Meghan Markle’s estranged half-sister today spoke of her family’s delight following the news that her sibling is to become a member of the British royal family.
Samantha Markle, 53, from Florida, said the actress would have no trouble marrying into the Royal Family as their union was ‘about love’.
Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain today, she said their father Thomas was ‘elated’ by the news and wished the couple all the best for the future.
It comes months after Samantha predicted the couple would get married and dismissed rumours of a ‘rift’ between the siblings despite admitting they had not spoken in years.
Samantha Markle, half-sister to Meghan, pictured, told Good Morning Britain their family was ‘elated’ at the Royal engagement
The 53-year-old, pictured, added the family was proud of Meghan and were happy she was marrying for love
Samantha was gushing with pride as she told the GMB hosts how happy she was at the impending union.
She described Meghan as ‘creative, charming, lovely, full of life and very vibrant’, adding: ‘She has never changed she is just so sweet and charming and I have seen that so much in her recently she is overwhelmingly happy. All of that has come out and it is so nice.’
On how entering the Royal Family would affect her sister, Samantha said the nuptials were all about romance rather than any social ambition.
She said: It’s lovely [she is marrying a prince] but I have to say what is more important to our family, and certainly to her, is that you find the person that’s the best fit for you, that you love, that really makes you happy.
Samantha (pictured with Meghan as a baby) said she could see Prince Harry was making her sister happy
‘I don’t think it’s so much who he is in terms of royalty but who he is as a man and I can see she is just bubbling.
‘When I watch her with him its very real and normal and we only get that once in lifetime if we are lucky. It’s not about royalty so much as it is about love and that’s wonderful.’
The pair share a father and Samantha said he was ‘elated’ at the union.
She added: ‘[Our father] is excited and very proud and very happy. Doesn’t every father want his daughter’s happiness? He knows she is happy and I can say he is elated, as we all are.’
In a message to her sibling, she added: ‘I love you, I am incredibly happy for you, cheers and to a wonderful life.
‘If I had a glass of champagne I would toast but it’s three in the morning and we don’t drink at three in the morning. But cheers!’
Samantha has previously admitted she is writing a book about her life with her sister, but denied it would be negative.
The mother-of-three, who uses a wheelchair and has multiple sclerosis, has previously revealed that the last time she saw her half-sister – the siblings share the same father, Thomas Markle – was at her graduation in 2008 after becoming a counselor.
The lovestruck Prince yesterday announced the news he is to marry Miss Markle this spring.
Harry, 33, also promised he and the American actress, 36, will start a family ‘in the near future’.
Meghan has described herself as a freewheeling ‘Californian hippy’, and embraces alternative culture, like her mother, a yoga teacher
Meghan and Samantha’s father Thomas, centre, pictured with Meghan aged 11 and (from left) her nephews Thomas (left), Tyler and their mother Tracy, is ‘elated’ at the news
Samantha said her father, pictured with Meghan as a baby, ‘just wanted her happiness’
Miss Markle, who has quit her role in the television drama Suits and will now become a full-time royal, yesterday spent time ‘utterly charming’ the staff at the couple’s new home in Kensington Palace.
Their romance has moved swiftly. In an extraordinarily candid interview yesterday, they revealed how they went on just two dates in London last July before a besotted Harry invited her on a magical camping holiday in Botswana. They shared a tent under the stars ‘in the middle of nowhere’.
Yesterday at a photocall in Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden – much loved by Diana – Harry was asked: ‘When did you know she was the one?’ He replied: ‘When did I know? From the very first time we met.’
Meghan has a half-sister, Samantha, and half-brother from her father’s first marriage to Roslyn Loveless, now 72.
Samantha has defended her decision to write a book about her life growing up with her younger half-sister Meghan Markle.
Meghan’s father, Thomas, will have toasted her engagement to Prince Harry from his beach-house on Mexico’s windswept Pacific Coast
The eldest of the two is daughter Yvonne, who later changed her first name to Samantha and her second to Grant; although she has recently begun using Markle again.
Samantha, who is now 53 and lives in Silver Springs, Florida, was one of the first to speak out after news of the relationship broke, telling reporters that Prince Harry ‘would be appalled by what she’s done to her own family’.
She added: ‘The truth would kill her relationship with Prince Harry, he wouldn’t want to date her anymore because it puts her in a bad public light.’
She also accused the actress of being ‘narcissistic and selfish’ and called her ‘a shallow social climber’ with ‘a soft spot for gingers’.
Days later, Samantha backtracked on her comments – claiming she was misquoted and subsequently gave a series of gushing interviews declaring her love for her sister.
Samantha, pictured, last saw her sister at a graduation ceremony in 2008 when she became a counselor
By contrast, Thomas Jr, 51, has never had anything bad to say about Meghan and, speaking from his home in Grants Pass, Oregon, recently told DailyMailTV that his sister has ‘always been a princess’.
He added: ‘I do have a sense of pride in Meghan being successful. It was just obvious from day one that she was destined to be somewhere really big.
‘She’s always been a princess. She’s carried herself on that level from day one.’
But while their approach to Meghan differs, the pair are united in loathing each other and have been estranged for many years.
Both have also suffered legal troubles: in Samantha’s case a bitter divorce and custody battle with second husband Scott Rasmussen, 57, that led to her being charged with ‘using a phone to terrify/intimidate’ in 2011. The charges were later dropped.
And in January, Tom Jr was arrested for putting a gun to his girlfriend Darlene Blount’s head during a drunken late night altercation. The charges were dropped a month later.
Samantha is now writing a book about growing up with Meghan called ‘The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister’ much to the horror of the rest of the Markle clan who told DailyMail.com that the content is likely to be ‘lies’.
Samantha, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and has been confined to a wheelchair for close to a decade, occasionally still works as a freelance writer.
Like her half-sister, she had wanted to become an actress and a few walk on parts on medical soap The Doctors.