Snubbed dad: I wish I’d been at christening
MEGHAN MARKLE’S estranged father last night spoke of his wish to have been at Archie’s christening as he wished his grandson nothing but ‘health and happiness’.
Thomas Markle, 74, has never met his son-in-law Prince Harry and was not invited to yesterday’s christening at Windsor Castle.
He said he would have enjoyed being at the celebration because he has been a member of the Anglican Church since childhood, describing it as the ‘Queen’s church’.
His former wife Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mother, was pictured in the official photograph released yesterday as one of the select few guests invited to the ceremony.
Speaking from his home in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, the retired Hollywood lighting director told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I have been asked if I would have liked to have gone to Britain to see my new grandson being christened.
‘I was an altar boy at age 12, a confirmed member of the Queen’s church at age 14, and Archie is my new grandson, so of course I would have enjoyed being there for the blessing, wishing Archie and his parents health and happiness.’
Mr Markle missed last year’s Royal Wedding after suffering two heart attacks. He also fell out with his daughter and Harry when he admitted posing for paparazzi pictures in a misguided attempt to change his ‘schlubby’ image.
Mr Markle claimed he only allowed the photographs to be taken because he was left unable to fend for himself against an onslaught of global media attention.
Since then, he has repeatedly apologised for the pictures but the hoped-for rapprochement with his daughter has failed to materialise. Mr Markle has continued to attempt to heal the rift but without success, and has criticised the couple for refusing to speak to him or return his telephone calls.
Mr Markle grew up in workingclass Newport, Pennsylvania, where he attended the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.
Meghan was not christened as a child because her yoga-teaching mother Doria did not share Mr Markle’s Anglican beliefs.
The pair married in 1979 at the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, which is dedicated to the teachings of Indian yogi and guru Paramahansa Yogananda. He encouraged followers to use breathing and meditation as a ‘path to enlightenment’.
The couple split when Meghan was just two years old.
Before her wedding in May last year, Meghan was baptised and confirmed into the Church of England by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who also conducted yesterday’s service.