Thomas Markle called up TMZ soon after he got out of surgery, of course

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Australia House

Thomas Markle absolutely refuses to pick up the phone and call his daughter. He absolutely refuses to allow the palace to smooth things over. Thomas Markle will not be contained. He will not stop calling TMZ to tell them every little detail about his well-being and how he feels. I just don’t get it. But as everyone always says, the royals play the long-game. This week, everything is shambolic, but a year from now, Meghan will be fully protected by the Firm and she’ll probably already be pregnant. They’re going to protect her. They just won’t protect her family. They can’t protect her family, because her family can’t stop showing their asses. Anyway, long story short: Thomas Markle called TMZ right after he got out of surgery, apparently.

Meghan Markle’s dad, Thomas, appears to have successfully undergone heart surgery … TMZ has learned. We spoke with Thomas a few minutes ago and he seemed alert and coherent, telling us doctors implanted stents in his blood vessels … he said he believes surgeons implanted 3 stents, but he wasn’t sure. He was scheduled to go into the OR at 7:30 AM.

As we reported, the surgery was necessary after Thomas experienced significant damage to his heart … the result of a heart attack 8 days ago. Thomas told us Tuesday, “They [doctors] will go in and clear blockage, repair damage and put a stent where it is needed.”

Thomas told TMZ Tuesday … he had a change of heart and wanted to walk Meghan down the aisle, but realized it was not going to happen because of the surgery. He’s still in the hospital, and no word when he’ll be released.

UPDATE: Thomas says, “I’m ok. It will take a long time to heel. Staying in the hospital a few more days. Not allowed to get excited.”

[From TMZ]

Methinks that Thomas Markle and Meg’s evil half-sister are in cahoots and they’re planning out some super-stupid stunt for just after the wedding. Obviously, Thomas Markle has done all he can do for now to ruin Meghan’s wedding and make her wedding all about him and his drama. But now he’s got his eye on ruining her first weeks of marriage too, with Samantha’s help. Ten bucks says that the headline on TMZ a day after the wedding will be something along the lines of “Thomas Markle says he’s too poor to properly care for himself post-surgery, demands to live with his daughter in a castle” or something like that. It’s all part of some kind of long-con by the Markles. It’s gross. I hope Meg cuts all of them out of her life (not her mom, just the Markle side of the family).

Meghan just released a statement through the Kensington Palace social media:

Well, at least she said something and now there’s clarity – after days of her father being the absolute worst, there’s a hard confirmation that he won’t be at the wedding. Good.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during a visit to youth-orientated radio station, Reprezent FM, in Brixton, south London to learn about its work supporting young people

Photos courtesy of PCN, Backgrid, WENN.

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164 Responses to “Thomas Markle called up TMZ soon after he got out of surgery, of course”

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  1. Clare says:

    ohhhh but poor poor Papa Markle is soooo sad and ill and poor and that Meghan! She didn’t fly him to England soon enough!

    Dude, you’re an arse.

    Her statement speaks volumes, too – I hope she is done with these clowns.

    • BeeBop says:

      Seriously, I could not believe people were giving him the benefit of the doubt. It’s a good example of why people who have poor relationships with their parents hide it. The judgement always falls on the kid first.

    • Belle Epoch says:

      So is England paying for his heart surgery? I thought he had open heart surgery, which is a lot different than stents! He should be feeling better than before the stents, right? Drama!

      • Peg says:

        Why would England be paying for his surgery?

      • Marjiscott says:

        Since the Dad has American citizenship, he probably is on Social Security. He has Medicare for medical insurance , most likely. Doubtful the U.K or the Palace foot the bill.

      • MeeMow says:

        Yeah, he’s overplaying the “heart surgery” angle. He had stents places which is typically done with sedation (not asleep with general anesthesia) with a catheter (big needle poke, not open surgery) through the groin or wrist (not chest). Most people are home recouperating in a day or 2.

      • Lizabeth says:

        I doubt the UK is paying but Medicare services are pretty limited for services provided outside the US.

      • NotSoSocialButterfly says:

        PTCA and coronary stent placement aren’t *surgery*. The doctors who perform these procedures are interventional cardiologists, not cardiac surgeons ( different residencies and fellowships), and they are done though arterial puncture and sheath placement, not open incision.

        Sorry Thomas and reporters, but get your facts straight.

    • AnneC says:

      TMZ spells heal “heel”? What is this an homage to trump’s grotesque spelling errors? Ugh, America.

    • Masamf says:

      I no longer believe he is calling the. I believe they are calling him pretending to care and say they just wanted to check on him etc. Then they turn around and say he called them. Don’t believe it one second. I believe Meghan too is in touch with her father, that’s why he isn’t as frantic as he was Monday and Tuesday.

      • Evie says:

        @Masamf: ITA, I don’t think Thomas Markle is calling TMZ; most likely their reporter is calling him. And when you come right down to it, he hasn’t told them anything other than he’s feeling better and will be in the hospital for a couple of days following the procedure to put in three stents and that he’s not supposed to get excited. What is the big deal? It’s his life. And yes, no one would know who he is or have any interest in his well being were he not Meghan’s father.

        True, he could decline to talk to TMZ altogether. But the fact is, he’s 73 and not in the best health and it appears he’s on his own. I can absolutely buy into him feeling a range of conflicting emotions: embarrassment, regret, loneliness and fright.
        To date, he has not sold her out or made any comments about her and Harry. I do think Samantha is trying to play him to get sympathy for herself and both of them. She personifies trash as does THomas, Jr.

        I don’t pretend to know what Meghan’s current relationship with Thomas Markle, Sr. is like or whether they are estranged. But all evidence suggests he was a good parent who loved his daughter and was a presence in her life. I believe he did some very stupid, ill-advised things by posing for the staged pap pics, but I don’t believe that’s a crime akin to axe murderer, child molester or bank robber. Markle, Sr. is an elderly man who up until 20 months ago was leading the very quiet life of a retiree, American expat in a small Mexican border town. Now he’s being villified as Public Enemy Number One.

        Meghan didn’t need this stress the week before her wedding. No bride needs family drama. But honestly, Meghan has her Mom, her friends, the Palace courtiers and above all, Harry to love, help and support her. This too shall pass. And hopefully Meghan and her Dad will have some sort of rapprochement in the future.

      • Cberry says:

        +1
        To everything here.

      • Maria says:

        +1 Masamf

      • Masamf says:

        @Evie, I couldn’t agree with you more, very well stated. Can I marry your post please? 🙂
        Thomas Markle Sr. seems like a harmless man, what happened happened but he slipped ONCE, but that doesn’t mean he is a hideous person. I’ve cut him slack since this started, Im gonna continue to cut him even more slack and I believe his daughter Meghan understands and still loves him more than anything despite all this. At the end of the day, he is her father.

      • Amy Too says:

        The update at the end sounds like a text message. It’s exactly how my parents text: like they’re writing a telegram and have limited space.

    • madonami says:

      “cared for” – – ooof.

    • Where'sMyTiara says:

      It’s pretty horrible when you have a parent who is a narcissist and one of your siblings turns out to be that parent’s apologist, defender, and general mini-me.

      Meghan Markle, just do what I did after my wedding – ghost them. Just go no contact. Your life will be happier for them not being in it.

  2. Snap Happy says:

    There is clearly a long line of dysfunction on his side. Good on Megan for breaking the cycle.

    • Birdix says:

      Agreed. Not sure I agree that she needs the Firm to protect her though. He’s embarrassing but not dangerous. And she seems capable of managing fine on her own. And I doubt he needs to call TMZ, I’m sure there’s a reporter who has earned his trust who calls him all the time. Reporters will do that.
      I get that this guy is an ass who is behaving accordingly, but the level of vitriol is a bit out of hand, especially for someone in the hospital. It’s like the rest of the world has turned into bridezillas furious about anything that might ruin the fairytale day.

    • RoyalSparkle says:

      +100

      Princess Henry i/w seem to have broken separated years ago from the lot – but her entry into the global stage – the halves couldn’t resist the hate and muddle her name.

      I hope The Firm / HM/ BRF disinvited the father after siding with the hateful poison half sister.

  3. Val says:

    What a horrible human. Your goddamn daughter is getting married in front of the world and you can’t shut the hell up and stop embarrassing her. Weddings are stressful enough as it is. What a pig.

    • Mariposa says:

      Yes, and he must be one of the dumbest grifters in the world. If he had kept his mouth shut and just supported his daughter she would have made sure he was financially ok for the rest of his life. I meank even if he couldn’t be bothered supporting her out of love, you’d think he could do it in his own best interests!

      She sounds super pissed at him in that statement, with the ‘cared for’ part. I suppose it has a double-meaning — she helped look after him financially but also, that she never says she loved him, just that she cared for him.

      • Peg says:

        Meghan is not going to be giving him money for him to hand it out, to her half-siblings.
        No wonder he did not know what was going on with the wedding, she knew he could not be trusted, and this is probably will be the last time, she will ask him to do anything for her.

      • WendyNerd says:

        None of these people are Rhodes Scholars. Samantha is an idiot too. If she had bided her time a bit, she could have actually capitalized on this better. Writing and announcing the tell all NOW basically announces to the world “Hey, I am a liar and I am merely cashing in!”. And she admits to being behind the biggest and most embarrassing press courting scandal yet. SMH. If she had waited two years without blabbing immediately, she might have been considered a “real insider”, maybe even scored an invite to bump up her credibility. But no. She blabbed at once just to make sure that her info had as little value and her image was as pathetic and trashy as possible so no one will pay her much beyond an initial rough payday that will run out at once. Why should they pay her more, when she is so desperate to make an idiot of herself for free? I saw her in an interview, and it’s obvious that this woman thinks she is savvy. And it’s hilarious because she and her worthless brother and father have become the media equivalent of carnival freaks and don’t even realize it. Congrats Sam, Thomas sr and Thomas jr, you have about as much credibility as Kate’s stripper cousin. Uncle Gary outranks you because even the guy who named his house Casa de Bang Bang is smarter and classier than you.

        If you’re going to be an ethically bankrupt grifter intent on selling out your family, at least have the decency to do it halfway intelligently. But that’s too tall an order for these white trash morons.

      • Incognita says:

        Exactly WendyNerd!!

    • AideVee says:

      I hope the Royal Family protect her and shield her from this – she can begin her new life away from all this crap.
      I think after the dust has settled, the Daily Mail will have a lot to answer for in how they have fed and stirred this story. They have manipulated a stupid and naive man into creating all this scandal to sell papers and it’s been a real dog whistle for certain odious people to start chiming in on Meghan being American, divorced and a person of colour- it’s vile.
      The royal wedding is actually creating so little buzz here in Britain- literally no-one seems to care. I think most people are largely happy for them, but this wedding is not the be-all and end-all of the weekend.

      I quite like the idea of the daily mail frothing and raging to itself while everyone just ignores them. It’s the way forward, really.

      • duchess of hazard says:

        The FA cup is on the same day, and to be honest, with Meghan and Harry being cheap on offering the peons they invited food to eat and everyone broken or running away because of Brexit, well… we’re all feeling poor at the minute.

      • LAK says:

        This was never about MM. It was a powerplay in the Harry /KP vs the media game that began when the relationship was outed.

        Parliament had a vote last week to try and curb press freedom ( No won the day) and will continue to try to curb press freedom.

        One of the many letters Harry / KP sent to IPSO contained a threat that royals would back the vote.

        I imagine the recent 2 letters sent about Markle Snr’s privacy reiterated that threat.

        It’s certainly no coincidence that a few hours after receiving the letter, the DM went on the warpath and exposed Markle Snr. It was a dagger aimed at Harry. To show collusion. Markle is / was collateral damage, and his reaction unexpected.

        https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/thomas-markle-meghan-markle-royal-wedding-photos-paparazzi-press-british-trust-a8351031.html

      • Veronica T says:

        LAK, that the 6th in line of a figurehead institution, as someone said yesterday, can threaten a free press is astounding!! Or at least it would be in the USA. The only idiot we have threatening the press is Dotard Trump.

  4. Amy says:

    “I have always cared for my father”

    Cold. Not saying he doesn’t deserve it at all, but who here with a normal relationship with their dad has said “I have always cared” for him?

    I mean, it’s clearly responding to the a-hole siblings saying that she’s ignored her father, but still…this statement makes her sound super pissed. And rightly so, mind you.

    • CommentingBunny says:

      You can’t have a normal relationship with a hard-core narcissist like this guy appears to be. To me “cared for” sounds like she’s managed to get a degree of healthy seperation from him.

      • MissMarierose says:

        I completely agree. It’s sometimes hard for people to understand what it’s like to grow up the child of a narcissist, but it’s challenging, devastating, and emotionally draining. Sometimes the best way forward is to put an emotional distance between you. But people with normal parents often won’t get it.

        I really feel for Meghan.

      • Siiiigh says:

        Coming from a huge family of inbred, bigoted narcissists, HELL NA! I’m not cold just because my family are insufferable assholes, people just like the Markles who believe themselves to be the ultimate superiors to all others, who feel entitled to everything I have, including my “love,” and who go out of their way to crush others. To say “I care about” them would be a stretch. And yes, this includes parents.

      • Bosandi says:

        @MissMarierose @CommentingBunny

        Yes, I just popped in to comment on narcissism. After years of emotional turmoil, I realized that my mother is a narcissist. To say it’s draining is such an understatement. I had to stop communicating with her for my own emotional well-being. And yes, most people with normal parents don’t get it.

        Children of narcissist often become narcissist themselves – these are usually the parent’s favorite child(ren). The scapegoat children can become overachievers and/or people pleasers. It’s all damaging and everyone suffers in some way. Sad.

        Given the behavior of these people, I suspect this is the case. (I’m not an expert or a therapist. I’m just trying to heal my darn self!)

        Sounds like Megan has been on low- or no-contact with him for years. I don’t blame her. Given her fame and widespread popularity, her father’s (and siblings’) dysfunction went into hyper overdrive.

        Her father got just want he wanted – attention and sympathy while trying to make Megan look like an awful person. pity.

      • Liberty says:

        @Bosandi, perfectly said. I agree 100%. Happened to a close friend with a horrid narcissistic mother.

    • Zapp Brannigan says:

      That part of the statement reads as “I love my dad but I do not love the shenanigans he has pulled” Thankfully there will be an ocean of space between them. I feel sorry that she has been so let down by one half of her family, there is no going back from this.

      • AnnaKist says:

        I agree, Zapp Brannigan – he’s done his dash. She’ll be a royal, and her new family will close ranks, so he’ll be totally frozen out. I’m thinking that MM should try and put it out of her mind (for) now, and focus on what’s coming. Hopefully, she’ll be too busy to hear or read any more of her poor-excuse-for-a-father’s shit talk.

    • Alissa says:

      based on how things have been handled by him and his side of the family, of course she doesn’t have a normal relationship with them.

    • Pix says:

      “Cared” is just an interesting word to use in that statement and the subtext is like a siren. I hope she has Oprah on speed-dial for counsel so that O can tell her that this will pass and you can leave your scheming, hateful family behind and it’s more than okay.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      ‘Cared for’ is an interesting choice of words – its a direct confirmation that she has financially supported him in the past as well as that she cares about him.

      TMZ is saying that she is very upset and embarrassed by the whole affair, which means he has been speaking to her but is STILL selling her out to the press – the man has just proven that he can never be trusted with any information about her life as he our his mouth piece will blab to the press. Samantha claims to have wired money to him – am sure its his share of the money they’ve been making off the setup pap shots and his ‘chats’ to the press. These 2 have clearly got a deal going where they are splitting the money.

      • Christin says:

        I think money is the root of all this nonsense. Why else is he calling one tabloid website almost daily? It was just too much to pass up. The cost will likely be great in the long run, though. His heart isn’t the only thing damaged. His relationship with his daughter will likely never be the same.

        I like the way MM’s statement closes with “our wedding”. This is not about self-absorbed relatives on either side of the family.

    • Kitty says:

      I wouldnt call it cold to say cared for…i would say its emotionally neutral. Its probably hard to find the words to describe the situation, especially to the whole world, to people that really dont know you or your relationship with your father. I would use the same words, i find it hard to say love when it comes to my father, our relationship is rocky. I try, he barely tries but in the end its all my fault when we dont get along.

    • Beluga says:

      He ignored her calls to contact TMZ first. Dude’s earned himself the full Ice Queen treatment.

    • minx says:

      I think her wording is partly because it’s a semi-formal statement. She’s not going to say “I love my father.” It’s appropriate.

      • Mariposa says:

        I think she would have said ‘cared for and loved my father’ if that’s how she really felt. I don’t think she was holding back out of formality. I’m trying to decide if that word choice was shade or a burn….I think it’s a burn that was meant to be shade!

      • littlemissnaughty says:

        Word. It also sounds like Firm speak. She plays by their rules now and her statements are worded accordingly. Best thing she can do right now.

    • Natalie S says:

      I see it as acknowledgement that this is nothing new and through it all she has always cared for him. That she won’t stop lovin him or have this change anything. She sounds tired.

      • GreenTurtle says:

        I agree. I think it’s appropriate and is a polite clap back to all of the speculation about the state of their relationship and the accusations that Meghan abandoned her father when she became successful, as those ridiculous half siblings claimed. It reads as a statement of continuity, not a past action. Do you care about your father? Yes, I’ve always cared about him.

    • Imeanreally says:

      “…the space he needs…” Ha! I’m sure Meg will be giving him lots and lots of it! One positive outcome after this debacle is that absolutely no one will give her grief for ignoring her father from now on.

    • Sherry says:

      The “cared” word speaks volumes. My father passed away in 2002, but I have always used “love” or “loved” when referencing him.

    • FLORC says:

      I knew this sentence would be picked out. It’s cold if you want to read it that way. It’s also a public statement. Not a private declaration. The wording is perfect.

      Meghan just shut this shit down. No more flipflopping. He’s not coming. She’s also asking along with harry for people to respect his space. I’m reading that as he needs to stfu. She is capable of communication. She is aware of the situation. It’s passive. And if he wants to talk he can. He doesn’t need a 3rd parth to print it out globally for her to see it.

      This guy is scum. Get ready for the pleas he can’t care for himself.

    • NotSoSocialButterfly says:

      “Cared for” is intentionally ambiguous, I think- it could encompass not just love and concern for well- being, but also potentially financial support.

  5. Jack Daniels is my patronus says:

    Ugh. This is messy. I feel so bad for Meg.

    And what happened to the notoriously private father who just wanted to live his quiet life in Mexico.

  6. MI6 says:

    So. Much. Drama.
    And he wanted to “be part of history” ? What about being there for your daughter?!
    My heart goes out to this poor girl and Harry. I hope they can let go and let God give them a beautiful day and life together.

    • Beluga says:

      Actually that’s a very good point. Meghan’s being called cold over this statement, but her father never mentioned loving her or wanting to be there for her on her special day or wanting to spend time with her.

      I won’t go into a rant about how women are always expected to be warm and gentle and accommodating, but I want to….

      • Amy says:

        Just in case this was about my comment above, I didn’t mean that Meghan is cold, but the statement certainly is. Someone above said that it sounded “emotionally neutral” which may be a better way to say it.

        Either way, her father has done nothing to earn any warmth from her. The statement, whether described as cold, emotionally neutral or otherwise, is completely justified.

      • Beluga says:

        Not at all, Amy, your comment was sound! 🙂 It is a stone cold statement and I agree justifiably so, but I’ve seen people on other sites calling Meghan heartless and sociopathic over the wording. People are essentially saying she should be coddling her father when he’s treated her horribly, which is out of order and plays into wider societal expectations.

    • Liberty says:

      I know – his statement was so disgustingly self-serving, on the eve of his daughter’s wedding, there are just no words. I hope she can focus on her happiness with Harry, her mother and true friends and forget these vile jackass users.

  7. Natalie S. says:

    He’s a coward running away from his behavior so of course he’s using TMZ. He is not a confused old man who doesn’t know any better. My guess is this is who he’s been his whole life. He was pretty comfortable with blaming his son for his health problems.

    So both Thomas and Samantha have health concerns right before the wedding. Convenient.

    I hope Meghan and Harry have a lovely time and don’t let the Markles mar any of it.

  8. Chef Grace says:

    Wonder how much he is getting paid for all this drama.

    • MI6 says:

      Exactly. This miscreant is making bank.

    • Sandra says:

      I wonder too – how much money is there to be made just by saying whatever you want to the press? To me it has to be A LOT to permanently humiliate yourself and destroy your reputation and credibility on the world stage.

  9. Liberty says:

    This heart surgery plus the evil step sisters auto smash last night that delivered unto her a broken ankle and fractured knee are almost poetic justice at this point.

    Now it is down to creepy big brother, and the Dooleys who apparently lost the tv gig that brought them over though they don’t know M.M. —— and I believe Anne and Mike T can track them all on swift horseback and lock them all up in a cosy shed for a few days by pretending it is a TMZ remote studio gig. Go, Princess Anne!

    • RBC says:

      I didn’t hear about the sister being in a car accident
      Karma is knocking at her door

      • OChar says:

        Last I heard, her husband claims the paparazzi was chasing them & he was trying to get away from them & ran off the road. I’d love to know if there were any witnesses, because the paparazzi also fled the scene, according to the husband.

      • Beluga says:

        OChar – FFS they’re going to sue KP/Meghan for it, aren’t they.

      • Olenna says:

        I. Just. Can’t. with these people. I will not be surprised if that crazy heffer starts promoting (or self-martyring) herself as another Princess Di.

      • Nicole says:

        They could try to sue but they courted the attention so that wouldnt go far in court at all.

      • WendyNerd says:

        @Olenna. Samantha already invoked Diana’s accident when defending her choices about her dad’s staged photo ops to the press. Because she’s slime.

    • H says:

      How did the Dooley’s lose the TV gig? I thought they were going on GMB.

    • Skylark says:

      Heehee, Liberty! 😀 That sounds like an excellently cunning plan (and exactly how they’d do it on ‘The Windsors’!)

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      I didn’t know the Dooley’s had lost the TV gig – hahaha. Someone in the RF is finally shutting this sh!tshow down.

    • Nicole says:

      I thought the same liberty. Karma.
      I feel so bad for Meghan that she has to deal with shenanigans this close to the wedding

  10. Becks1 says:

    I have to admit, I’m surprised by all this. I know weddings can bring out the worst in people, and that when there is significant money and fame involved, it just makes it even more extreme – but her father has laid pretty low since the engagement, right? I know he staged those pictures but in the grand scheme of what he could have done, those were pretty benign.

    Why is he now showing his ass like this? Why did he wait until the week before the wedding to put TMZ on speed dial?

    Maybe that was all just part of it – to lay low and then bam! steal the thunder?

    • sa says:

      That’s what confuses me too. The dad hadn’t said anything to the media before this week. He staged some silly, but innocuous photos, but otherwise he was quiet. Now all of a sudden he can’t stop himself from calling TMZ? I can’t help but think there’s something we’re missing.

    • Purplehazeforever says:

      I am too. Not a word out of him until a week before the wedding & now he can’t stop calling TMZ? He was a recluse until March and then does all these bizarre pap strolls? Either he suffers from severe anxiety and he sabotaged himself with the photos so he could back out of the wedding or he was embarrassed by how he looked or he’s a jerk. When the self-sabotage didn’t work, he now has health issues that prevents him from attending. Either it’s manufactured or it’s real but he’s going to make sure the tabloids won’t be able to spot him until after the wedding. The photos were stupid…but the calling up.of TMZ & not your daughter is worse. He doesn’t want to face her because of his actions. Sadly he’s done so much more damage than her half sister or half brother could have done.

      • Bridget says:

        The pap strolls were because he hated the photos of him that were being circulated, so he thought he’d stage some better ones.

      • whatever1 says:

        I read an article recently which said that the paparazzi rented the home next door to Thomas so they could get the pictures they wanted of him. If true, that kind of constant surveillance and invasion of privacy is enough to send anyone cray-cray!. He probably thought that if he worked with the paps on a few pictures they would leave him alone after that.

      • Sophia's side eye says:

        If he wanted to be left alone he wouldn’t still be calling tmz, and giving them updates on his every move. One would guess that he’d be happy to be in a hospital where he can’t be hounded by the paps. This has gone too far beyond just working with the the paps to get them off his back for there to be any excuse.

        Besides he never said he was trying to get the paps off his back, he said he didn’t like the way he looked in the photos that were being taken of him. If he’d stopped and said just that it would’ve made more sense. All that being said, this event isn’t about him, yet he’s trying very hard to make it about himself. I guess he got a taste of attention and now has decided he likes it.

      • Evie says:

        Apparently he did the staged pap photos back in February or March. However, the DM (which also bought, paid for the photos) only decided to out Thomas Markle, Sr. after KP threatened the media over respecting his privacy and also the Parliament vote on curtailing freedom of the press in the UK. As another poster said up thread, Thomas Markle, Sr. was collateral damage. The Daily Mail created this firestorm to push back at Harry and KP. They controlled the timing of outing him.

        FWIW, Markle, Sr. said he was offered between $50 and $100K to sell stories about Meghan to the press and turned them all down. And TMZ’s Harvey Levin also said earlier this week that he had offered Markle $100K to tell his story and that Markle refused. Have no idea whether this is true, false or fake news, but that’s what is being reported.

    • Merritt says:

      He wanted to lull Meghan into a false sense of security. He lied to her about coming and then pulled all these stunts. He is a cruel man.

      • Natalie S. says:

        I don’t think he thought about Meghan at all. I think in his head all of this, the relationship, engagement, wedding, his other kids acting out, is about him and he’s a victim.

    • Christin says:

      Maybe the value went up as the wedding drew closer? Plus, waiting until the week before the wedding means less chance of being successfully stopped.

      I once worked with someone who spent a few years traveling the globe working for well-known tabloids. She made very good money, though her specialty was more about interesting feature stories than celebrities. She said that family members WILL often sell out a famous relative. The money and attention is just too tempting.

    • Sherry says:

      I’m still going with an anxiety disorder. I think he has many problems and that is one of them. Whether consciously or subconsciously, he brought all of this on himself as a way to get out of walking her down the aisle.

      My cousin’s ex was an alcoholic and was supposed to walk their daughter down the aisle. She loved her father, but my cousin kept telling her, “Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t show up.” The day of the wedding came and he was a no-show. Her uncle walked her down the aisle.

    • Where'sMyTiara says:

      This is how narcissists work; the closer you get to an important event where they’re no the center of attention, the more they feel the irresistible impulse to act out and -make- it all about them.

      My mother is a toxic narcissist, and my sibling became one as well. Both my sibling and my mother did this to me in the runup to my wedding. Even with people volunteering to be a buffer, to redirect / interrupt their mischief, they still managed to taint the day. I cut ties with them not long afterward.

      One can love their parent and still know that it’s not healthy to have them in any way connected with one’s life. The painful reality is that we can love a parent, and they do not return that love.

  11. RBC says:

    So does that mean the other siblings will rush to be at their father’s side since they “care” so much about him? Or are they going to remain in England to ruin Meghan’s day? I read somewhere that Samantha Markle is supposed to be some “special” correspondent for one of the tabloids covering the wedding

  12. Beluga says:

    Dude. It’s not. About. You!

    It sounds like Meghan has been trying with her father for a number of years. ‘Periodically estranged’ says to me that she’s given him far too many chances, which is completely understandable. Hopefully the Atlantic is wide enough for her to feel free from all the drama soon.

    • Tonya says:

      Beluga, courtesy of NP (the ex- b*tch friend) we had clues…NP was quoted as saying it’s not my place to say- in reference to Meghan & Thomas’ relationship…remember the video where Meghan said something like she couldn’t go to his house (even though she needed to get her mail)…

      Thomas Sr. isn’t innocent, he has been working with Vonnie from the beginning…I think that moving forward Meghan will not ‘protect’ him…

  13. KeWest says:

    Jeeve. Father of the year his guy is not.

    When will he (and meghan’s half siblings) stop talking.

    • Hartford says:

      When the royals shove such large fistfuls of money into their gobs that they choke on it?

      • minx says:

        They’ll still yap, no matter how much money the royals give them. These people are shameless. They’ll always want more. MM should just ignore them, like, forever.

  14. SM says:

    Succesfull surgery? From where I stand, he still did not get a heart. My God, so rediculous. I feel for her (as much as possible to feel for a princess), adding to the stress of a bride, there is the fact that the whole world will be watching, that the part of the family she is about to marry into are straight up racists and now her own family, her farhter, can’t suck it up and at least to go away for a few days, which is pretty low bar for family support.

  15. KeWest says:

    Any bets that a year from now Meghan and Harry will have already had a child? Seems like there would be no point in waiting.

    • Beluga says:

      I think they’ll want a bit of settling time to enjoy being married and get started with their work, but within 2 years definitely.

      It also depends how many they want. I could see them being a one-and-done couple.

    • Sherry says:

      Barring any complications, I’m thinking she gets pregnant on their honeymoon later this summer.

  16. Digital Unicorn says:

    Yeah I think daddy and the evil unhinged step sister are up to something, they are not done milking this for cash. She’s claiming she was hurt in a car crash caused by a pap harassing her, she even dared to blame the Palace saying they never helped them cope with all the media attention. Seems to be forgetting she invited them into her life and has been the one encouraging it. Samantha is becoming more unhinged with each passing day – its clearly eating at her that Meghan is ignoring her and is not reacting to her baiting. For people like her being ignored by the target of their bitterness just drives them insane. I wouldn’t be surprised if she staged the car accident to get sympathy and more media attention.

    KP and Harry/Meghan have handled this whole thing badly, while I don’t think they would have been able to do much with the unhinged lunatic sister but I think things could have been better with Daddy. While I do think there was a line of communication between him and the Palace via Meghan he was playing along, regardless of what the sister says. He’s shown his ass and he doesn’t even seem that bothered about how his behaviour makes Meghan feel.

    The Fail has some interesting articles on it, they are saying that Harry has been the driving force behind it on top of a very inexperienced team – it says that if Christopher Geidt had still been TQ’s ‘fixer’ then this would never have happened as apparently he knew how to manage Harry.

    • Lizabeth says:

      I rarely agree with the perspective presented in the Fail but the article you reference @Digital Unicorn has a ring of truth to it to me. Both Harry and Will have made bad PR choices, choices that seem rooted in petulance and stubbornness. Plus they share the same “young and inexperienced but very keen” team at KP. I’m not saying this debacle could have necessarily been entirely avoided nor am I saying any deserved “blame” should be taken off the questionable members of Meghan’s family. But I do think Harry played a role too…mostly of the sort “if I want it to be so, it will. People must behave the way I say.”

  17. Toot says:

    Meghan is too through.

    Pops using TMZ as his personal mouth piece got him to this point of saying care instead of love. Also saying he wants to be there to be apart of history, instead of saying to support my daughter. He’s just been on a bad roll.

  18. TaniaOG says:

    I actually wonder if this Markle family was trying to blackmail her into paying them. And when she said no, this happened. It just seems so odd. The fact that he won’t stop calling TMZ, it’s like a big eff you to her.

  19. Rescue Cat says:

    I was wondering how I was going to escape this wedding and it turns out my football team’s game starts at exactly the same time as the wedding telecast. I couldn’t have asked for a better anti-prom. 😀

  20. Bee says:

    It’s become abundantly clear why she blanked all these losers. She needed to for the sake of her own sanity. That side of her family are all straight up cray.

    • Carrie1 says:

      Yes. Worse than that, they’ve actively tried to harm her life and relationships. I’ve been there, a few times. Estrangement happens in stages and i hope Meghan feels free to leave it all behind her now. It’s a heartbreaking and destabilizing experience when your own family isn’t safe. This being so close to her wedding, I’m glad the firm is so large and centuries of experience with troubles because this has been horrific.

  21. DP says:

    Oh my gosh! He sounds so much like my sister who has Borderline personality disorder. Instead of just joining in the festivities and being a part of his daughter’s special day, he had to make things all about him. People like this try to get attention… good or bad. That’s how they gain control.
    I suspect, he wasnt feeling like a big enough star and tried to get more “power” with these antics.
    Good for Megan for cutting it with this statement. It sounds like she’s been dealing with this her whole life. There is no healthy balance with a person like this… an emotional vampire. They will suck you dry and twist reality to serve themselves. Best to step away. So sad and he’d to do though! I always try to give another chance, and it always burns me.

    • BeeBop says:

      I was going to comment something similar about Markle making it all about him. It’s hard for people who come from good families to believe, but sometimes parents can be raging jealous of their own children. He’s sabotaging her. It’s intentional. Then he cries victim and everyone falls for it. Very typical Cluster B behavior.

      • Hartford says:

        T – H – I – S. Festering, bone-deep, pathological jealousy is all over this mess. That statement about wanting to be “part of history” – not once mentioning his daughter by name, incidentally – was just so . . . bizarre.

      • Carrie1 says:

        Siblings too, not just parents.

    • Christin says:

      If either he or the half-sister attended, they’d likely faint or do something to draw attention to themselves. All it takes is one in a family to derail any big event. And they do not change.

    • MissMarierose says:

      Spot on.

  22. Maria F. says:

    At the end of the day, these people have just a few more days to milk their relationship, because once the wedding is done, nobody cares about them and their history with her or any other tidbits. She will be a member of the Royal Family and that’s that. They will all disappear into the hole they came out.

  23. NoShame says:

    Read an interesting article on the Daily Beast yesterday. Apparently, TMZ tried to pay Markle $100K and he turned it down. The thrust of the article was about how the Royal Family’s press office really botched all of this and that the press office is notoriously incompetent. I have to kind of agree on that. They should have locked this down a year ago.

    Apparently, the tabs were the ones cultivating relationships with the family while the Royals totally ignored them. They’ve known for a year that this family was problematic and they apparently never came up with a PR game plan on how to deal with that. Even now, when the sting operation into his staged photos became public, there was literally no one around at the press office. Instead they had an assistant whose mobile number was the only point of contact in the office while this was all blowing up.

    How do you stage one of the biggest publicity events of the decade and not have any press people available to deal with press inquiries a week before the wedding?

    In 2018, if you’re going to ask Megan to give up her career, her church AND her citizenship, maybe they should have included the outdated tradition of paying a dowery too. Throw the parents some cash, make them sign all sign NDAS and be done with it. Instead, they did the opposite of that. They ignored a slow rolling disaster most of us could see coming from a mile away.

    • Cirque28 says:

      Yeah, but there’s no point in a NDA with someone who has no real assets. (Because what will you sue them FOR? How will any judgment against them be enforced?) People with nothing to lose and big mouths can be dangerous.

    • minx says:

      We talked about this yesterday here…you can’t force people to sign NDAs. And if they sign an NDA and violate it, what’s the recourse? It’s pointless to sue.

    • Bridget says:

      This is such a weird tone to take. Why is there an expectation that Kensington Palace “take care” of Meghan’s estranged family? They’re adults who chose to sell out their half sister the moment it became possible, one assumes in hopes of a payout. And we know nothing about the relationship between Meghan and her father, I’m not taking the Daily Fail as the experts. We don’t know what they’ve spoken about or what he was saying to her before this mess.

    • NoShame says:

      But they could certainly deny them all future access to the Royal Family, grandchildren etc. That has a value bigger than money. Seems like the Royals decided to cast them out a year ago. Sometimes it’s better to keep your potential enemies close by, not out in the open where TMZ can befriend them in a way you never did.

      I’m not defending the family. They seem pretty awful, but that’s exactly why you do something to contain them. I really think the royal dropped the ball here. They didn’t do a single thing to contain them. We’ve all known for a YEAR that these people were talking to the press whereas the Royals seemed completely unprepared for any of this even just a few days ago.

      • minx says:

        Again, what were the royals to do? These idiots aren’t British subjects. They’re just attention whores. If the royals tried to pay them off these people would be blabbing a week later.

      • Bridget says:

        They clearly planned for the 2 Markle siblings, and have chosen to ignore them (which is IMO the right thing to do). Rogue relatives looking for money only go away if the payment is right, though perhaps you think they should have given in and invited Thomas and Samantha to the wedding?

        This whole idea that Meghan should have had the royal brigade scoop her father up and have him come live with them, or something like that, is totally bizarre. He’s an ADULT. They’re clearly not close, and I think we can see why. I don’t think anyone would have planned for him to completely lose all common sense and publicly freak out to TMZ while ignoring his daughter’s phone calls.

      • Cirque28 says:

        Agree with you @Noshame that some KP containment strategy would have helped with most of the Markles. But not the worst ones. They’re uncontainable IMO. Samantha would dearly love to get hauled into court for violating a NDA. She’d probably devote an entire chapter in her mean book to how she was ‘bullied!’

    • Merritt says:

      The Daily Beast article was a mess. You can’t lock down crazy in this case. Thomas Markle doesn’t care. An NDA would have been useless because he has nothing to lose. Denying him access to Meghan or any future grandchildren would have been useless because he clearly doesn’t care if he ever sees them.

    • A says:

      I can see this being a part of KP’s plan.

      Letting the Markles show their true colors will make the public turn against them and no one will question Meghans motives when years down the line she won’t let her kids see their grandfather. People will understand why she doesn’t let her relatives close to her or her future family.

      • Tonya says:

        A, I agree with you…I think once the wedding is over- stories will come out exposing the Markles’ extortion schemes…

    • Sophia's side eye says:

      Well, it looks like Tomas Sr has gotten more than that 100G now, I mean that’s what that article tells me. He’s far from dumb and held out for the biggest payday he could get, and tried to ruin his own daughters wedding to do it. Why else would he be talking to TMZ about the damn weather?

      He likely planned to go to the wedding and then sell his story but his health prevented that so he did the next worst thing. I can’t believe some people are treating him like he’s some dottering old man, he’s simply far smarter than his two big mouthed, oldest children.

  24. Hartford says:

    It’s not bad enough that about a jillion and a half people are going to be watching this and gleefully picking apart every single thing. Of course now if she happens to tear up or look sad, she’s a manipulative witch milking all the pity. If she dares to smile or look remotely happy, she’s a manipulative witch who betrayed her family.
    I do not envy her.

  25. HK9 says:

    You know, seeing has his health is in “peril” he’d have his daughter rather than TMZ on speed dial but NOOOOOOOOO. He’s got to tell them everything. Clumsy old ass famewhore.

  26. AnnaKist says:

    Aaach, what a bloody shemozzle.

  27. Peg says:

    Maybe Meghan dodged a bullet by not having her father at the wedding.

  28. VeronicaLodge says:

    I have an extremely manipulative father. Everything is about him. I get MM wanting her father to be a supportive, loving dad on her wedding day. I had a lot of conversations with my mother leading up to my wedding day, I didn’t trust him…we had a nice wedding and got through it with him behaving. I divorced a few years ago after my daughter passed away (SIDS), took me a few years to financially regroup, dealt with an extremely abusive relationship (not the ex husband, he actually sent me money to help leave the boyfriend, we are still great friends). My father rubs my nose in every bad part of my life when we have spoken over the last few years. He tries to manipulate me and bring me over to his “side” when he’s not getting along with my mother. I have cut him off due to a lot of therapy and an extremely loving and supportive boyfriend. It was very easy for me to slip into the “yes, dad, sorry” role for a long time. I’m a people pleaser for sure. I get MM. sorry that was a rant.

    • Tonya says:

      VeronicaL, I hear you…you can ‘rant’ all you want. My condolences. Always remember that you deserve the best!

    • MissMarierose says:

      I’m so sorry you had to go through that, but please know that you’re not alone. Some of us get it. Rant all you want.

    • Christin says:

      I am sorry for all you’ve been through. People like your father tend to think of people (including those who should be loved ones) as objects. It’s all about them. Glad you have found ways to deal with him as little as possible.

  29. Helen Smith says:

    Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Meghan needs to learn how to use the power of proximity to her royal self to keep those connected to her quiet. Shutting out her family and old friends completely from the wedding was a big mistake. If Meghan had decided to invite her trashy, chatty relatives and discarded friends to the ceremony, she could’ve made 25 year NDA’s part of the deal and spared us the backstabbing gossip.

    • Amelie says:

      That makes no sense. Her sister started commenting as soon as it was announced she and Harry were together, before any engagement announcement. At that point it wasn’t a given they would get married anyways so why would Meghan call up her sister who she is estranged from and be like “Hey by the way I’m dating Prince Harry keep it on the DL?” Why be nice to someone there is no point being nice to? There is no way Samantha would have kept that quiet. You don’t invite backstabby relatives to your wedding just so you can get them to sign NDAs.

      The only thing I wish Meghan (or at least the palace) had done was put out a statement making it clear Meghan has no relationship with this part of her family and just keep it at that. That way no matter what Samantha says, the palace has drawn a firm line in the sand making it clear Samantha is persona non grata. She won’t stop giving interviews but I’m hoping the interest will die down after awhile.

    • perplexed says:

      I wouldn’t have rewarded trashy behaviour from relatives with an invite.

      And I really don’t think their terrible behaviour started with this wedding. If that one brother was willing to write a public letter to Prince Harry to not marry, there’s no doubt in my mind that evil had already been lurking in the hearts of her half-siblings.

      I also have no idea why the ex-wife of the half-brother was expecting an invite.

    • leis says:

      @perplexed – I agree. I suspect there’s been basically complete radio silence between the Markles and Meghan for years now, but once the paparazzi came knocking, the Markle side of the family seemed to have run to the media with gusto. I don’t really see what she could have done, barring what @Amelie said about making it clear from the beginning that she was estranged from her father’s side. They’re clearly not trustworthy, and trying to silence or buy them off probably wouldn’t have worked – I mean, Samantha Grant is currently ranting on about how she can’t be silenced.

  30. Amelie says:

    Like others have mentioned I’m so confused by her dad’s behavior. He’s been quiet for months, saying nothing since it was revealed Meghan and Harry were together, nothing at their engagement announcement (apart from the approved statement issued by Kensington Palace saying both her parents were delighted). And now a week before the wedding he decides to act out? I’m not sure how bad the level of paparazzi harassment was for him but I’m not sure why he thought staging photos would be a better solution. And why does he keep running his mouth to TMZ instead of communicating with his daughter? How does he not understand this makes him look even worse? Also where the heck is he being hospitalized? I feel like TMZ would have mentioned this by now. Not to say he is faking the surgery, he probably isn’t but the whole thing is so fishy. For example, if he were really having very severe health problems, wouldn’t have Meghan have flown out to be with him? Wouldn’t any of his kids have tried to be there for him? The fact that none of his kids (even the older ones who are dysfunctional) are there is just weird. I’m afraid he’s trying to set this up for something like if he really does have a full blown heart attack, would Meghan drop everything to be by his side? I feel like he’s emotionally manipulating her. All of his health issues could have been dealt with months ago–why deal with it now?

    I feel so sorry for her but she’s better off with her dad not there, I’m sorry to say.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      Yes she is but when he watches the wedding on the TV the reality of what he is missing out on will hit him and hard, so expect stories and quotes to TMZ about how sad/heartbroken he is to have missed it and how he really wanted to be there. He and her sister are going to milk it for all the money they can get – they are not going to go away.

    • Christin says:

      I had sympathy until (1) learning the extent of his Hollywood career and (2) he kept talking to the gossip site. It does seem like some combination of manipulation, short-sighted ignorance and selfishness.

  31. Rianic says:

    I’m worried her family’s actions make Americans look bad – sort of the rude uncultured oafs s lot of people think of us.

  32. Starryfish says:

    I was perfectly willing to give him the benefit of doubt as someone in an incredibly strange and stressful situation for everything he did up to and including the staged photos, but there is simply no charitable explanation for why he’s had TMZ on speed dial since then. It sucks because he’s managed to not just effectively cut himself out of his daughter’s life, but that of his future grandchildren as well; and for what a bit of cash? So sad.

  33. MaryM says:

    I am not sure I feel sorry for any of them. Why even involve him if Harry never met him in two years? Thankfully, the FA Cup will be on.

  34. Linda says:

    . I have a husband who had actual open heart surgery. The dr actually holds your heart in his hand and a machine breathes for you. A stent is a completely different thing. A catheter is inserted and stents placed. You go home home after about a day. That is not open heart surgery. And who is made to wait 8 days after a heart attack to have stents put in. Where I live it is done immediately after a heart attack. And you do not call someone immediately after open heart surgery. You are in recovery or in ICU for many hours. This part of the story is total bs.

    • Christin says:

      This is what leads me to think he’s just an exaggerator for attention.

      My MIL swears she has had 30 surgeries, a total hip replacement and a half-body cast. Exaggeration for each. She makes her own father’s funeral a story about how she attended in a cast to her hips. My husband confirms that none of it is true, and he has no idea why she has told these stories for years. She’s a quiet manipulator, and I suspect her dad is similar.

  35. Skippy says:

    Best thing in the world is that she is far away from all the BS.
    I hope she makes a new life with Harry’s family and friends.

  36. mags says:

    So what? Good for him to do his own thing and not be controlled by the royals. They could have sent someone to him to walk him through this. Her mother got assistance a long time ago. he never did. They left him to fend for himself while throwing him into the spotlight. He doesn’t owe them anything.

    • Jayna says:

      Why blame the palace? It sounds like his daughter could have walked him through things. She’s not some baby. She’s 37. It’s her father. She has lived in the celebrity spotlight. I thought people bragged how savvy she was. She knows her father. She knew he was out there getting papped in set-up photos.

      It honestly sounds like she had barely any contact with her father during all of this. I would have kept him close communicationwise and, yes, helped him financially, etc. She and Harry could have flown down there at some point. How hard is that?

      Nothing.

      • mags says:

        You are right, but KP PR is calling the shots on this. And yes, she could have done better. It feels like her dad was an after thought in all of this and left to his own devices despite what the KP PR spin is trying to sell it as.

        She could have done so much more than she did. He is poor and went through heart surgery. I don’t blame him trying to make a buck to pay for those expensive medical bills. At least that is a better reason than Pippa who was trying to make a buck off of anything she could to the point of embarrassment.

        People are throwing serious shade at her family, but when that many people in your life are saying the same thing about you, there is probably a kernel of truth to it.

  37. Penelope says:

    No mention of love anywhere in Meg’s statement. “I have always cared for my father.” Ouch.

    The DM article linked in one of the other H&M threads was actually interesting & made some excellent points.

  38. Fifee says:

    When I think about this fiasco I get the impression that the father, half sister & brother were all in on this together. Why I get this impression I dont know but it seems that the fathers side of the family are scum plain & simple.

  39. ladida says:

    This is just so odd. I have a theory that Meghan was never planning to include her father. Then all the buzz got started about who would walk her down the aisle, and KP pressured her and Harry to conform. Then it all blew up because no one really understood where she was coming from. She knows her father by now.

  40. Tanya says:

    He’s a grifter. There’s a reason why this “man” is in Mexico. He’s running from either debt or consequences for hustling.

  41. Rebecca says:

    I’m not sure Thomas Markle even understands what he is doing to Meghan. I think his daughter Samantha is pulling the strings and manipulating him. She seems pretty well versed in the “guilt trip.”