Meghan Markle’s estranged dad Thomas, 81, rushed to hospital for emergency surgery

Thomas Markle, 81, is in intensive care while his other children have publicly pleaded for his estranged daughter Meghan to show “compassion”.

Meghan Markle explains the humble Christmas cracker to restaurateur Will Guidara on her Netflix holiday special, Picture: Netflix

Meghan Markle’s estranged dad is said to be fighting for his life.

Thomas Markle, 81, was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery after suddenly falling ill at his home in the Philippines on Tuesday, according to the Daily Mail.

Following a three-hour surgery, Thomas was reportedly placed into intensive care as doctors continued to monitor his condition. He is now said to be set to undergo a second procedure to remove a blood clot.
“I took dad to a hospital close to our home and they did various scans and the doctors said his life was in imminent danger,” Thomas Markle Jr. told the outlet Wednesday.
“They raced us by ambulance, with the sirens going, to a much bigger hospital in the centre of the city.

“My dad has undergone emergency surgery,” he continued. “I would ask everyone around the world to keep him in their thoughts. My only wish is that Meghan shows my father some compassion. He is literally fighting for his life.”
Thomas Jr., 59, added that he expects his did to be in the hospital for “a long time” and that it will be a “gruelling” recovery.

Thomas’ daughter, meanwhile, said that she is praying for her ailing father.

Meghan Markle with her estranged dad Thomas Markle and mother Doria Ragland. Picture: Thomas Markle: My Story

“He is a strong man, but he has been through so much,” Samantha Markle, 61, told the outlet. “I am praying that he is strong enough to survive this.”
“My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke and an earthquake,” she added. “I hope he can pull through this.”

The Post has reached out to Meghan’s rep for comment.

This wouldn’t be the first time the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged dad suffered a startling health scare.
In May 2018, on the eve of Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding ceremony, he suffered two heart attacks that prevented him from travelling from Los Angeles to London to walk his daughter down the aisle.

The pair have been estranged ever since.

“We were always so close,” Thomas, who split from Meghan’s mother Doria when Meghan was 3, told Daily Mail in 2018. “Being shut out of her life is the biggest tragedy of my life.”
“I don’t understand what I did so wrong that she never talked to me again,” he added. “I have been upset at my daughter, I have been angry at her at times – but I have never stopped loving her.”

Thomas later suffered a massive stroke in 2022 that left him unable to speak, and he reportedly survived a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in the Philippines earlier this year.

“My father is stuck on the 19th floor of a building in the Philippines after a massive earthquake and he can’t walk and he is trapped,” Samantha wrote on X at the time, although Thomas spoke out to say that he was “fine.”
As for the “Suits” alum, she released her “With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration” Netflix special on the same day it was announced that her father had been hospitalised. “I would ask Meg, on a week when she has released a TV show talking about the power of love and family, to reach out to our dad,” Thomas Jr. concluded. “She needs to start showing the compassion she preaches about.”

MEGHAN’S SURPRISE FOR HARRY

Meghan Markle, in a holiday special episode of her much derided cookery show With Love, Meghan, tried to introduce the humble Christmas cracker to the American public.

Explaining the humble cracker to restaurateur Will Guidara, she said: “I really started to know them, they almost have a fortune cookie size joke or riddle and something sweet.”

Having discovered the British festival favourite after “living in the UK”, she placed a lavender roller ball into a cracker she was making for her daughter Lili, “a little love letter, chocolate and a little hat” for husband Prince Harry, and filled son Archie’s with “burgers and colour red”.

Meghan also made a handmade advent calendar for her children, complete with personal notes.

Meghan also hosted an all-girl pyjama party in her Netflix special, appearing in her kitchen wearing red pyjamas and explaining it was a tradition of her pal Lindsay Jill Roth.

Tennis ace Naomi Osaka also popped round to see Meghan and the pair painted plates and mugs.

Tennis ace Naomi Osaka pops into Meghan Markle’s With Love, Meghan. Picture: Netflix

Harry finally made an appearance after Tom Collichio, star of Top Chef on US telly, made a salad and helped Meghan whip up her mum Doria’s Christmas Eve gumbo recipe.

The host explained her husband would not like Tom’s famous salad as he hated the main ingredients, such as beetroot, fennel, black olives and pickled vegetables.

“He hates all these flavours.”

After getting a kiss from his wife, Harry says: “Hi guys, I smell gumbo.” Picture: Netflix

But after getting a kiss from his wife, Harry says: “Hi guys, I smell gumbo.”

Meghan then tells Harry she’s used a spicier sausage to make the gumbo than he’d be used to.

After Harry tastes the dish – which he says is one of his favourites – he hits back with “I’m not sure it’s as good as your mum’s”.

– with the New York Post

Originally published as Meghan Markle’s estranged dad Thomas, 81, rushed to hospital for emergency surgery