Thomas Markle talks about Meghan, Prince Harry in paid Sunrise interview

Meghan Markle’s father has questioned his daughter’s claims of being suicidal in a ‘world exclusive’ interview with Channel 7.

Thomas Markle Sr has questioned his daughter’s claims of being suicidal.

The father of Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, the actor wife of Prince Harry, has spoken in a paid interview with Australian breakfast television show, Sunrise.

“I have some doubts about it,” Markle Sr said of his daughter’s claims of struggling with her mental health in an infamous Oprah Winfrey TV special.

Thomas Markle on Sunrise on Wednesday morning. Picture: Seven

“The way that it was described on the Oprah show was that she told her husband about it and then he went and asked somebody in the royals about it … and they said it would be bad to do it. If my wife or my child came to me and said I am having a nervous breakdown and thinking about suicide, I would take them immediately to a doctor. I wouldn’t go and check with somebody first so I think that Harry dropped the ball in this and I think he is obviously not very supportive if he didn’t realise that.”

Markle was sat in front of his fireplace at home in Mexico. Photographs of his daughter were on the mantle behind him.

The interview was brokered by Sydney spin doctor Max Markson, who also organised Markle Sr’s son, Thomas Markle Jr, to appear as a contestant on the upcoming season of Australia’s Big Brother VIP.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham. Picture: Adrian Dennis / AFP)

Pushed on his doubts, Markle Sr questioned whether or not his daughter had mental health problems and Prince Harry’s support in helping her.

“I think a little of both,” he said. “I think maybe Meghan was a little dramatic here and I think Harry was a total failure as a husband.”

The interview was conducted by Sunrise hosts David Koch and Natalie Barr. Kock asked about the narrative of “Meghan as the controlling one … and Harry is her puppet”.

“I believe that 100 per cent, my daughter is very controlling, she has been raised to be that way and Harry to me hasn’t shown me much of anything,” he said. “I am yet to meet the man, he didn’t bother to come down to ask for her hand, I know very little about him except that he still acts like a 12-year-old boy. And I know that my daughter, both of my daughters as a matter of fact, are very controlling and could certainly control any man.”

The Sun front page.

Markle Sr, 77, said he has had no contact with his daughter in a long time, although he did send a bouquet of flowers for her recent 40th birthday. He included two yellow flowers, representing the grandchildren he has little hope of ever meeting, Lilibet and Archie.

“I don’t want to be a stalker,” he said. “I don’t want to do anything like that, they live about 120 miles from me in Montecito but as long as my daughter has the attitude that she doesn’t want me to see them, that is the way it is going to be. I certainly won’t do anything silly or attempt to stalk them to see my grandchildren. Although I think they are being deprived of seeing … all of their relatives and I think that is terribly unfair to them.”

He said he would not consider legal action to attempt to see his grandchildren.

Markle Sr said he had approached ex partner Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mother, to help rebuild his relationship with his estranged daughter.

“Doria and I always did get along, there shouldn’t’ be a problem but I am sure that Doria does whatever Meghan and Harry tell her to do,” he said. “That seems to be a dead end for me as well.”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at the British High Commissioner residency in Johannesburg. Picture: Michele Spatari / AFP

Markle Sr said his relationship with his daughter “went a little dry when Harry entered the picture”.

“I am not quite sure why but it became a little difficult there,” he said. “One of the problems was she kept asking me to tell my oldest daughter, Samantha, and my oldest son, Thomas, to stop saying things about them. But my oldest kids are 50 years old, good luck you trying to tell your 50-year-old child to do anything. That may be one of the things that upset her.”

Markle Sr claimed to have been set up by paparazzi to take now infamous images of him “as a plan to mess up the (royal) wedding”. He claimed to be suing the people involved in staging the photographs.

“Had I been a little younger and a little smarter, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “But I fell for it and I fell a long way for it. I do regret it to this day.”

Thomas Markle with Meghan Markle as a baby. Picture: 60 Minutes/Nine Network

In summary, Markle Sr said there was little that could be done to mend his relationship with his daughter.

“I love my daughter Meghan,” he said. “The bottom line is first of all that I would like to see all four of them go back to England and fulfil their obligation. It is better for the children and it is better for them. By not taking them back, they are cheating their children and also it is a matter of protection, they get much better protection in England than they would in Montecito so I really would like to see them back in England and maybe make up with the Queen and make up with their father (Prince Charles) and maybe we can make up.”

Markle Sr, who has suffered two heart attacks, dismissed claims by his daughter, Samantha has claimed he has health and financial issues.

“I have no financial issues to worry about. I don’t need Harry and Meghan’s money. I live in Mexico, a man can live very well here. I am quite comfortable.”

Originally published as Thomas Markle talks about Meghan, Prince Harry in paid Sunrise interview