Meghan Markle’s dad Thomas Markle leaves hospital after suffering stroke

Meghan Markle has not spoken to sick dad Thomas despite claims she tried to reach out, according to sister Samantha Markle.

Meghan Markle has not spoken to her estranged dad since he suffered a stroke last week, her sister Samantha Markle claimed on Monday, local time, according to The Sun.

The Duchess of Sussex was rumoured to have reached out to Thomas Markle, 77, after he was rushed to hospital last Monday.

The retired Hollywood lighting director fell ill in Mexico on Monday night and was rushed by emergency ambulance to hospital.

He was said to have lost his speech following the incident - which came after he already suffered a health scare last week, sources told The Sun.

But Samantha, Meghan’s half sister, said the duchess has not been in touch.

Samantha Markle has said there has been no attempt by Meghan Markle to contact her father Thomas after his stroke. Picture: gives interview about bullying. Picture: Fox13

Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Samantha, 57, said: “I heard rumours that she was trying to reach out to my dad’s camp but my brother and I are my dad’s camp and his number has never changed.

“Even though he can’t speak, his language comprehension is perfect - she could text him or contact him and he would text back.”

She added: “Those rumours are not true; she has not reached out.”

Meghan’s dad famously missed her wedding four years ago after claiming he had suffered a heart attack.

The duchess’ relationship with her dad had crumbled after he posed for paparazzi pics ahead of the 2018 bash.

Meghan Markle and estranged father Thomas Markle, who suffered a “major stroke”.

After being discharged, Thomas told the Mail on Sunday: “I feel hugely grateful and know how lucky I am to be alive.

“I want to thank everyone, especially the wonderful doctors and nurses who saved my life. They are angels.

“I have been deeply moved by loving messages I’ve received from all over the world. People have been so kind.

“I can’t speak right now, but I am working hard and will thank people properly when I can.”

Mr Markle had been planning to fly to Britain this week to celebrate next weekend’s Platinum Jubilee - but the stroke scuppered the trip.

His condition was so serious he could only communicate by scrawling down messages on a piece of paper, pals said.

Writing on a whiteboard with a felt-tip pen, he said: “I wanted to come to pay my respects to the Queen. I wish her a happy Jubilee and many more years.”

The severe stroke was caused by a blood clot on the right side of Mr Markle’s brain.

Meghan, 40, is reportedly understood to have now reached out to her dad’s camp after he was discharged from hospital.

An insider told the Sunday Mirror: “Despite their estrangement, Meghan is concerned.

“She wants to know if there is any way to contact her father privately, without other family knowing about it or having to get involved.”

Meghan is said to be worried that contacting her dad will mean having to speak to her half-siblings Thomas Jr, 55, and Samantha.

The source said: “Meghan can’t contact her half-siblings because she believes they have their own agendas.

“If she can contact their dad, she wants it to be totally private. It won’t involve Netflix, it won’t involve any photographs and it must not involve any tip-offs to the paparazzi.”

Thomas Markle interviewed Sunrise on Seven. Picture: Seven

Markle missed his daughter’s wedding to Prince Harry in 2018 after suffering two heart attacks shortly before the ceremony, had been planning to visit the UK to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee before falling ill.

The Duchess of Sussex’s half-sister accused her of “elder abuse” and “negligence” for not visiting their father in hospital.

Meghan travelled to Texas to visit Uvalde after the school massacre last week while Thomas Markle was in a San Diego hospital, just a few hours from her California home.

Meghan Markle lays flowers in Uvalde, Texas but is yet to visit her estranged dad suffering from a stroke just hours from her California home. Picture: AFP.

“He’s been through so much — two heart attacks, a pandemic and now a stroke. None of us have heard from Meghan. That’s negligence,” Samantha Markle told GB News.

“If she can’t find it in her heart or have the moral conscience to step forward then shame on her,” the estranged half-sister said, likening it to “elder abuse”.

“He doesn’t have a lot of time. She’s going to have to live with that for the rest of her life.”

Thomas suffered a stroke in Tijuana on Monday night Mexico time before he was taken by ambulance to a hospital across the border in Chula Vista, California.

Video showed Mr Markle being stretchered into hospital with an oxygen mask on.

The stroke was first reported by TMZ and confirmed in a Daily Mail column by British TV presenter Dan Wooton, who was due to be joined by Mr Markle for his special on the Queen’s 70th anniversary.

Thomas Markle being taken to hospital. Picture: Sunrise/ Seven

Mr Wooton said Samantha Markle had become increasingly concerned as her father “lost his speech” during one of their daily phone calls, and that the family is furious he’s been left to fund his own medical treatment.

When asked on GB News if she thought Meghan should help cover the medical expenses, Samantha said Meghan “sees all of this”.

“I’m getting the feeling that I would be spinning my wheels to try and appeal to her heart now,” she said.

“She could have contacted him to work things out at any time and she hasn’t. How can she watch him suffer like this? Who does that?”

A source told The Sun that Mr Markle went to a hospital in Mexico, where he lives, after a “medical scare” last week. His blood pressure had reportedly become a concern following “relentless” attacks from Twitter trolls in response to his new YouTube show.

He was moved with an oxygen mask to the US hospital in San Diego, just a few hours from his daughter’s home in Santa Barbara.

“His son Thomas Jr was already with him in Rosarito and is in San Diego now,” the source said.

“His daughter Samantha is flying in from Florida to be with him too.”

Meghan Markle with her half sister Samantha. Picture: Supplied

Photographer Karl Larsen, who co-hosts Mr Markle’s podcast, ‘Remarkable Friendship’, said he was waiting to see his friend in San Diego.

“I don’t know how serious it is yet,” he said. “We were due to leave for London to be there for the jubilee on Monday.

“Now it’s all up in the air, I don’t know what will happen … I can’t possibly see how that would still be on.”

Mr Wooton said the plan was to join Mr Markle on his lifelong dream of visiting Windsor Castle, at the same time his daughter is scheduled to be in London with the grandchildren he has never met.

“But, in a cruel twist of fate, he will now be unable to make the trip as he recovers in hospital, just like he missed his daughter’s wedding to the Duke of Sussex after suffering from a heart attack,” Mr Wooton wrote.

Mr Markle was due to walk his daughter down the aisle to marry Prince Harry in 2018, but he was replaced by Prince Charles while he recovered from surgery to repair his heart damage.

“It’s a travesty how much he’s been tortured and how much he’s had to go through thanks to my sister’s disregard the past few years,” Ms Markle said in a statement about her famous sister. “That is unforgivable.”

Meghan Markle pictured with her father Thomas Markle when she was a child. Picture: Supplied