Meghan Markle's half-sister to blame for staged photos of dad
Meghan Markle's estranged half-sister is taking the blame for a series of
Meghan Markle’s half-sister Samantha Grant doesn’t mind “cashing in” on her famous sibling’s latest role as Britain’s Duchess of Sussex.
The 53-year-old appeared on “Good Morning Britain” Monday to discuss the former “Suits” star’s allegedly strained relationship with their father, former Hollywood lighting director Thomas Markle.
Grant admitted to using the media to make money.
“I’ve worked in media most of my life and in broadcasting,” Grant claimed. “So because my sister is suddenly royal isn’t grounds for me to stop doing all of that. Let’s face it, we all have to survive. Money makes the world go round, so if you want to call that cashing in, that’s fine.
"But I think no one in media would refuse a paycheck for talking about the royals and as a family we’re not subject to royal protocol, certainly here in America. If you want to call it cashing in, I think that’s a little bit ridiculous.”
Grant added, “For someone to say, ‘Oh you shouldn’t take any money, you should turn down a paycheck,’ go tell your boss you don’t want a paycheck for interviewing me because that’s cashing in.”
Grant also revealed that just because Markle is now a member of the royal family, it doesn’t mean she should “stop living.”
“Why would I stop living because we have a family issue going on?" said Grant. "Back to the issue of cashing in, the media makes billions of dollars off social issues and talking about the royals. I don’t see how we’re any different. No one has a copyright on our life experiences.
“We’re each individuals with our own life experience. With all due respect, it’s not just Meg, we’re entitled to share that, we’re entitled to be open about it, if we can shed some light on some issues for the public, then great. We can enjoy the process. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s not disparaging, it’s not harmful.”
Meghan Markle's half-sister Samantha Grant has lashed out at her royal sibling for her "cold" behavior toward their father Thomas Markle (left) and said that it is on her if he dies. (Mega/Reuters)
Grant’s appearance on the U.K. morning show comes after she lashed out at her royal sibling on July 18 via Twitter for her “cold” behavior toward their father.
Grant said she regretted on her explosive rant “to a degree.”
"Life is very short," she argued. “I felt as though if something were to happen to him, and he passed away, I don’t think any of us could live with the fact that he died unhappy and there was no closure. I believe in her heart that she would want that also.”
“Naturally, as you can imagine, he is 74 years old and we all know is that life is short,” she continued. “So given the circumstances over the last several months since the wedding, I think he really just wants to embrace her, and have some closure on the distance… and really let her know that he loves her. He sincerely had a heart attack and I was very shocked that the world would mock that or make fun of it. He really had a difficult time.”
Despite her seemingly troubled relationship with Markle, Grant may be busy these days getting ready for her close-up. Grant has reportedly scored herself a spot on the British version of “Celebrity Big Brother” in what the Viacom-owned network Channel 5 is billing as “The Eye of The Storm.”
American actress Meghan Markle tied the knot with Britain's Prince Harry in May. (AP)
The report comes just two months after Markle tied the knot with Prince Harry in May. Prior to the wedding, Grant allegedly staged paparazzi photos for their father and made off-the-cuff remarks to Piers Morgan suggesting that Harry would be better off marrying someone else.
Grant would reportedly collect a six-figure pay from the reality TV series.
When pressed if she would be appearing on the popular show, Grant responded, “Well, I would tell you, but then I would have to kill you so… I don’t want to find myself in locks and stocks quite frankly. It wouldn’t be becoming.”
The British season of “Celebrity Big Brother” is slated to begin filming this August. Reps for the show did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
In 2017, Grant stirred headlines when Vanity Fair reported she was writing a memoir titled “The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister.” Grant confirmed the manuscript to Fox News in January.
“My relationship with my sister for a while was really hurt because of the perceptions out there,” she said at the time. “And I have to say, my book’s not what all of these people are saying it is… Just because it has the world ‘pushy’ doesn’t mean it’s a slamming tell-all… I was making fun of the tabloids.
“And I think she believed that I was slamming her and writing a nasty tell-all… My sister is not pushy. I was making fun of the media and the tabloids in choosing that title. My goal is really to show how lovely and amazing she is. I look forward to the both of us hopefully laughing over this.”
A source previously told People magazine Markle has had no contact with her older sister for more than a decade – a claim Grant adamantly denied. Grant said she and her family are new to the spotlight and it can be difficult to cope with the worldwide interest in their personal lives.
“As much as I love and respect Meg, she’s got security and a publicist and can be protected from all that,” said Grant. “She and Harry can tell the media to stop. The rest of the family doesn’t have that luxury. I love her, [but] she may not want me saying anything.
“I refuse to be a victim of the media. I’m not going to let them disparage me, embarrass me personally and professionally and not defend myself… I can only hope she would respect and understand that… In fact, if I were Meg, I would probably put something out there so that there was some sort of protective mechanism in place where the family couldn’t be tortured as much.”
Fox News' Julius Young contributed to this report.
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