What Went Wrong Between Meghan Markle And Her Father Thomas Markle

Meghan Markle won her privacy claim against Associated Newspapers Limited on Thursday over the publishing of a personal and private handwritten letter to her father Thomas Markle.

The Duchess of Sussex had filed a lawsuit in London High Court against the publication for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.

The accused publication published a series of five articles in February 2019, which included extracts from the 'private and confidential' letter she wrote to her father after her wedding.

Meghan Markle has had a complex relationship with her father. Thomas Markle, has spoken ill of his daughter in public a number of times now.

In fact, he claimed that he going to come out with a documentary featuring Meghan Markle’s unseen footage. 

Thomas Wayne Markle Sr. is an American retired television lighting director and director of photography. He received a Chicago / Midwest Emmy Award in 1975 for his work in the television program Made in Chicago in 1975. Furthermore, he was a co-recipient of two Daytime Emmy Awards in 1982 and 2011 for the television soap opera General Hospital.

Meghan Markle and her father Thomas reportedly shared a typical father-daughter relationship, in spite of his divorce with her mother Doria Ragland, before the royal wedding. According to reports, Meghan loved her father and were in good terms until 2018.

Meghan Markle with her father in her teenage days

But then, what really went wrong between the father-daughter duo? Here is what happened between Meghan Markle and her father:

The staged paparazzi photos

The problem reportedly started when the press started invading Thomas' private life. He used to get photographed in 'objectionable' ways which apparently threw a bad light on him. 

 A few days prior to the wedding, Thomas was involved in a controversy when the Mail On Sunday revealed that he staged fake paparazzi photos allegedly in return for money.

In the photos, he posed photos with the book Images of Great Britain: A Pictorial Tour Through History, attending a tuxedo fitting, and photos of an outdoor workout session. 

However, his elder daughter, Samantha Markle, later claimed that it was her idea, and that her father's motivation was not financial but "to show the world that he's getting in shape and doing great healthy things." Thomas admitted that he initially lied to Harry about the staged photos and later regretted his decision.

He later opened up about why he staged the photos.

"This was a presentation to me to change my image because for the last year photos of me were always derogatory. They'd take pictures of my hand grabbing beer, in my car, taking the garbage out," Thomas said.

He added, "They'd take all kinds of pictures of me to make me look negative, so I thought this would be a good way to improve my look. Obviously, all that went to hell. I feel bad about it, I apologize for it, and that's all I can do."

Thomas' absence in Meghan and Harry's wedding

Thomas didn't attend the wedding of his daughter. Meghan Markle, then soon-to-be-duchess released a statement that her father couldn't attend the wedding owing to his health issues.

"Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health," she said. 

However, it was only after two years that a spokesperson for Meghan wrote in her current lawsuit that he didn't attend the wedding due to the controversy.

"His refusal to attend the wedding on May 14, 2018 was a result of him being so publicly shamed by the defendant for having staged paparazzo photos, a fact which the defendant deliberately seeks to ignore in the defence," as stated by the official sources.

Thomas confirmed this for the court, saying he wrote a text message to Meghan telling her how sorry he was and won't attend the wedding due to this. He further added that he would publicly apologise to Meghan and Prince Harry.

Feud between Meghan Markle and Thomas

According to Meghan, the publication actually caused the dispute between her and Thomas, as stated by her spokesperson at the court.

In fact, the last text conversation between Thomas and the couple is also there in the court documents of the lawsuit, which revealed that Meghan asked Thomas to refrain from talking to press. They also reportedly offered personal security guards to help him deal with the paparazzi.

However, Thomas gave explosive interviews to certain news outlets in UK, even to the same publication which caused the entire controversy, where he passed shocking comments on his daughter and son-in-law.

In June 2018, he appeared on Good Morning Britain, where he discussed his personal relationship with Meghan and his son-in-law. In another interview with the Mail On Sunday next month , he told, " Meghan be nothing without me. I made her the Duchess she is today." His continual and alleged paid interviews with the press reportedly damaged his relationship with Meghan, with whom he claimed not to have any contact since the royal wedding.

In an interview in January 2020, he said that Meghan is "tossing away every young girl's dream of becoming a princess, for money." He further stated that she and Harry were 'destroying and cheapening' the royal institution, and that they are 'lost souls'. He continued giving interviews where he made shocking and unexpected statements about Meghan and Harry.

The private letter

In February 2019, Thomas published a letter sent to him by his daughter shortly after her wedding in which she stated that he had broken her heart 'into a million pieces' with his actions.

In fact, he still allowed Mail On Sunday to publish excerpts of the private letter, in which she also asked him to stop interacting with the press. Furthermore, he also assisted the newspaper's defense team by providing information to be used in court documents in the court case.

In January 2020, it was revealed that the Mail on Sunday could possibly use evidence provided by Thomas against his own daughter in the legal battle between the paper and Meghan. Moreover, he was also named as the potential witness by the publication who could testify against Meghan in the court.

It has been reported that Thomas replied to Meghan's letter, asking for a photo-op with her and Harry so that the press would leave him alone. In the reply obtained by the same publication, he wrote, "I'm human and I'm sorry! How much longer must I say it? I wish we could get together and take a photo for the whole world to see. If you and Harry don't like it? Fake it for one photo."

However, Meghan claimed in the court that the original reply was edited by the publication as it contained damaging information about the way one of its journalists treated Thomas Markle as well as to protect Thomas' reputation. However, the claim was denied by the publication in the court.

Who is to blame?

The duo have different opinions on their ongoing feud. While Thomas claimed that it is only through the press he can reach his daughter, Meghan told in the court documents that her phone number has never changed.

Moreover, Meghan's lawyers claimed at one of the pre-trial hearings that the Mail on Sunday caused the dispute between Meghan and her father.

Nevertheless, Thomas also stated a few times that although he does not expect to see Meghan ever again, he still hopes for reconciliation one day.