Thomas Markle took drugs while he was raising his daughter Meghan, he admitted in an interview with the Mail on Sunday.
The Duchess of Sussex’s father, 74, admitted: ‘I don’t do drugs [now], haven’t for more than 20 years.’
Meghan’s half-sister Samantha said her father is now ‘upstanding’ and ‘doesn’t do recreational drugs’.
Thomas Markle took drugs while he was raising his daughter Meghan, he admitted in an interview with the Mail on Sunday
Left: Thomas Markle leaving a shop near his Mexico home. Right: Meghan at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on Thursday
Thomas Markle with daughter Meghan as a baby. The picture was posted by Meghan for Father’s Day 2016
![The Duchess of Sussex's father, 74, admitted: 'I don't do drugs [now], haven't for more than 20 years.' Pictured: Meghan with Harry on Thursday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/07/30/01/4E97FF4400000578-6005321-image-a-32_1532909535868.jpg)
The Duchess of Sussex’s father, 74, admitted: ‘I don’t do drugs [now], haven’t for more than 20 years.’ Pictured: Meghan with Harry on Thursday
She told The Mirror that Hollywood – where Thomas worked as a lighting technician – was full of people doing drugs.
‘In the 60s, 70s and 80s for most people I know in America it was a cultural thing to smoke marijuana.
‘Most people did. I’m sure people like The Beatles smoked pot when they were on tour. It was a sign of the times.
‘I don’t think my father is the only one who can ever have been condemned for having done that. He was never regularly doing it, he never smelt of it and I’ve never seen my father smoke it.
‘But certainly my father has never taken cocaine or any other drugs like that. He didn’t have the mentality for it.’
She added: ‘If he had been a drug addict he wouldn’t have been successful for 40 years in a highly technical job, no way.’
Meghan’s half-sister Samantha (pictured) said her father is now ‘upstanding’ and ‘doesn’t do recreational drugs’
He has also been accused of being an alcoholic, but says: ‘I hardly drink at all, just a little wine with my dinner, nothing much. I don’t do drugs, haven’t for more than 20 years.
‘I’ve been seen carrying a six-pack of beer and they say I’ve a drinking problem. I regularly buy a six-pack for the guys on the guard gate [at his gated community] because they’re stuck in a hot shack for hours each day and could use a cold one. I don’t drink beer at all.’
Another source told the paper that Thomas took drugs to make it possible for him to ‘work 16-hour days’.
This was to provide for baby Meghan, the source added.