Behind the scenes of the ‘Markle debacle’
Eleanor Steafel unravels the long-simmering family feud that has dominated the headlines in the run-up to Prince Harry and Meghan’s big day
In many ways, the events of the past few days beggar belief. As Britain began to prepare in earnest for the royal wedding – an event destined to whip up a circus at the best of times – a family saga so far‑fetched it would not seem out of place if written into the plot of a soap opera has been playing out for real. But for many, the remarkable antics of the extended Markle clan will have come as no surprise.
Over the past few months, while Britain had its back turned on the American gossip columns carrying details of hate‑filled open letters from disgruntled relatives, bitter asides on breakfast television and tawdry “kiss‑ and‑tell” publishing deals, a chaotic feud has been brewing. By Monday morning, a family saga – the “Markle debacle” – was threatening to shake the foundations of the royal wedding.
It began on Sunday, when it emerged that Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas – whose attendance at his daughter’s side in St George’s Chapel on Saturday had, until this point, been a given – had posed for staged photos with a paparazzi photographer. Undoubtedly embarrassing, but not unforgivable.
On Monday, Ms Markle’s estranged half‑sister, Samantha Grant – who had made something of a name for herself since the relationship went public, commenting regularly on Meghan’s impending nuptials and securing a lucrative book deal – appeared on British television to defend her father’s actions, claiming the unfortunate mishap had, in fact, all been her fault.
“I am entirely the culprit,” she claimed. “It was my suggestion, to benefit him and to benefit the Royal family.” She certainly had no idea that her father would be “taken advantage of ”, she wrote on Twitter.
Hours after the revelation, TMZ, the online gossip juggernaut, revealed that Mr Markle had decided he could not walk his daughter down the aisle, nor even attend the wedding, for fear of embarrassing the Royal family or his daughter. In any case, Mr Markle was reported as saying, he might not be allowed to attend for medical reasons: he had suffered a heart attack six days earlier, checking himself out of hospital shortly afterwards in his determination to travel to London for the wedding. (His doctors, he warned, might not allow it.)
By Tuesday morning, the story had taken another turn, as Meghan’s half‑sister once again appeared on television, telling Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain that the stress of the media backlash had been too much for her father and his attendance at the wedding still hung in the balance.
“When you say he had a heart attack,” Morgan probed Ms Grant, “he went to the hospital just for a couple of hours and then checked himself out and drove 100 miles, and was seen the next day eating Mcdonald’s and KFC. This doesn’t seem like normal behaviour for someone who’s had a heart attack.”
By Tuesday evening, Mr Markle, a retired television lighting engineer who lives in Mexico, had given an interview to TMZ (which, at this point, appeared to have taken on the role of Mr Markle’s mouthpiece), saying he would, of course, attend the wedding – he was eager not to miss out on this “historic moment”.
“I’d like to be a part of history,” he said. “I hate the idea of missing one of the greatest moments in history, and walking my daughter down the aisle.”
But by the time Mr Markle spoke to TMZ again, he told them he needed urgent heart surgery and wouldn’t be able to go to the wedding after all…
So what is really behind all of this chaos? Is this simply the tale of a
fractured family being manipulated by media companies flashing dollar signs in front of them, and promises of long careers as royal commentators? Or the lashing-out of estranged family members jealous at not being invited to a once-in-a-lifetime event? And what part has Thomas Markle Sr truly played in it all?
To begin to fathom this drama, you need first to understand a little about the key players at the centre of it.
The Markle family feud had been building for some time. From the moment Meghan’s relationship with Prince Harry was announced in November 2016, her extended family (from many of whom she is said to be estranged) began to take advantage of the media storm.
First in line? Samantha Grant who, shortly after the pair’s relationship went public, announced she was writing an autobiography entitled The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister.
She has since been admonished by members of her own family for allegedly harbouring a longstanding, all-consuming jealousy. “She has dogged on Meghan forever,” Samantha’s mother Roslyn told Mail
Online. “She has never liked Meghan, and she’s always been jealous of her.”
Behind a closed Twitter account, Ms Grant has reportedly written of her disgust that she and other family members had not been invited to the wedding; Meghan’s parents are thought to be the only two members of her family to have received invitations.
Meanwhile, her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, seems to have his own agenda. Last month, an explosive open letter addressed to Prince Harry appeared to reveal a deep-seated anger at the heart of the Markle clan towards the famous sister who had gone on to lead such a different life – and had left them off the guestlist.
“It’s not too late,” he wrote. “As more time passed to your royal wedding, it became very clear that this is the biggest mistake in royal wedding history. Meg is showing her true colours.”
It was this public attack that triggered his heart attack, Thomas Markle Sr told TMZ.
However, anyone with a keen eye glued on the American gossip sites over the past two weeks cannot fail to have observed the bizarre volte-face that Meghan’s half-siblings now seem to have completed.
Certainly, Thomas Markle Jr and Samantha’s assaults on their half-sister and members of her future family have not only dried up, they have turned into outpourings of sentimentality, and a yearning to right old wrongs.
Samantha has now gone back on her initial plan for the autobiography, saying it won’t be a “slamming tell-all” after all; her original “Princess Pushy” title was meant to be a mockery of tabloidese, not of her sister. She told the Mirror: “[With the original title], my point [was] that you can’t judge a book by its cover title. I wanted the public to look beyond that, just like I want the public to look beyond social labels because they are injurious. But the opposite occurred, and it backfired on me.”
Then, last Friday, Thomas Markle Jr penned a second letter, this time to his half-sister Meghan, apologising for his behaviour. “Meg, I know that I’m not perfect, nor is anyone else in our family, as I’m sure you have read by now,” he wrote in the letter published by In Touch magazine.
“But good, bad or perfect, we’re the only family that you have. It does hurt my feelings not getting invited to your wedding, along with the rest of the family. But it’s not too late to send me an invite along with your entire family.”
In an interview with TMZ, Samantha said she had a present she would love to give Meghan. “I searched the world for something that I thought was really sentimental, and I’d like to give it to her in person. But if not, I will certainly send it,” she said, smiling broadly. (When pressed to divulge what present she had bought, she replied coyly: “Well, then it wouldn’t be a surprise – right?”)
Could it be that after all this time, the Markle siblings are hoping for a reconciliation?
“Whatever you decide is OK with me,” Thomas Markle Jr wrote in his letter last week. “Maybe I’ll see you there, with all of us.”
He added: “It can be a royal wedding family reunion.”
What a story that would be. It would certainly be enough to keep the American chat shows and gossip sites in business for months. And the Markles, presumably, wouldn’t do too badly out of it either.
As the wait continues to see whether or not Thomas Markle Sr will be the one to walk his daughter down the aisle, some among the extended Markle clan have taken matters into their own hands. On Tuesday, Thomas Markle Jr’s ex-wife, Tracy Dooley, accompanied by her sons Tyler and TJ, arrived at Heathrow, telling their growing followers on social media they would be in the UK to cover the wedding for American television networks. Ms Dooley said they would be “in the front row cheering them on”, delighted to be part of the festivities in any way they could.
After an initial gripe about not being invited to the wedding (after all, she said, Meghan used to babysit her sons), Ms Dooley posted on Facebook: “Just glad to have landed safely and hoping for Tom senior to be well, healthy and happy.
“I wish the same for Meghan, Prince Harry, my children, friends, family and those who need our prayers and love. Peace, love and good works.”
And at this moment, some peace and love wouldn’t go amiss among the Markles.
‘Meg, I know that I’m not perfect, nor is anyone else in our family’