Thomas Markle, who has begged his daughter Meghan to reconcile with him, has sent his ‘love and best wished’ to his daughter and new granddaughter
Thomas Markle today sent his ‘love and best wishes’ to his estranged daughter and his new granddaughter Lilibet.
The retired Hollywood lighting director, 76, who lives 70 miles away from the Sussexes LA mansion, has not spoken to Ms Markle, 39, since she married Prince Harry three years ago.
Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle, who has met neither Harry nor grandson Archie, said: ‘I am very pleased with the announcement of the safe and healthy delivery of my new granddaughter, and I wish her and her mother all my love and best wishes.
Harry’s family said they are ‘delighted’ at the news, and a brief, joint statement from Buckingham Palace was followed by tweets from the official accounts of the Queen, Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The statement read: ‘The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.’
A tweet from Kate and William’s Kensington Royal account sent congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie on the ‘happy news of the arrival of baby Lili’.
The tweet from Charles and Camilla’s Clarence House account wished them well ‘at this special time’ and was accompanied by a picture of Harry, Meghan and Archie during their royal tour of Africa in 2019.
Thomas Markle has had a strained relationship with his daughter ever since the royal wedding, with Meghan telling Oprah recently that her father had ‘betrayed’ her and she ‘found it hard to reconcile’ with him. She said: ‘I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I genuinely can’t imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child’.
Fighting back in March, Thomas denied her claims before branding his son-in-law Harry ‘snotty’ and accusing him of failing to properly support her when she was suicidal.
Meghan Markle’s father Thomas is estranged from Meghan after his daughter accused him of ‘betraying’ her when she married Harry
The little girl – whose middle name is Diana in honour of Harry’s mother – arrived on Friday evening, June 4, weighing 7lbs 11oz, and is now settling at home (couple pictured when they announced Meghan was pregnant in February)
Mr Markle says that he’s apologised ‘100 times’ for doing a deal with a paparazzi photographer before the Royal Wedding in 2018 and urged the couple to see him with Archie now they only live ’70 miles away’ from his Mexico home. He said: ‘We all make mistakes – but I’ve never played naked pool or dressed like Hitler like Harry did’.
Mr Markle has repeatedly slammed his daughter’s decision to refuse to see or speak to him, declaring in a recent interview with ITV in the UK: ‘The biggest problem here is she’s pretty much ghosted all of her family’.
Mr Markle said that while he did let her down, she had ‘let me down too’ by cutting him off after heart surgery almost three years ago. He said: ‘The bottom line is she didn’t lose me, she made a statement saying she lost me, she didn’t lose me, I would’ve always been there for her, I’m there for her now if she wants me’.
He added: ‘I’d like to say again. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. This was two years ago. But I’ve tried to make it up to her. I’m now only 70 miles away. I’ve never stopped loving her. I don’t agree with all the things that my children they do. But I will always love them. And I certainly love Meghan’.
Harry and Meghan’s daughter will be known as Lili Diana. Her late grandmother’s 60th birthday would have been next month.
Last night the delighted Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced: ‘On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili.
‘She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we’ve felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.’
Lili – who is eighth in line to the throne – was born in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a private facility where births can cost up to £20,000.
The Queen, senior royals and the Prime Minister led worldwide tributes, with Boris Johnson tweeting: ‘Many congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of their daughter.’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show Archie to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. They have now named their second child Lilibet, after Her Majesty
Happy families: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s official Twitter account shared a reaction to the news with a post that read: ‘We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie’
Lili is the couple’s second child after Archie, who is two years and one month older than her. The new baby is the Queen’s 11th great-grandchild, and the first to be born outside the UK.
The tribute to the Queen may be seen as an olive branch after Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, plunged the Windsors into crisis with their explosive Oprah Winfrey interview in March, when they accused an unnamed royal of making a racist remark about Archie’s skin tone and claimed the royals failed to help the duchess when she was suicidal.
Buckingham Palace officials were unaware the baby had been born until the announcement came out at 5pm last night on social media.
They finally released a statement hailing the ‘happy news’ at 6.34pm, emphasising the gulf that exists between the Sussexes and the palace. Buckingham Palace declined to discuss when the Queen was informed of the safe arrival of her 11th great-grandchild or whether she was advised of the tribute to her in Lili’s name.
However The Times reported that Harry had spoken to his grandmother before yesterday’s announcement was made. The name Lilibet was coined by the Queen and used by her sister Margaret and their parents. Her father, George VI once said: ‘Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy.’
Lili arrived six days before what would have been the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday.
It is less than a month since Harry reportedly upset the Queen by making ‘very personal’ criticisms of her and Prince Charles’s parenting skills. He said in a podcast in the US that he and Prince William had been made to ‘suffer’ as children with their father, telling them: ‘Well, it was like that for me, so it’s going to be like that for you.’
The Buckingham Palace statement came more than an hour after Hollywood stars such as William Shatner had shared their best wishes on Twitter.
The palace said: ‘The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.’ Lili is entitled to become a princess and Archie a prince when the Queen dies and Charles becomes king.
She is eighth in line to the throne, coming after Archie, and before Prince Andrew, who has dropped down a place to ninth.
Omid Scobie, a journalist favoured by Harry and Meghan, tweeted that the couple would ‘not be sharing a photograph at this time’ of Lili. He said the couple’s office was encouraging anyone who wanted to send gifts to support organisations working for women and girls. When Archie was born in 2019, Harry and Meghan went to extraordinary lengths to keep it a secret and even refused to confirm, either before or after the birth, where he was delivered.
The Daily Mail later revealed that the Duchess had given birth in the London Portland Hospital. It is not known when the Royal Family will get to see Lili. They have not seen Archie since his parents left the UK in November 2019.