Prince Harry’s radio interview ‘sparked Markle family drama’

The Markle family’s very public feud has caused major headaches for the royals — and it might have been avoided had it not been for these words from Prince Harry.

Meghan Markle’s sister Samantha has claimed the family feud began because of a remark made by Prince Harry in a 2017 radio interview.

The Duchess of Sussex’s sibling told a Channel 5 show in the UK the Markles were hurt when Harry said the Royals were the “family Meghan has never had”, reports The Sun.

In an interview on Radio 4 in 2017, the Duke of Sussex spoke about Meghan’s first Christmas at Sandringham with the royal family.

He said: “She’s done an amazing job, you know it’s the family I suppose she’s never had.”

Meghan had her first Christmas with her then-fiance’s family in 2017. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

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In the documentary titled Meghan And The Markles: A Family At War, Samantha said: “The first thing I thought was I don’t think Harry has been given the full story.

“Something was not right. Though we weren’t the classic family together on schedule for every holiday, we were family.

“Then we questioned why … why would she be embarrassed about her family? Why would you need to set the stage differently?

“It was starting to feel like she wasn’t reaching out to the family.”

Samantha also questioned the motives behind a letter sent by the 37-year-old Duchess of Sussex to her father Thomas, calling it “strategic” and “contrived”.

In the letter, which Thomas made public, Meghan pleaded with her father to stop speaking to the press.

She wrote: “If you love me, as you tell the press you do, please stop. Please allow us to live our lives in peace.”

She accused her father of breaking her heart “into a million pieces” by his actions.

Thomas Markle is not shy about speaking to the media about his daughter.

But Samantha, who was not invited the royal wedding last May, said: “That letter was strategic, it was so elegantly written and contrived.

“She was basically saying that my dad had been a liar and that I was a liar.”

Samantha, who changed her name back to Markle from her married name Grant following her half-sister’s engagement, claims her father has “evidence” Meghan did not contact him prior to sending the note.

Speaking about how Meghan has treated Thomas, she said: “She doesn’t have a heart or she would have been doing everything she could to make him comfortable and reciprocate and be loving and gracious and make sure he’s comfortable in his old age.”

Samantha Markle regularly speaks publicly about her famous sibling. Picture: Channel 5

Responding to Meghan’s accusations that Samantah had lied about the Duchess of Sussex, Samantha said: “I pointed out that humanitarians don’t treat their father coldly. Was that a lie? No, because the world watched it happen to my dad, and the world watched her do it.”

In her letter, Meghan wrote that she “barely knows” her half-sister — despite being pictured at Samantha’s graduation in 2008.

In the interview, Samantha said: “There are a lifespan of pictures and experiences together, so maybe it’s convenient for her — because maybe in her mind she doesn’t want to see us because she wants to take centre stage.”

The drama has caused major headaches for Prince Harry and Meghan. Picture: Fadel Senna/ AFP

Samantha claims she lost touch with her sister when Meghan began pursuing her dream of being a Hollywood actress.

It is understood in the months leading up to the royal wedding both Meghan — now heavily pregnant — and Harry tried to build bridges with Thomas Markle.

But the relationship appears to have broken down after he allegedly staged paparazzi photographs of himself.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission