Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel at Windsor tomorrow.
Ms Markle’s best friend, Toronto stylist Jessica Mulroney, also arrived in London, as did American designer Misha Nonoo.
The pair are supporting Ms Markle, 36, as the American actor endures horrendous abuse from estranged family members, and erratic behaviour from her father Thomas Markle, who announced he would not be walking his daughter down the aisle.
Ms Markle last night issued an official statement speaking of her sadness that her father would not be there.
“Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding,” she said.
“I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health.
“I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday.”
Mr Markle, 73, continued to talk to celebrity website TMZ in America yesterday, revealing he had three stents inserted in a heart procedure at a secret hospital location in the US or Mexico.
He blindsided his daughter on Monday by saying he wouldn’t come to London, then changed his mind and said he would, then pulled out again and checked himself into hospital.
Ms Markle’s estranged half-sister Samantha Grant, 53, who has been viciously attacking her in the press, also ended up in hospital, with her boyfriend claiming he crashed their car as he tried to avoid a confrontation with a paparazzi photographer in Florida.
Her half-brother Thomas Markle Junior, who had written an open letter to Prince Harry urging him to call the wedding off, has emerged in the UK, showing up at Windsor and saying he wrote the nasty note in a “moment of madness’’.
He appeared on the front of the British tabloids, saying that he had changed his mind and now believed Meghan would make “the perfect modern princess’’.
In Windsor, the royal town west of London where the wedding will take place, royal enthusiasts are already sleeping on the footpath ready for a front-row seat to tomorrow’s nuptials, while bunting and banners go up across the town, and retailers triple shop supplies in readiness for huge crowds.
But as the countdown to what should have been the ultimate fairytale wedding continued, palace officials were trying to protect Ms Markle from the fallout of her estranged family’s actions.
Mr Markle Senior said he had needed heart surgery after the actions of his children from his first marriage, Thomas Junior and Samantha, triggered a heart attack.
Ms Grant spent the morning attacking Ms Markle, accusing her of trying to shut her up and declaring: “She’s not going to tell me that I can’t speak about my life … She’s way out of her league to tell me that I can’t speak.”