The letter Duchess Meghan wrote to her father after her wedding
The Duchess of Sussex wrote a letter asking her father to “stop victimising” her, a new report reveals.
Thomas Markle Sr has claimed in numerous media appearances that he has been “frozen out” by the royal family, and that he has no way of contacting his daughter.
However, five of Duchess Meghan’s close friends have come forward to deny the allegations in a new interview with PEOPLE.
“He knows how to get in touch with her. Her telephone number hasn’t changed,” a friend said. “He’s never called; he’s never texted. It’s super painful, because Meg was always so dutiful.”
The 74-year-old skipped his daughter’s wedding on May 19 last year after he was revealed to be staging paparazzi photos ahead of the event. He said he checked himself out from the hospital after suffering from a heart attack so that he could attend the nuptials. However, after the paparazzi arrangement became public, he decided not to go.
One of the Duchess’s friends said after the paparazzi photos emerged, Prince Harry and Meghan still focused on getting the bride’s father to London, but to no avail.
“Tom wouldn’t take her calls, wouldn’t take Harry’s calls … [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.’”
The friend said the 37-year-old reached out to Thomas via a letter in an attempt to fix their relationship.
“She’s like, ‘Dad, I’m so heartbroken. I love you. I have one father. Please stop victimising me through the media so we can repair our relationship’ … 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?’”
The friends also denied the claims made by the Duchess’s estranged half-sister, Samantha Markle, about the royal’s alleged neglect of their father.
Samantha, who is Thomas’s daughter from his first marriage, has been critical of the Duchess on social media and interviews, accusing Prince Harry’s wife of being “selfish”, “cruel” and “isolating family”.
The 53-year-old is planning to release a two-part tell-all memoir this year titled In the Shadows of The Duchess.
A friend said Samantha was not a part of the Duchess’s life.
“They’ve been made to appear as siblings who were very close and then they had this falling out, and that’s not the truth at all … And then she began this career capitalizing on Meg. Everyone who knows Meg knows that the two of them have no relationship.”