Thomas Markle speaks out about Harry and Meghan in new tell-all documentary

Thomas Markle has slammed Prince Harry and his daughter, shared intimate family snaps and lifted the lid on royal drama in a tell-all documentary.

The Duchess of Sussex’s father, Thomas Markle, has revealed his side of the story on the royal drama involving Harry and Meghan over the last 18 months in a tell-all documentary.

Mr Markle, 75, shared intimate family snaps and videos of Meghan as a baby and throughout her childhood in the 90 minute interview called Thomas Markle: My Story.

He spoke of feeling abandoned by the royal family in the lead up to the wedding in 2018 and how he agreed to pose for controversial photographs to repair an image of him as a “fat slob”.

And he revealed details of what he claims was his final conversation with his daughter and son-in-law, before receiving a letter that sparked legal action that could see the pair face-off in court.

"I can't see her reaching out to me. Especially now." #ThomasMarkleMyStory, is up next. pic.twitter.com/GXmyerrS5D

— Channel 5 (@channel5_tv) January 22, 2020

The interview was filmed over six days in Mexico last October, however also includes recent comments after Harry and Meghan decided to step back from royal life.

Mr Markle described his daughter as “my most important relationship and my pride and joy.”

“I miss Meghan. I miss the way she was. I don’t know who she is now,” he said.

He lifted the lid on intimate family pictures and video of a young Meghan including from when she moved to live with her father at age 11.

Home movies from May 1993 showed her learning to work a camera, fishing and riding a horse. He described the years she lived with him between age 11 and 16 as “my happiest years.”

A baby Meghan Markle. Picture: Channel 5

Doria Ragland and a baby Meghan. Picture: Channel 5

Meghan in never seen before footage. Picture: Channel 5

Mr Markle said Meghan was born by caesarean section so got to “hold her first” and she became the “most special thing in my life”

“When she was born I couldn’t have been a happier man,” he said. “I was just knocked out by that child. She was just beautiful and I couldn’t put her down.

“I loved her very much … Still do.”

RELATED: Prince Harry’s stunning speech

RELATED: Royal question that can’t be ignored

Mr Markle described his daughter’s rise in Hollywood, from her being “embarrassed” to be on Deal or No Deal, to scoring a prime role in Suits in 2011 which she had described as “the dream”. 

He relived the moment when Meghan phoned him out of the blue to say she had a new boyfriend who was a Prince — Prince Harry, to be exact — and said he spoke Harry over the phone for a few minutes.

“She was happy and that made me happy. But very shortly after the press started looking for me,” he said.

Meghan Markle as a briefcase girl on Deal or No Deal. Picture: Supplied

However things soon took a turn for the worse in the lead up to the royal wedding when interest stared to ramp up in the new royal bride.

Mr Markle said he found himself under siege by paparazzi with everything he did shown in pictures that portrayed him to be “trashy”.

“Every paper seemed to make me want to look like a dumb fat slob. I bought a new toilet … and the joke was that this was my throne,” he said, adding that he had received no guidance from Buckingham Palace on how to react to the situation he found himself in.

Mr Markle said he was approached by a man who offered to “make him look respectable” and he took him up on his offer that led to pictures of him exercising and reading a book on British castles in seemingly candid situations.

“I was feeling that this was very hokey and hammy but he (the photographer) kept saying ‘you’ve got to trust me, I’ve done this 100 times, this will work for you’,” he said.

They also went to an internet cafe where he was pictured looking at engagement pictures of Meghan and Harry online. However CCTV footage showing him colluding with the photographer was later obtained by the Daily Mail and his secret was out.

A week before the wedding, Kensington Palace was given advance warning of the scandal and Mr Markle said Prince Harry was furious.

In an ironic twist, he admitted he was still making 30 per cent of sales off the embarrassing pictures.

He said he wanted to apologise to the Queen after the news leaked and was told by the royal couple not to.

A statement from Kensington Palace from Meghan Markle prior to the royal wedding.

‘I’VE NOT SPOKEN TO THEM SINCE’

Despite the scandal, Meghan still wanted her dad to come to the wedding and he was due to fly to the UK but had a “massive heart attack” and was hospitalised days before the event.

He was advised against flying and had to let the couple know.

“I called and said I can’t come. I’m sure Meghan cried. Harry said to me ‘if you had listened to me this would not have happened to you’. To me that was a very rude thing to say, especially when he knew I was laying in a hospital bed.

“I said (to Harry) ‘it’s too bad I didn’t die because then you guys could pretend that you were sad’.

“That may have caused everything but I’ve not heard from them or spoken to them since.”

Thomas in staged paparazzi shots on The Sun's front page in May, 2018. Picture: The Sun

However the documentary said other reports suggest the conversation took place over text and may have not occurred as he remembers it.

“Meghan and Harry said they would protect me. Their protection was saying ‘don’t talk to anyone’,” Mr Markle added.

“The royal family never sent anyone here to give me advice or do anything for me. I thought the natural thing would be to give me some kind of advice or guidance … Not that I need the attention but I might need the help.

“Harry knowing what his mother went through, should be really concerned about what’s happening to me … He must have had some idea what I was going through.

“Just to say ‘don’t’ talk to anybody’ I have to say I’m very offended by that.”

ROLE OF A LIFETIME

Mr Markle also commented that his former wife Doria Ragland looked like a “deer in the headlights” at the Windsor nuptials and shouldn’t have been made to sit alone.

He said it reminded him of the early days of their relationship in Los Angeles when she was often mistaken for the “housekeeper” in their mostly-white neighbourhood.

The filmmakers also interviewed Meghan’s former drama teacher Gigi Perreau who – prior to the Megxit split – said she was “proud of Meghan” and was often asked if she thought her former student would miss acting.

“All I can do is laugh. Are you kidding? She’s got the biggest acting job of any human being in the world. From the moment she wakes up in the morning until that door closes … She’s out there being the Duchess of Sussex and that’s a big role. That’s a huge role.”

Meghan as a young girl. Picture: Channel 5

THE LETTER THAT SPARKED LEGAL ACTION

Mr Markle also discussed the private August 2018 letter written to him by Meghan in the wake of the wedding that will now be debated in court after Meghan announced she would sue the Mail on Sunday for publishing the comments.

“I kept that letter for about six months and then these lies started coming out,” Mr Markle said in reference to articles in People magazine.
He said he felt frustrated by leaks to the press and wanted to tell his side of the story so shared the letter with the Daily Mail despite there being parts he would “never put out” because they were “too offensive” to him.

He also blamed Prince Harry for being “way too sensitive,” saying: “He’s not 12 years old anymore. He has no right to be this sensitive.”

“At this point, they owe me. The royals owe me. Harry owes me. Meghan owes me.”

“What I’ve been through I should be rewarded for,” he said adding that Meghan had told him she would look after him in his senior years.

“I’m in my senior years now. It’s time to look after daddy.”

‘THEY ARE DESTROYING THE ROYALS’

Excerpts released ahead of the documentary showed Mr Markle saying Meghan was “tossing away” “every girl’s dream”.

“Every young girl wants to become a princess and she got that and now she’s tossing that away, for, it looks like she’s tossing that away for money.”

“This is like one of the greatest long-living institutions ever. They are destroying it, they are cheapening it, they’re making it shabby … They are turning it into a Walmart with a crown of it now.”

He also apologised to the Queen for not attending and said he was not the “trashy” person he had been made out to be.

Meghan Markle as a baby with father Thomas Markle. Picture: Meghan Markle/Instagram

Thomas Markle was unable to attend the couple’s wedding after he had a heart attack, however relations between father and daughter were already strained. Picture: ITV

In early January Meghan and Harry dropped a new year bombshell announcing they intended to “step back” as senior royals and carve out a “progressive new role” in the royal family.

The announcement was made with little warning and blindsided Buckingham Palace officials, who were left scrambling for a response to the couple’s decision.

Ten days later after a crisis meeting at the Queen’s Sandringham home with Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry in attendance, a second announcement was made detailing terms of the Megxit.

Prince Harry and Meghan will no longer use their HRH titles or receive public funds for duties. They will also pay back public money spent on a $4.5 million renovation to their Frogmore Cottage home and pay a commercial rent for the property.

In exchange, they will have the freedom to sign commercial deals without palace oversight and be able to spend part of their time in Canada. This week, their adjustment to civilian life got off to a rocky start after the couple issued a legal warning over pictures taken of Meghan out walking with Archie and her two dogs in a Canadian Park.

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

Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland, was the only member of her family who attended her wedding. Picture: Oli SCARFF / AFP.

The Markle family have been a source of tabloid headlines and commentary in Britain ever since Meghan’s entry into the royal family.

The lead up to the couple’s wedding in May 2018 was dominated by fallout from staged paparazzi pictures conducted by her father, followed by the news he would be unable to travel to the wedding after he had a heart attack.

Now, the father and daughter could face-off in court in a case Meghan filed against the Mail on Sunday after it published the contents of a private letter she wrote to her father.