Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle is ‘disappointed’ about announcement

Meghan’s father Thomas Markle says he’s ‘disappointed’ after his daughter and Prince Harry revealed that they were stepping back as senior members of Britain’s royal family.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the bombshell announcement on Wednesday and said they planned to now split their time between the United Kingdom and North America. 

Meghan’s estranged father spoke out just hours later, telling Us Weekly: ‘I’ll just simply say I’m disappointed.’

Markle, a 74-year-old retiring lighting director, did not elaborate on the cause of his disappointment.

He has not had contact with his daughter since before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry and hasn’t met his eight-month-old grandson Archie. 

Meghan’s father Thomas Markle says he’s ‘disappointed’ after his daughter and Prince Harry revealed that they were stepping back as senior members of Britain’s royal family

Markle has also never met Prince Harry in person but has spoken on the phone to him.  

Markle’s relationship with his daughter started to sour after it emerged he had secretly collaborated with a British paparazzi photographer to stage a series of photos in the run up to the wedding. 

The immediate build-up to the wedding became overshadowed by Markle who abruptly pulled out of walking his daughter down the aisle just days before after undergoing heart surgery. 

Since then, Markle has given a handful of interviews and released brief statements to celebrate Meghan’s pregnancy and Archie’s birth.

In an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper last year, Markle pleaded for reconciliation. 

‘I would like them to send me a picture of Archie so I can frame it and put it on my wall beside the one of Meghan. Isn’t that what any grandfather would want? I’d love to know if he’s got the famous Markle nose,’ Markle said. 

‘Sometimes I get the feeling people think I don’t love my daughter. I do love her very much. I would love nothing more than to put a picture of Archie in a frame and place it beside the one of Meghan.  

‘There was never any problem between Meghan and me until recently. I’ve stayed quiet because Meghan was pregnant with Archie but I’m speaking out now because they and their PR people are continuing to ghost me out of her life.

‘Of course I’m disappointed not to see Archie. I had hoped becoming a mother would mellow Meghan and she would reach out.’ 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the bombshell announcement on Wednesday and said they planned to now split their time between the United Kingdom and North America

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the bombshell announcement on Wednesday and said they planned to now split their time between the United Kingdom and North America

Markle, a 74-year-old retiring lighting director, did not elaborate on the cause of his disappointment. He has not had contact with his daughter since before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry and hasn't met his eight-month-old grandson Archie

Markle, a 74-year-old retiring lighting director, did not elaborate on the cause of his disappointment. He has not had contact with his daughter since before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry and hasn’t met his eight-month-old grandson Archie

In their announcement on Wednesday, Harry and Meghan said they intend to become financially independent’ and to ‘balance’ their time between the U.K. and North America. 

The couple did not reveal where in North America they plan to make a second home, but they cited their baby as a reason why they decided to live part of their time outside Britain.  

‘This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity,’ it read.

Hours later, Buckingham Palace issued a second statement, hinting that the first had caught some in the royal household by surprise. The statement said discussions with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were ‘at an early stage.’

‘We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through,” it read.

Harry and his family skipped the queen’s traditional Christmas gathering at her Sandringham country estate last month to visit Canada and to see Markle’s mother, who lives in California. Meghan grew up in Los Angeles and lived in Toronto while filming ‘Suits.’

The message about the couple’s plans also appeared on their official Instagram feed, along with a link to a website, sussexroyal.com, where followers could find more information.

The website elaborated on why they are seeking financial independence from the monarchy’s funding mechanism, known as the ‘Sovereign Grant.’ A page on the site states the grant they are forsaking covers just 5% of the costs for the duke and duchess and is used for their official office expenses.

Markle has not had contact with his daughter since before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry and hasn't met his eight-month-old grandson Archie

Markle has not had contact with his daughter since before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry and hasn’t met his eight-month-old grandson Archie

In an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper last year, Markle pleaded for reconciliation and said he wanted his daughter to send a photo of Archie (pictured with his father recently in Canada)

In an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper last year, Markle pleaded for reconciliation and said he wanted his daughter to send a photo of Archie (pictured with his father recently in Canada)

Meghan and Harry ‘value the ability to earn a professional income, which in the current structure they are prohibited from doing,’ the website states. ‘Their Royal Highnesses feel this new approach will enable them to continue to carry out their duties for Her Majesty the Queen, while having the future financial autonomy to work externally.

As an actress and a human rights activist, Meghan was accustomed to media attention before her marriage, but she has made no secret that the transition to being a global celebrity and part of Britain’s royal family was difficult.

The royal couple particularly took issue with their treatment at the hands of the British tabloids, whose aggressive coverage of all things royal is legendary.

In October, Meghan sued a newspaper for copyright infringement for publishing a letter she wrote to her estranged father. Later that month, Harry brought his own claim against two of the most popular tabloids over alleged hacking of phone voicemail messages.

The prince also lashed out at the British media for its treatment of Meghan, accusing the press of hounding his wife the same way it did his mother. Princess Diana died in a 1997 car crash while trying to elude paparazzi in Paris.

‘My deepest fear is history repeating itself. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces,’ Harry said.

The royal couple revealed their struggles with the media during an ITV documentary. Both said they had struggled with the spotlight and that much of what was printed about them is untrue.

The duchess told ITV that her British friends warned her not to marry the prince because of the intense media scrutiny that would follow in his country. But the U.S. television star said she ‘naively’ dismissed the warnings, because as an American she didn’t understand how the British press worked.

‘I never thought this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair. And that is the part that is hard to reconcile,’ Meghan said. ‘But (I) just take each day as it comes.’

The duchess said the pressure was aggravated by the fact that she went quickly from being a newlywed to being pregnant and then a new mother.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk