Thomas Markle, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle. MEGA; Getty Images
Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, is sad to see her and Prince Harry’s royal family drama negatively affect their children.
“It struck me as very sad that Meghan and Harry’s kids are being denied the right to know their cousins, who look like fantastic children,” Thomas, 79, said of his grandchildren — Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3 — in a recent interview with the Daily Mail.
Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, have been at odds with the royal family for years, particularly after negative claims Harry made against his family in his 2023 memoir Spare. As a result of the drama, Archie and Lilibet don’t share a close relationship with Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton and their three kids — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
“The relationships between cousins is a special one. There’s a unique bond,” Thomas told the outlet. “I feel sad that Lilibet and Archie don’t have the chance to get to know their cousins and take part in things like Trooping the Colour, which is their birthright.”
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Thomas went on to note that his grandkids will eventually get “to the age where they will start asking questions,” adding, “At some stage, it’s inevitable that they will ask their parents why they have cut them off from both sides of the family?”
In addition to their royal family drama, the couple’s strained relationship with Thomas and more of Meghan’s family members have been highly publicized over the years. Thomas made headlines for appearing to stage paparazzi photos ahead of Harry and Meghan’s 2018 wedding and had to skip out on the nuptials after undergoing surgery for a heart attack.
Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Princess Catherine during Trooping the Colour on June 15, 2024 in London, England. Karwai Tang/WireImage
Meghan, for her part, has previously expressed disappointment with her father’s public actions and comments about her and Harry’s relationship. “H and I called my dad. I said, ‘They’re saying you’re taking money from the tabloids to stage photos. Is this true?’ He says, ‘No,’” Meghan said of the staged paparazzi pics in her and Harry’s December 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.
She continued: “And on that call, I’d said to him, ‘Look. If they can’t stop this story, then it’s going to come out tomorrow so why don’t we send someone right now to your house to get you out of there now because if that’s the case, your house will be swarmed by media. We’ll get you out.’ And he said, ‘No. I have things I need to do.’ And it felt really cagey. I was like, ‘It doesn’t make sense.’ And when we hung up, I looked at H. I was like, ‘I don’t know why but I don’t believe him.’”
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Thomas’ estrangement from Harry and Meghan’s kids is something he told the outlet he shares with King Charles III. “They have two grandpas who want to see them, one of whom is the King of England,” he stated. “I never in my 80 years thought I’d be in the same boat as the King.”
He continued: “The decisions Meghan and Harry have made will affect their kids for the rest of their lives. I find myself wondering how Archie and Lilibet will feel in a few years time when they realize all the things they have missed out on.” Thomas also noted that he has yet to meet Harry, Archie and Lilibet.
Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women
Harry and Meghan stepped down from their senior royal duties in 2020, the same year they made their most recent Trooping the Colour appearance alongside the royal family. William and Kate, both 42, joined Charles, 75, Queen Camilla and more royals at this year’s Trooping the Colour ceremony, marking Kate’s first public appearance since announcing her cancer diagnosis in March.
Following the Princess of Wales’ cancer news, royal author Tom Quinn told The Mirror in April that William and Kate “have suggested that Meghan and Harry bring the children [to the U.K.] and that the two couples and their families try to make up.” However, Quinn noted that “the suggestion is not leading anywhere so far.”