Meghan Markle’s half-brother Tom last night vowed to ‘seek help’ after a drunken brawl with his fiancee on New Year’s Eve.
The flare-up in their Oregon home led to Darlene Blount being thrown into jail for two nights for assault.
Tom initially told The Mail on Sunday Ms Blount had began ‘pummelling me in the face with her fists’, but last night he changed his tune and said the injuries he sustained were self-inflicted.
Tom Markle Jr and his fiancee, Darlene, have vowed to seek help in order to help their issues
And Tom – who was last year arrested for brandishing a gun at his fiancee during another drunken fracas – says they will both attend alcohol and relationship counselling.
He blamed the pressure of being in the public eye for his woes, saying: ‘It hasn’t been easy. Meghan’s relationship with Prince Harry has shone a spotlight on our family. It doesn’t help when you have issues and your sister is engaged to Royalty. It adds a whole new level of scrutiny.
Darlene’s police mugshot after she and Tom Markle Jr had a drunken row on New Year’s Eve
‘We’ve been under a lot of stress because of all the attention. At some point you find yourself drinking too much to escape the pressure.’
As Prince Harry and Ms Markle reportedly ushered in the New Year ‘partying like tycoons’ in the millionaires’ playground of Monaco, Tom and Darlene were downing beers and whisky at the decidedly less salubrious Cedarwood Saloon in their home town of Grant’s Pass.
Tom, 51, who has the same father as Meghan, said he and Darlene, 37, rowed at the bar before she stormed off. He returned to their bungalow and continued drinking, becoming increasingly enraged.
When Darlene finally came home she immediately began downing a bottle of bourbon.
The fiancee of Meghan’s brother was thrown in jail after she hit Tom Markle Jr during a drunken row
‘I said some swear words, it turned into an argument,’ Tom confessed.
Darlene called police – but ended up being arrested herself. ‘I might have said that Darlene beat me up,’ Tom said. ‘She was arrested for domestic violence. It was a big confusion.’
Mr Markle, who paid $1,000 to bail his fiancee out of jail, said: ‘We’d both been drinking. I was sitting on the couch and got up really fast, hit myself and gave myself a fat lip.’
Josephine County District Attorney’s office last night confirmed that Darlene would not face prosecution.