Susie O’Brien: Meghan Markle’s family pains
THERE are few families out there as dysfunctional as the Markles. Is anyone surprised they’re mostly off the guest list, asks Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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WEDDINGS, like Christmases, bring out the worst in families.
The drunk uncles with the wandering hands. The deaf nannas who love to tell amusing stories about their bowel movements. The half-cousins who are “on holiday” at the courtesy of Her Majesty.
But there are few families out there as dysfunctional as the Markles.
While princess-to-be Meghan Markle is busy brushing up on her curtsying skills and ordering hats, her family isn’t letting her forget them.
INSIDE MEGHAN MARKLE’S FRACTURED FAMILY
MEGHAN’S HALF-BROTHER SLAMS HER IN LETTER TO PRINCE HARRY
‘PHONY’ SAYS MARKLE’S HALF-BROTHER
Every half-baked half relative has come out of the woodwork to rail at not being invited to her wedding and cash in on her celebrity.
If Meghan was wavering about whether she should invite them, these public outings will make up her mind for sure.
The funny thing is that by abusing her for not inviting them, they’re merely showing she made the right decision.
Such public brawling is totally at odds with the stiff upper-lip style of the royal family and must be causing Meghan great embarrassment.
Of course, the British Royals have some oddballs too, like toe-sucking Fergie, Prince Andrew and his dodgy friends, Prince Charles who has strange views about tampons and Princess Anne’s ex who fathered a love child.
However, they look pretty tame in comparison to the Markles.
NEW BIOGRAPHY OF MEGHAN MARKLE AHEAD OF WEDDING
WHO WILL DESIGN MEGHAN MARKLE’S DRESS?
Most recently, we’ve heard from Meghan’s estranged half-brother Thomas Jr. who’s urging her to cancel the wedding and look after her own family instead.
“What kind of person starts out by using her own father until he’s bankrupt, then forgets about him in Mexico leaving him broke, over mostly all her debts. And when it’s time to pay him back she forgets her own father like she never knew him?” Thomas Jr. wrote in an open letter about the “fake fairytale wedding”.
There’s also Samantha Grant, who’s another of Meghan’s half-siblings from their father’s first marriage.
Apparently, she’s spruiking a book called The Diary of Princess Pushy, which is her name for Meghan, whom she hasn’t seen since 2008.
Grant has just changed her name back to Markle and has done back-to-back interviews dishing the dirt on her half-sister.
I feel sorry for Meghan.
Having a bi-racial blended family spread across the United States isn’t easy, even without the domestic violence incidents, drunken brawls and bitter feuds.
Meghan is very close to her mother, who’s been spotted hanging out with Prince Harry. Less is known about her relationship with her father Thomas, who has wisely chosen to stay silent in the face of relentless media scrutiny.
He is likely to be at the wedding, but it seems none of the wider family will be.
Meghan hasn’t forgotten her roots, as her brother has claimed.
She’s deliberately chosen to ignore them, and that’s a very different thing.
Good on her. Let’s hope the royals don’t judge her for her crazy relos.
You know what they say: you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.
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