Megan Markle’s Dad Explains Missing Royal Wedding & Why He Faked A Paparazzi Shoot: It Was A Mistake

Megan Markle’s Dad Explains Missing Royal Wedding & Why He Faked A Paparazzi Shoot: It Was A Mistake

Thomas Markle is speaking out for the first time since his disappearing act from the Royal Wedding and his strategic publicity stunt/paparazzi shoot in efforts to “change his image.” Thomas is the father of now Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. While Meghan and the Royal Family made steady preparations up until the big wedding day, there were several obstacles in Thomas’ life which caused him to not be in attendance to the wedding.

In a 30 minute interview, the father, 73, gets candid about the events that led up to the Royal Wedding, his satisfaction of Prince Harry being a gentleman, and his feeling of sorrow for missing the big day. He reflects on the conversations he had Meghan had when she first told him she was dating someone new, explaining,

First phone calls were, ‘Daddy, I have a new boyfriend.’ And I said, ‘That’s really nice.’ And the next call was like, ‘He’s British,’ and I said, ‘Well, that’s really nice,’” he recalled. “And the third time around was, ‘Well, he’s a prince.’ And at that point, she said, ‘It’s Harry,’ and I said, ‘Oh, Harry, OK.’ And she said, ‘Of course, we’ll have to call him H so no one knows.’ We talked about that and eventually I spoke to him as well, very nice man, gentleman.

He shares his reaction to when found out Meghan was dating Prince Harry:

My daughter’s certainly a prize for him as well. Yeah, he’s great. He’s an interesting guy, but my daughter’s been a princess since the day she was born.

He also says that Harry asked him for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Meghan told me first and then a few times after that. They called me together and Harry asked for her hand over the phone. And I said, ‘You’re a gentleman. Promise me you’ll never raise your hand against my daughter, and, of course, I give you my permission.’

Before the wedding, Thomas recounts how he wasn’t fond of the media portraying him. There were often images of him “picking up a beer can,” “taking out the trash,” and other distasteful images he wasn’t
pleased with. He speaks on his initial intentions of doing the photo-op, and the health scare he had after the photos hit the net. On why he did the paparazzi shoot he explains,

I thought this would be a nice way of improving my look, but obviously that all went to hell. I feel bad about it. I apologize for it and that’s all I can do. I can’t do much about it. That was a mistake.

On the aftermath of the photo-op he says,

I couldn’t get over the fact that that had happened. All of that stuff was working on me. I’ve got a bit of a heart condition. This pushed me a little further to the point where I had heart palpitations. I had to drive at two in the morning into Rosarito to a hospital… I had a heart attack.

He continues,

At that time I started getting heart palpitations. I started getting chest pains. And I said, ‘I have to cancel. And that was because I didn’t take care of the heart problem before.

He also reflects on Meghan’s reaction of him not being able to make it to the wedding.

They were disappointed. Meghan cried — I’m sure — she did cry. They both said, ‘Take care of yourself. We’re really worried about you.‘ They said the important thing is that I get better.

He says that he was pleased that Prince Charles walked Meghan down the aisle.

I was honored. I can’t think of a better replacement than someone like Prince Charles. He looked very handsome and my daughter looked beautiful with him. I was jealous. I wish I had been there. I wish it’d been me, but thank god he was there and thank him for that.

On if Meghan and Harry will have children soon he says,

She’s wanted children for a long time, yes. And when she met Harry and she spoke about how much she loves him, there’s gotta be a child in the making soon.

On how he’s adjusted since the airing of the wedding:

The unfortunate thing for me now is that I’m a footnote in one of the greatest moments in history rather than the dad walking her down the aisle. That really upsets me somewhat.

By: CaDarius Booker