Meghan Markle’s father is slamming recent claims that he’s refusing to reach out to his daughter, the Duchess of Sussex.
TMZ reported Friday a close friend of Thomas Markle told the celebrity gossip site that all claims made by Markle’s friends to People magazine this week about his strained relationship with the American actress are “bulls---.”
According to the former Hollywood lighting director’s pal, Thomas, 74, texted the former “Suits” star “a loving message on her wedding day,” and they spoke over the phone the day before the royal wedding. In that alleged phone call, Markle expressed concern over her father’s health issues and Harry, 34, wished him well.
However, after the couple tied the knot, they stopped communicating with Thomas and went radio silent. Thomas has tried reaching out to Markle multiple times by text, the friend said, but hasn’t heard from her in months.
MEGHAN MARKLE'S HEARTBREAKING LETTER FOR HER FATHER
People magazine reported Wednesday that after maintaining their silence for nearly two years, five women who are part of the 37-year-old’s inner circle chose to come forward and “stand up against the global bullying we are seeing and speak the truth about a friend.”
The women have requested anonymity to protect their identities and private relationships with Markle, who married Britain’s Prince Harry in May 2018.
One of the misconceptions the friends wanted to address was Markle’s relationship with her father, as well as her half-siblings Samantha and Thomas Markle Jr.
“They have been made to appear as siblings who had this falling out, and that’s not the truth at all,” said a longtime friend about the siblings. She shared they were in their mid-to-late teens when Markle was born. Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, and Thomas split when she was 2 years old.
“They were not a part of her life,” they stressed.
One friend claimed that despite the patriarch’s pleads for Markle to reach out to him, he has allegedly not made an attempt to contact his daughter.
“He knows how to get in touch with her,” claimed the confidante. “Her telephone number hasn’t changed. He’s never called; he’s never texted. It’s super painful because Meg was always so dutiful. I think she will always feel genuinely devastated by what he’s done. And at the same time, because she’s a daughter, she has a lot of sympathy for him.”
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In various interviews, the 74-year-old claimed he has no way to reach his famous daughter.
In the week before Markle’s wedding to Harry, Thomas decided not to attend the wedding after an arrangement he made with paparazzi to stage several photo shoots ahead of the big day.
According to a friend, Markle and Harry were still determined to have Thomas be a part of their special day even after the photos emerged.
“Meg and Harry were still so focused on getting [Tom] to London,” said the friend. “At no point was there was talk of ‘Now that we know he lied, he’s in trouble.’ Tom wouldn’t take her calls, wouldn’t take Harry’s calls.”
“The next morning when the car got there [to take him to the airport], he wouldn’t get in,” claimed the friend. “[Later] Meg heard he had a heart attack and she’s calling and texting, even up to the night before the wedding. It was like, ‘Please pick up. I love you and I’m scared.’ It was endless.”
“After the wedding, she wrote him a letter,” continued the pal. “She’s like, ‘Dad, I’m so heartbroken. I love you. I have one father. Please stop victimizing me through the media so we can repair our relationship.’ Because every time her team has to come to her and fact-check something [he has said], it’s an arrow to the heart. He writes her a really long letter in return, and he closes it by requesting a photo op with her.
“And she feels like, ‘That’s the opposite of what I’m saying. I’m telling you I don’t want to communicate through the media, and you’re asking me to communicate through the media. Did you hear anything I said?’ It’s almost like they’re ships passing.”
Markle is due to give birth to her first child with Harry sometime in the spring of this year.