Meghan Markle ‘wants truth’ on father’s health
Thomas Markle, 81, was said to be in a stable condition after undergoing a three-hour operation in a hospital in the Philippines.
The Duchess of Sussex has instructed aides to find out if her father is unwell after reports he has had emergency surgery.
Thomas Markle, 81, was said to be in a stable condition after a three-hour operation in the Philippines. His son, Thomas Jr, said it had been “a life-threatening emergency”.
Markle is understood to have undergone emergency surgery earlier this week, followed by a second procedure to remove a blood clot. Reports, which have not been verified by The Times, said he had a leg amputated.
It is understood that the duchess had not been informed that he was in hospital before it appeared in news reports.
A spokesman for Meghan said: “We have been trying to understand the veracity of the claims made in The Daily Mail but we have not been instructed to reach out to her father.” Staff will seek to gain clarity about the situation “by other means”, he said.
Thomas Markle Jr, who lives with his father in the Philippines, told the Mail on Thursday: “I went to see Dad today. He is heavily medicated on painkillers and other drugs. He is hooked up to all kinds of machines. The doctors say he is stable, which is good news. He is a brave man and a fighter.
“The whole family is grateful for the outpouring of love and well-wishes from people around the globe, particularly from Britain.”
When he speaks of the “whole family”, however, he does not speak for his half-sister. She and her father have been estranged since the run-up to her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
Relations became strained when it emerged that he had staged pictures with a photographer. He then pulled out of attending the wedding, citing ill health. In his absence, the King, then Prince of Wales, gave Meghan away at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
Markle has never met her husband or their two children, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four.
Markle’s elder daughter, Samantha, said events of the past few years had taken their toll. She told the Daily Mail: “He is a strong man, but he has been through so much. I am praying that he is strong enough to survive this.
“My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke and an earthquake. I hope he can pull through this.”
Karl Larsen, a celebrity photographer and former business partner of Thomas Markle, with whom he launched a YouTube channel in 2022, told The Times: “We texted each other just before Thanksgiving. I was trying to make plans to rendezvous with him in Cambodia. Three weeks ago he was happy. I got some new photos of his grandkids for him during Halloween trick-or-treating.
“This is really devastating news. I can’t imagine the physical and psychological pain this will bring him.
“This is the most heartbreaking news since his stroke. It’s hard for me to think straight.
“I’m hoping this will be the final straw to break Meghan’s back to go see him. Meghan has my number if she needs it.”
The Times
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