I felt like I was on crack when I read all of the histrionics about Thomas Markle staging those paparazzi photos. To be clear, the whole thing was a dumb set-up: Thomas Markle stupidly staged various photoshoots, then worked with a photographer to sell the images to the British tabloids like The Sun and The Mail, then The Mail ran an exposé about how Thomas staged them, when the Mail knew full well that the photos were staged when they bought them. This whole thing was an extremely dumb, ginned-up controversy from the beginning. Thomas Markle is being punished for not setting up pap strolls the traditional way, the way the Middletons do, and he’s being punished as a proxy because the British tabloids have their knives out for Meghan.
Well, now the outrage and pearl-clutching coming out of Britain reached a fever pitch. Thomas Markle was embarrassed and shamed across the world. And now he’s not even going to his daughter’s wedding.
Meghan Markle’s father will not be walking her down the aisle Saturday … he isn’t going to the wedding at all because of the fallout over selling photos of himself … TMZ has learned. Thomas Markle tells TMZ, he meant no harm to Meghan or the Royal Family when he made a deal to allow a photo agency to take pics of him getting ready for the wedding. He says he had a reason and it was not principally about money.
Markle tells us over the last year he’s been ambushed by paparazzi who have photographed him in the most unflattering circumstances … buying beer, looking disheveled and reclusive. He’s especially upset that they made him look like a lush. Thomas says he doesn’t even drink beer … he was buying it for the guards at the place where he lives.
He says since his daughter started dating Prince Harry he’s been offered anywhere between $50,000 and $100k for interviews and he’s turned all of them down. Thomas says the paparazzi agency approached him, offered him money — though nowhere near the reported $100k — and he figured there was no harm in it and it would help recast his image. He admits the pics look “stupid and hammy.” He says he was just going along with the paparazzi agency, which he now deeply regrets. And, Thomas says, he suffered a heart attack 6 days ago but checked himself out of the hospital so he could attend the wedding. He’s now decided not to go because he doesn’t want to embarrass the Royal Family or his daughter.
According to various royal reporters, Thomas Markle’s confirmation to TMZ came as a shock to Meghan and Harry. As in, they were still expecting him to fly to England for the wedding as of mid-day Monday. But once they got confirmation, this issued a vague statement:
KP seemingly confirm Tom Markle won't be at the wedding. They said: "This is a deeply personal moment for Ms. Markle in the days before her wedding. She and Prince Harry ask again for understanding and respect to be extended to Mr. Markle in this difficult situation."
— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) May 14, 2018
God this is so messy. Weddings are stressful enough, and royal weddings even more so – I mean, you’re marrying into one of the prissiest institutions in the world. That’s mega-stressful. And then one side of Meghan’s family is just THE WORST. They won’t shut up, they won’t stop embarrassing her. And then this – just days before the wedding, her father is “outed” in the dumbest tabloid sting of all time and then he’s too embarrassed to come. Ugh. Poor Meg. Maybe – hopefully – the tabloids will start to go easy on her a little bit this week now? Probably not though.
Add to all of that, late last night, Thomas Markle called up TMZ to tell them that he was experiencing chest pains and would probably have to go back to the hospital. He says he’s been stressed about Samantha (Meg’s half-sister) and all the sh-t she’s been talking. This family, my God.
Update: Now Thomas Markle has called TMZ AGAIN to tell THEM (not Meghan) that he’s having second thoughts and maybe he will travel to England to walk his daughter down the aisle. Jesus, this family. I’m sure we’ll have another 80 million stories about this tomorrow.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, WENN, PCN.
I’m beyond disappointed with her dad. He didn’t even have the decency to call her before hand but let her find out like everyone else-through the media. I’m sure Meghan is beyond hurt and I’m hurt for her. No one deserves this.
I always gave her dad the benefit of doubt but he’s sat back and let his other children and family dog Meghan in the media and then we find out he was working with the papps, through the guidance of Samantha. Now, five days before her big day, he decided to pull out because he’s embarrassed. He’s a selfish old man and his passiveness with his family and now humiliation Meghan makes me wonder what kind of man he truly is.
This is not how you treat your child. He didn’t make it to her first wedding and now he won’t be at her second. Her dad has truly let her down and it’s just a really sad thing to see. I don’t know how he can tell anyone he truly loves Meghan. This is not love.
Agreed.
How do you know he didn’t call her beforehand? I don’t know, I feel a little sorry for him, despite everything. He was living an isolated, quiet life, minding his own business, when the worldpress shows up at his doorstep, manipulating him and offering huge amounts of money probably. I think we should show a little understanding. But that’s not the popular opinion i am aware.
I’m with you, Lenn. I think it’s sad more than anything. I think he’s kind of got hauled into everything. I don’t think he ever expected to have this kind of attention on him. And I think the awful daughter put in him an awkward place. I believe that he was trying to turn the negative attention into positive – and I think he cares deeply about Meghan – and just really doesn’t know how to deal with any of it. And likely – now he’s hurt, and embarrassed, and feels bad for bringing this attention to M&H and has abruptly pulled out because of that. I think he thinks it’s in their best interest – but I think he would have genuinely been better off just ignoring, laying low and just showing up for his daughter.
I am happy he got the dig in about his chest pains and the other daughter though. She needs some major guilt thrown her way.
I mean, he worked in Hollywood for years as a lighting director. He worked on TV show sets during years their actors were dealing with media scandals. He had a front row seat to plenty of media drama and plenty of celebrity drama.
He might not be the savviest person around, but his defenders act like he’s some parochial small-town guy who doesn’t know the first thing about the media. Even if he was that guy, you don’t have to be media savvy to know that organizing photo shoots and selling photos of yourself while KP is telling people to leave you alone isn’t going to be a good look. There’s just no way he wasn’t aware he was doing something that could be a problem.
I feel very sorry for him., as well as for Harry and Meghan.
He’s attacked because he’s an awkward amateur at getting a little benefit from his unsought public position. Not everyone has access to world-class manipulation behind the scenes from a Carole Middleton or PMK.
@Lenn He told TMZ he had not spoken to her since they had broken the news. It is possible he meant just since the news had gone public, but I don’t think so. It took a long time for Kensington Palace to put out that statement, and TMZ is saying they were completely blindsided.
If he had told her directly, there would be no need for them to talk after the news went public, so I don’t think they spoke before or after. I also think she would have asked him to let them handle the press if he had given her a warning.
I’m amazed at how people are judgmental towards this old man “became he worked in Hollywood”! Yes he worked in Hollywood but when exactly was that? Also, was he being hounded to this extent when he was “working in Hollywood”? In her engagement interview, Meghan said (Im repeating verbatim) “I had never been part of tabloid culture or pop culture to that degree,”. And Meghan was an actress but she had never experienced anything like this before. How do people expect her father who was a mere lighting director to be so savvy just because he “worked in Hollywood”? I am of the opinion that father should have kept his distance away from anyone, and thus his silence. But I also strongly believe the British tabloids acted maliciously towards this 73 year old senior just so they can embarrass his daughter and in turn get back at Harry for wanting nothing to do with them and in turn ruin their wedding experience for them. Congratulations, mission accomplished.
If Meghan’s father suffers any heart attacks or harms himself in any way, the British tabloids and their paparazzi will have his blood on their hands, and if no one else is willing to call out these people and hold them accountable, I will solitarily be glad to do so.
I’m with you, Jussie. Has he suffered a brain injury, at some point? He’s not some big dummy getting taken advantage of. He may be being taken advantage of by the tabloids in a way the Middletons never were. But there’s also the option of NOT engaging with the tabloids to try to get money/attention out of your daughter’s wedding.
I feel a bit bad for him too, but at the same time this is his daughter’s wedding. He wasn’t there the first time, and now he won’t be this time either? Because of what, some embarrassment? Okay, so he screwed up here with the pap photos and so on, so what? The more he makes a big deal of it, the longer it’ll take to die down.
Seems to me the ideal thing to do would be to go to the wedding with his chin up, walk his daughter down the aisle, and basically remember that it’s not about him. Unless, of course, he wants to milk this publicity cow for as long as possible…who knows?
Masamf: This naive old man who rang up TMZ to share *his side of the story* so that KP found out at the same time as the rest of the world? TMZ not KP. Let that sink in.
He worked on world renown shows, won emmys, but apparently despite Hollywood being a small village where everyone knows how to work publicity he is the naive exception!?!
Why not use the world reknown experts at KP who might stretch to killing the story if so moved?! Instead he goes to TMZ.
@Lak, I have already mentioned that “he should have stayed away from these people and thus stayed quiet”. So trying to convince me to jump on the judge, condemn and have Mr. Markle head on a silver platter band wagon is futile; he is a 73 year old man whose judgment could be clouded by old age and stress. We all handle stress differently and he is no different. He might have thought calling TMZ and giving more info will make it better for his daughter, evidently another error on his part as he is being continued to be tarred, feathered and dragged around city streets. IDK how accessible KP is to this guy so Im not gonna judge. Maybe he can only receive calls but can’t call directly, IDK. But TMZ is easily accessible and he probably thought a call to them will sort of help, again IDK. And once again, having worked on in Hollywood at some point doesn’t necessarily make him a tabloid culture pro but its your right to believe what you want about him, its a free world. He should be quiet from here onwards thats for sure, but other people that are playing a part in this should be held accountable too.
I have zero problem with him staging and selling photos. Roundtrip tansatlantic flight, suit, accommodations, all that is costly. I feel super angry that he has withdrawn. He shouldn’t be embarrassed for playing the game. He sold photos of himself, not Meghan. Why is this an issue at all? He had financial trouble and just made bank on a series of 100% adorable and harmless photos, but people ate acting like he sold Meghan’s birth certificate to pay for drugs. If it was my dad in a similar situation, I would be crushed for him. My dad gets majorly humiliated by a lot of stuff and has never been very confident , so something like this would devastate him. Everyone needs to just calm the hell down and give this dude a break.
@AV
Yeah, embarrassing your family is okay as long as it’s for lots of money.
/s/
You should rethink those morals, maybe.
The dude who was just eating McDonalds and KFC for lunch earlier that day didn’t just have a heart attack. No blood on anyone’s hands, just embarrassment.
@LAK thanks for noting him talking to TMZ. The man called them up and spoke to them TWICE. Like, lets leave out him not calling his daughter and KP for a moment. He didn’t call the LA TIMES, or the NY TIMES, or the Post, or CNN or even, by god, Fox News. He call up the most notable tabloid in the US. TWICE.
Frankly, you don’t call TMZ if you’re stupid about media. And you sure as hell don’t call them twice. All my sympathy went out the window the minute I heard about the second call to TMZ.
I have not stopped thinking about Meghan since this all started. I feel so sorry for her. FWIW – I feel sorry for her father too. I think all of the attention is stressing him out and something about the way the KP statement was worded makes me fear he may harm himself.
Honestly, we really don’t know this man. We know what he did for a living. We know he chooses to live a reclusive life in Mexico and we know Meghan adores him. We don’t now what kind of mental state he’s in. He could have serious issues with anxiety and depression. He’s 73 years old and I am concerned a tragedy could be forming.
My heart hurts for Meghan. This should be one of the happiest times of her life.
Morrigan01: That’s an excellent point. He went straight to a tabloid.
When i first heard that he talked to TMZ, i assumed they doorstepped him ie ambushed him and he responded to their questions.
Nope. He *rang* them. Twice.
@LAK TMZ is infamous in the US because yeah, they’re a tabloid, but they get their shit right more often than not. And they themselves said they got the info from him directly. BOTH TIMES.
One time I could forgive. Because yeah, maybe they just did the ambush thing. But nope, he UPDATED them. I was DONE the minute I saw he talked to them again to give an UPDATE of all things.
I’ll be shocked if the US press restrain themselves from tearing him a new one for this after that. (I already saw an article from The Daily Beast that does so). Talking to TMZ twice is just – no.
I will say also though that I think he did it to try and make things “even” wrt Samantha in a way? I still think the guy loves and doted on Meghan, but feels guilty for how he likely was never their for Samantha and she manipulated and guilt tripped him into doing this for her. I think Meg’s weakness is her love for her dad, even though I suspect she also knows he’s not reliable and probably a very weak person in some respects. (I’m willing to bet he never had Doria’s back wrt the racist things Samantha said about her). But I don’t think he’s a innocent victim wrt all of this either.
Idk much or anything that went down but I do know if he sold pictures of himself that’s his right. And I would not let any controversy or anything keep me from my daughters weeding. I know its stressful but she needs all her family that truly loves her by her side especially at this time when the hounds are out and sniffing
This. ^^^
Meghan wanted this. Her father had no say. His life has been totally turned upside down. Not that he’s not trashy, but really??? She is surprised that the media is after her family? Naive.
I’m of the same opinion. He’s clearly not very media-savvy, nor did he probably expect to have to be at 74-years-old. This is a shame all around; I hope this has a happy ending for everyone involved.
No pity for him. He saw what his other children were doing to Meghan. He was asked to lay low presumably. All he had to do was not exploit his daughter or his place in her wedding. He’s not naive. He has a direct line to paps and TMZ ffs…
Maybe he didn’t forsee this fallout, but he took the risk for moderate gain and it backfired in a major form.
Meanwhile her mother is still fine. She’s not a press savvy person. She’s just respectful of her daughters wishes.
Well I agree with you, and I’ll go one further. KP need to be the ones to reach out and assist people who are put into this type of situation, they are notorious for hanging people out to dry on their own like they did with Princess Di and Fergie.
100% agree. he needs to get his butt on an airplane and walk his daughter down the aile. Sure, I get the embarrassment, but that´s so selfish. He´s a grown ass man, he needs to deal with the consequences of his actions. And mainly – stop communicating with Meghan through the media! It isn´t even such a big deal, 95% photos of celebrities we see are previously agreed upon. The pictures weren´t hurting anybody. Daily Mail is basically on a mission to ruin this man and this wedding. And the heart attack is 100% made up.
I think that is very easy for all of us to say. But imagine the whole entire world suddenly watching and judging you, when you’re a very very private person. The pressure must be huge. I just think we should show a little more kindness.
Yes, I am a very very private person too and I can see the anxiety behind it. But he promised he would be there, to change his mind 5 days before is just unfair to Meghan. And way more embarrassing than the photos themselves. Everybody will be talking about Meghan´s dress after the wedding, I honestly don´t think he would be the centre of the attention. Well at least he wouldn´t have been before the TMZ interviews.
He’s 73 years old, has health issues, has shitty children who won’t stop talking about his youngest daughter and he’s been beseiged with requests for interviews. He’s had to deal with the dog whistles about his own daughter from his other children! Can you imagine how he felt reading what Samantha was saying about Meghan? He shouldn’t pull out of the wedding, though.
The whole world is watching him anyway. This is his daughter’s wedding!! I feel for her and Harry right now.
My impression was that it wasn’t his own embarrassment but rather he felt that he had embarrassed her more and going to the wedding would make it worse. We don’t know the chest pains are made up. My own father has suffered chest pains during times of extreme stress.
I agree.
It’s a bit tacky what he did, but it’s not like he killed a kitten.
The hate he gets for it is way over the top.
I don’t think this is a case of the British tabs having it ‘out’ for Meghan (which they do, totally). This is how they treat ANYONE who they can use to sell papers.
The difference between the Markles and Middletons is – the Middletons have NEVER sold Kate out like this. They are practiced operators, who have managed to, one way or another, use the British media/tabs to their own advantage without coming across too badly. Caroles machinations have always been obvious, but now aggressively negative, like Megans half-brother and sister, and now father.
I have ZERO sympathy for him. He is a grown ass man who sold his kid out.
Also, I suspect he has been dis-invited. Whatever one wants to say about her, I feel so sad for her, having to deal with such shitty shitty relatives. What a let down, when even your own parent will sell you out.
Oh please, stop with this madness, they all are flawed human beings, none is better than the other. Just because the Middletons have never been caught, it doesn’t mean they’ve never staged any pictures, The man did not sell his daughter out, he staged pictures of himself, how does that translate to selling his daughter out? The Middies are just way savvier the this poor 73 year old guy who felt he was being unfairly portrayed because he isn’t as thin and as good looking as the “ideal BRF FIL” the British tabloids have in mind, so he thought he should improve his own image. The DM has continued an unrelenting onslaught on this poor guy, printed very unfair and unflattering articles and pictures about him,
https://cdn.metricgrab.com/rtracks?x=rlx&p=fb9580c293&d=dailymail.com&c=e509ca256ce24735a1aa3e35fff65f09
fat shaming and calling him names just because his daughter is not the kind of pedigree that they approve of for their precious RF in comparison to the precious pristine Middletons, now he is being branded a sell out just because of staged pictures of himself? GMAB!
I guess out definition of selling your child out differs. I DO think he sold her out.
I’m over this feel bad for the poor guy shtick. He is savvy enough to repeatedly call TMZ. Come on.
Markle certainly made money off of his daughter, but please. The Middltons are just more discrete about their money making off of Kate and royals.
@Clare, I agree, different definitions of sale out. Nobody is being forced to feel bad for Mr. Markle, this is just how I feel, no one has to feel the same way as me. I just find the comparison and contrasting of Mr. Markle to the Middletons and thus elevating the Middies as some paragons of virtues while Mr. Markle is this big bad nasty man just absurd. They all are human and fall short of God’s glory.
I mean, I refer to carole’s machinations, so I don’t know how that can be read as elevating the Midds to ANYTHING other than climbers…but I’ll rephrase it, the Middletons have been more discrete and less awfully aggressive in their quest for wealth and fame.
The Middletons have been protected by Williams golden status, but they have traded on their Royal connections for years and they also took William to moms brothers Cocaine Mansion, but the press gives the Middletons a pass on their shite! Yes they call out Gary but hardly if ever the Middletons. Carole ,Pippa , Kate have all been given freebies galore based on Royal connection, but the press claps like seals when they do it.
Kate got cars , clothes on William, Carole pushed Party Pieces over the years at times, in connection to close association to William, Kate was even at a royal event and was selling her moms Party Pieces line on the guests. It was on camera and the British press didn’t say squat. If anyone else did that all hell would have broke loose in press for days.
The press has selective outrage, depending on who it is.
Ok about Meghan, I wonder if she will be crying on her wedding day. Poor girl.
I can give him the benefit of the doubt for the staged photos. It was stupid, but the photos themselves were innocuous.
But if he really did tell tmz that he wasn’t going to the wedding before he told his daughter, that’s less defensible. He’s embarrassed, fine, he should be, but if his daughter still wants him at her wedding, then he needs to put on his big boy pants and show up.
* my caveat is that I take the previous paragraph back if he was disinvited and they’re just having him say it was his decision to avoid any backlash from Meghan disinviting her father and/or if his health is keeping him from flying.
Why is he continuing to call TMZ and give statements to them?
Co-sign!!!
Stop calling the very same people you claim are muddying your image daddykins!!!!
When KP tells the people invading your privacy to leave you alone, you continuously run too them and tell them your
1. Medical condition
2. Fears and insecurities
3. Child is stressing you out
4. Future plans
Now its no longer a case of…. im being harassed… now its a case of, im getting harassed and im calling them back to talk about several things.
Another thing… this is KENGSINGTON PALACE!!! Those people are like Beyonce, every appearance is planned too the second, every moment, every attendee, camera angle, date, look and word are PLANNED in excruciating detail months before.
Finding out from the TMZ that the father of the bride will not attend is a huge curb in their plans… I feel terrible for Meghan, and probably so does his father, but by the looks of things if i want to know how he feels, i will find out from TMZ anyway.
I wish him a speedy recovery and i wish her a wonderful wedding
Exactly!!! imho I think everything is a lie. Maybe it was planned and he was never going to attend the wedding….but that would make her look bad….
Seems he’s talking to TMZ cause the British rags (DM ?) pissed him off. He cooperated with them and then they made him look really bad. I don’t think TMZ pays him anything for taking to them which would match to what he said that he’s passed up several offers for exclusive interviews that would have paid him a lot of $$, much more than what DM possibly paid him for some staged paparazzi shots.
We don’t know anything that went on behind closed doors. Maybe the Royal Family “suggested” that “Dad” should stay away from the wedding?! Maybe he was offered something he could not resist turning down? Who knows….
I agree.
Oh yes, Make this Somehow MM’s fault
My theory… maybe he had some issue preventing him from flying…a legal issue related to taxes?
y’all need to cut the guy some slack. I know when I’m having a heart attack, sometimes I accidentally call tmz instead of 911. It happens.
Ha!
Lol
hahahaha!
Oh FFS, he just got on TMZ again and said he’s in the hospital but if doctors release him he IS going to the wedding and he WANTS to walk her down the aisle. Make UP YOUR MIND man, I am going to have a heart attack here over all this and I don’t even know you people!
He also says yesterday she left him a voicemail and texted him.
I think he should keep this info to himself from this point on
To stop making a bigger circus and figure it out with Megan privately. Why the need to keep the tabloid updated?! Unless he gets more money for any new developments in the pre-wedding drama. Dude, you keep sticking your foot deeper in your mouth! Keep this between you and Megan!!!
Thomas Markle has NOT pulled out of the wedding. He will be escorting his daughter down the aisle. She phoned him and said she was not angry about the staged photos; she loves him and wants him at her wedding. The only issue would be if he is not well enough to travel. He has to get his doctor’s okay.
Well, one thing for sure: Now, no matter WHAT designer dress Meghan wears on her special day, no matter what tiara she has chosen, no matter what words she and Harry say in their vows to each other, no matter who is in attendance at the wedding, THOMAS MARKLE WILL BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION, EITHER BY HIS SURPRISE PRESENCE OR BY HIS PETULANT ABSENCE. I have never felt so sorry for any bride to be! It should be a thrilling, beautiful, romantic and deeply emotional moment…she IS marrying her prince, after all!…but instead it will all be about her dysfunctional father and his dramatic, self-pitying sulk heard round the world.
Lahdidababy, there’s more to a wedding than the bride’s family. I have a strong belief that despite all this, this wedding will be a successful one.
Agreed. At least her black side of the family knows how to act and haven’t given any interviews or sold any stories. Her mom is very protective of her daughter – as it should be. Now I get why she has absolutely nothing to do with THAT side of her family.
I keep waiting for another shoe to drop. Can’t imagine how Ms. Markle and her mom must feel. Ugh.
This wedding and coupling is turning into a weird circus act with all the crazy family members and insane stories. I’m not a Brit but is this embarrassing for the Royal family? How does the Queen feel I wonder? I worry about their wedding, this is a LOT for a couple who isn’t even marries yet to have on their plate.
The Queen has seen far worse from her own family.
The Queen has literal nazis in her family, so she must be okay.
I am so tired of this. The Queen, and Philip, FOUGHT the Nazis, which literally none of us did. Aristocratic families were complicated in the 1930s, but they were on the right side. They are not responsible for Edward VIII or Philip’s sisters’ husbands.
Andrew associated with a convicted pedophile so really nothing Tom Markle has done even compares to that.
Meghan is marrying a man whose naked @$$ ive seen in pics while he was partying it up in Las Vegas doggie stylez… sooo… mum will be just fine.
My true anxiety is that shes half black… so she has a very very very high standard to live up too. Her family has to be flawless as compared too the Middleton family.
Of which… whose is?
@Tina – what is it that’s made you so tired, though? LOL no one said that QEII was responsible for the Nazi drama on both sides of her family.
I think the point is that the Queen is no stranger to wedding drama AT ALL. Her sisters-in-law were banned (cuz, as you said, they were nazis) from her wedding. Her father-in-law had died penniless in Monaco or something – having abandoned his family years earlier – so obviously her wasn’t there. The only member of Philip’s *immediate* family to attend the wedding was his mother, and they had to beg her to shelve the nun’s habit she’d taken to wearing (after forming her own religious order) for the big day, allegedly.
@lobbit, it seems like every royal thread there is a pejorative statement about the Queen having Nazi relatives. No one ever mentions that her father (as a symbol of the nation) was instrumental in winning the war and the stress of it contributed to his early death (along with the cigarettes). I’m also really annoyed when people criticise a couple who literally fought the Nazis for having relatives on the other side. A lot of people did.
And sure, the Queen is no stranger to wedding drama. Speaking of Philip’s mother, she was a war hero, too. She hid Jewish friends in her residence in Athens and is recognised as one of Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nations.
@Bangers that’s more my concern too, the BRF seem to make excuses and brush aside indiscretions from born and bred family members but MM is neither so that’s where I wonder about how the Queen is feeling over this.
OP asked how the Queen might be feeling about Meghan Markle’s embarrassing relations, and I (and others) would like to think she’d consider the many occasions she’d been made to feel a little less than proud of her family members–and maybe even feel a little sympathy for her future granddaughter-in-law. That is not a criticism, but YMMV.
Very few people over here care much about this wedding (no bank holiday). Most people will watch a few clips on the news and say, either “parasites,” or “that’s nice.” And I’m sure the Queen is sympathetic to Meghan, she’s never given any indication otherwise. She doesn’t need dodgy relatives of her own (which of course she has) to be sympathetic.
I appreciate the analysis of the public mood.
No decent person needs to have direct experience of familial trauma to show sympathy to others that are suffering through it. In this case, though, the queen has such experience in spades, so I imagine she’s sympathetic and even has unique insight into what Meghan and Harry might be feeling at the moment. Here’s hoping that she rallies around them.
100,000 people expected in Windsor, so I wouldn’t take one person’s opinion on “public mood” as a blanket answer.
Some won’t care, some will rail about scroungers, and many others will show up and celebrate the couple.
LOL they’re expecting 50,000 Americans to visit the UK this week, specifically for the royal wedding. Not all of them will go to Windsor, but a fair number will. Believe me or don’t believe me, but don’t take the Daily Mail as an indication of general British public mood.
Yeah, I was going for sarcasm there but didn’t want to be too heavy-handed with it. The “public mood” is entirely tangential to this thread and I am genuinely confused as to why it even came up. But again, thank you Tina…I guess.
OP’s question was, literally, is this embarrassing for the royal family. It isn’t embarrassing for the royal family because (a) no one associates them with Thomas Markle and (b) not very many people in the UK care very much about the wedding.
The Royal’s survived Fergie and her Toegate as well as trying to pimp out time to Andrew, they can survive this. It’s Meghan I feel for.
Oh, Tina..we went so far off the rails discussing…your concerns about honoring the bravery and valor of QEII’s family that I had no idea that you’d pivoted back to the subject at hand. Thanks for the clarification!
I am large, I contain multitudes. (As long as no one calls the Queen & Phil Nazis, or Nazi-adjacent, everything is cool by me).
He’s having open heart surgery. Just saw a royal reporter tweet it.
Oh for heavens sake. The Middletons have organized pap strolls. The royals have SOLD PHOTOS. It’s nothing new, he just went about it at a bad time, in a ham handed manner. Not to mention that there have been shady royal in laws from time immemorial, and nothing can beat the royal family itself for bad behavior. The general shrieking and pearl clutching is really out of hand.
So, yeah, ginned up outrage.
Man up, Markle, go walk your daughter down the aisle.
Exactly, I agree with every single word.
Yes! This! They’ve ALL done it. Hell, even William had to admit that his mother had played games with the paparazzi- though I think he put them down to “naive shenanigans that played into the hands of bad people”. This AFTER she’d been a royal and seen how it all worked for years and years? That excuse can totally fly for someone who really was truly new to this world of interest in him.
Hell, Mr Markle thinks he’d be the most embarrassing person at that wedding? Get in line, sir! You won’t top your soon-to-be son-in-law’s Nazi costume or vegas hijinks any time soon! Or *his* father’s tampon conversation! That’s not even getting started on the rest of the guests! What kills me is that if he could just get himself to the wedding like his daughter so badly wants him to, the story would CHANGE as soon as they see her in her dress! Sure, maybe he’s still a footnote, but only that. Most people won’t CARE in a few days- it’ll be all about the bride, the dress, and the spectacle.
My understanding is, the Royals accept these shenanigans (and engage in them themselves) as long as they are undertaken with some semblance of ‘decorum’ and ‘discretion’.
Like you guys have said, the Middletons have made a cottage industry out of pap photos and insider scoops – but they have always done so without selling Kate down the river. I can’t think of a single instance where any of her family have openly bad mouthed her (like Meghans shitty siblings). The optics are just different (and no this doesn’t have to do with Megan’s race). The Middletons are far more skilled operators in that their shenanigans are obvious, but not carried out in a fashion that would really hurt or purposefully embarrass Kate, to make a buck. I think they benefit far more from the social capital than the financial gain, too.
The way Megans family have behaved is hugely hugely embarrassing, but I think mostly for her. I feel so sad for her to have to deal with this shit the week before her wedding.
Well also I think the Middleton family is incredibly close and have each other’s backs. They’ll use the media to further the entire family’s gain, not just one individual. Say whatever you want about them (they are social climbers, they are the British Kardashians, Kate is lazy and never works), but they seem to be a loving family. Kate even went to Bucklebury for the first few weeks after George was born to adjust to being a new mom. If there’s something you can’t criticize about the Middletons is that they are clearly a family that will do anything for each other.
Meghan doesn’t have that. Her parents divorced when she was young and it seems she was mostly raised by her mom. She clearly did not grow up very close to her half-siblings, they weren’t living in the same household as her and are much older than her. She is definitely close to her mom but I wouldn’t be surprised if behind the scenes her relationship with her dad was very up and down. Also her entire dad’s side of the family (half-siblings and extended family included) have no qualms selling her out and badmouthing her to the media. Notice we haven’t heard a peep from Doria’s side of the family so they seem to have Meghan’s back. But you’re really comparing apples and oranges.
@Amelie, I think you may have replied to me by accident, because I think we are basically saying the same thing?
Yes! I just can’t work out what the big deal is. Just go to the damn wedding, and it will all be forgotten. Not going is just going to spin this out into another 3 or 4 days of terrible press.
@Mariposa I disagree that this will be forgotten – the Markle siblings are never going to stop milking their new Royal connection unless they are publicly cut-off, and literally left with nothing to share. I say cut them all off, including the father, who appears to be taking shitty advice from the sister. Why the F does he need to ring TMZ to share his ‘side’ of the story?
@Clare
Like he’s going to trust the British press now?
He obviously wants to get his story out there, and he’s not going to talk to U.K. Press again. So TMZ wins out, and no one can say he was paid a bunch of $ for talking to them.
This.
I think he’s panicking right now and they need to send someone to him or bring him in to calm him down. He’s making rash decisions because he feels embarrassed and like people are upset with him. I get that but he also needs to take responsibility and move on. Going to TMZ is not the answer. Pulling this stunt does not help Meghan or him.
I try really hard to understand him but he just keeps making stupid decisions and it’s irritating.
I think panic is the right word. I have the feeling he’s had a lot of anxiety about going to the wedding and kind of sabotaged it so he doesn’t have to face going now.
BUT: her dad worked in Hollywood so he should know how pap strolls etc. work. Of course the press is now tearing him apart for being so naive (or rather stupid).
The Middletons are quite PR savvy without a HW background and they don’t make Kate look bad – which in this case makes all the difference.
He worked on studio sets as lighting director not in entertainment media with all the bottom feeders.
Putting aside my republican sentiments ( down with the monarchy), her father has turned a recoverable if deeply embarrassing situation into a humiliating one by not going to the wedding. I feel deeply sorry for Meghan Markle, thinking of my own sisters wedding last summer and what a joyous occasion it was makes me kinda sad for her. Hopefully her wedding day will turn out well whatever the situation with her dad and trash family.
I can’t imagine the normal messiness and drama of family weddings, magnified 1,000x times by the glare of international tabloid media. So Meg’s Dad has questionable judgement. But he isn’t being accused of raping two women, unlike Pippa’s father in law, which got far less media traction.
That came out after the wedding though, didn’t it?
Sounds like the Markle family is such a goat rodeo. Hopefully this is not foreshadowing for what’s to come in the future.
I imagine that side of her family will continue to milk every opportunity they can to leech off of Meghan’s marriage.
This is so heartbreaking for poor Meghan. This should be the most wonderful week for her- instead it’s becoming so awful. And the saddest part is, apparently even after all this embarrassing mess, she *still* wants him there. She’s devastated by what’s happened and the thought of him not coming, is eaten up with concern for him, and is begging him to change his mind. Nobody should have to beg their dad to walk them down the aisle! As her father, the fact that she wants him there on her big day should be the thing that matters most.
Xdanix, Thomas himself told TMZ that he hasn’t spoken with Meghan since the scandal broke, would that report that she still wants him there may be false.
According to Rebecca English’s sources late last night and this morning, that’s not true. *shrugs* Whatever the truth , I feel heartbroken for her. No bride needs this kind of upset a few days before their wedding- let alone someone with the world’s eyes on them, marrying into one of the most famous families in the world.
Nel, he said that he hasn’t spoken to her since the TMZ story broke…you know the call he made to TMZ to tell Meghan he wasn’t coming…In his comments to TMZ did he say that he spoke to her personally to convey his change of mind???
He seems like a very weak person. I believe the sister talked him into taking those photos. And now he cannot muster up the strength to face them all – the royals, the media and Meghan, whom he let down so badly.
I suspect Meghan knew that this would be a horrible idea, but I think she was pressured into inviting him because protocol requires the presence of the “head of the family” or something.
And now who’s gonna receive the coat of arms? Uh-oh
You said this well,agreed
Weak, yes. The way it seems the sister manipulated him into this whole situation, you have to also wonder if there is not some age-related isssue, early stage of dementia or something like that, that is clouding judgment.
I think your second paragraph is spot on. I feel like she probably felt pressured into inviting him because it looked like the ‘right’ thing to do. He seems like someone who doesn’t handle pressure well, and she probably knew deep-down that he couldn’t really handle this whole hoopla. Also, he wasn’t at her first wedding…there must be a reason for that. I hope Harry is really there to support her at the moment, this will probably be the first real test of their relationship.
Knowing her father the way she does, If I was Meghan, I would have gave him money and made him signa NDA to avoid what it became a huge embarrassment/fiasco. The whole family is Trash, the father has several tax liens and its broke, everyone saw this coming. He found a way to make some quick bucks and ended up betraying his daughter. I hope she cuts him off for good. No wonder they didnt have a good relationship.
This is not her fault.
But I agree – cut the losers off.
He is broke??? Did we (the public) see Thomas drive 2 different cars??? Buy beer for the security (his words)??? Spend 40$ on a stranger & daughter’s meal??? Had a heart attack, visit General Hospital (no photos), buy KFC & McDonalds before travelling to LA to be photographed buying Doria plants & a card???
All the time being followed by a photographer who paid him & Vonnie cheering him on…
SMH
The cars were trash – one had a broken and taped from headlight. He stayed at a flea bag $79 a night Rodeway Inn. The security he referred to was the the guard for the condo complex he lives in in Mexico. He dresses like a slob. Thomas Markle is not well off.
The only positive part of this fiasco is that the White part of her family was the one who sold her out. White Trash in my opinion. Her mother has remained loyal, dignified and supportive as well as any other relative in her mother’s side.
Someone, Thomas Markle is not broke…he is also not rich.
Having a ‘trashy’ car & staying in a ‘flea bag 79$ Inn’ highlights the fact that he has money to stay at an inn & drive a car … There are many people who can not afford a car nor the cost of any abode…
I wish Meghan all the best. When your own dad won’t suck it up and show up at your wedding for you, his daughter instead making it all about himself, that’s tough.
She should just let it go and walk into church with Harry, hand in hand. Modern, classy. Forget this mess.
Yes, I can overlook stupidity but staging photographs of leaving flowers for Doria or claiming he had a heart attack or even talking to TMZ and now dropping out of the wedding are all actions of a selfish, self-absorbed person who won’t take responsibility for his behavior. I think he cares more about the embarrassment to him than not being there for his daughter.
Thomas Markle may not be malicious enough to sell stories about his daughter but he strikes me as negligent -as if it doesn’t occur to him to not put himself and his image first.
Thank you Natalie S!!!!
Agreed Rhys
Why are we all pretending to know how Meghan feels? Maybe they talked and decided this is best. Maybe they were playing along with something that both of them weren’t completely feeling in tune with anyway. Maybe it was awkward anyway to have a man walk her down the aisle that she barely has had a relationship with. We don’t know what goes on in her mind and her relationship with her father.
I think if this was something they decided on together, the Palace or some friendly glossy media outlet would be breaking the news, not TMZ. I also think if they’d decided this together the Palace would have had a smooth statement all ready to go instead of releasing a vague ‘this is a difficult time’ tweet hours after the fact. The way this is playing out really seems to me like Meghan was blindsided.
Absolutely. He completely caught them off guard and they’ve been scrambling ever since. I don’t know what his motives are, but he has made things more difficult for Meghan at every turn. There was a way to handle this to minimize the damage, but he chose to just throw a grenade and run off, leaving his daughter to pick up the pieces.
You think the press are treating Meghan badly now? This is the honeymoon stage when they really get their knives out this will look like nothing. He shouldn’t off done the pap shoot and he did take money for it. He also got papped having Mcdonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken within 2 days after discharging himself out of hospital for a minor heartache. Meghans family are horrible she is best rid off them it sounds like she cut them adrift a few years ago and I doubt she will want anything to do with any off them after she marries. What would be nice to see is her mother who has been the main parent walk Meghan down the aisle or maybe her future father in law?
This is the British press’s revenge for all those years Harry treated them with contempt. Is it right? of course not, but this is just the beginning. They will make a point of going for Meghan, she is an American not a home grown girl like Kate. Play time is over for Harry, he really needs to step back and get real and expert PR help.
The British press could have taken those pics of him at KFC and Mickey D’s anytime in the last 4 months that they have been following him. Just because they say it’s a couple days after his heart attack doesn’t mean it’s true.
How did Harry treat the press with contempt? Oh, he didn’t like the way they hounded his mother. Leave Harry alone.
According to DM he was never in the hospital at all…He supposedly stayed at home the day of his “heart issues” and didn’t step outside for two days. He was then pap’d getting fast food. The people who believe the heart attack story are probably the same people who thought the staged pictures were genuine to begin with.
What a shambles…
So is Thomas Markle a bald-faced liar?
He’s been quoted as saying he had a (unsubstantiated) heart attack, and that he checked himself out of a hospital that he’s never actually been admitted to.
As CrocO said above, he never left his house on May 8th and 9th – which are the days he would have been having been the heart attack according to his own timeline.
They know he drove to San Diego, to Home Depot, to KFC, if he had even been within sniffing distance of a hospital, we would know it. Ergo, he’s lying about being hospitalized.
Agree @Dana
The British press treat everyone that they can, this way. Now they smell blood because the Markles put the blood in the water. The games have just begun.
I don’t think this is about ‘revenge’ on Harry – this is just the British press, it is a bloodsport. for years the Middletones have been treated with some semblance of gentleness because 1) they have kept their shit under wraps for the most part 2) they have built relationships with the press. The Markles have tried to make money off their royal association. Her father appears to have fing TMZ on speed dial. So what does one expect from the red tops?
This is bloodsport, but the timing is definitely revenge.
As far as the world was concerned the father was the only good Markle. It doesn’t benefit the DM to out Thomas without a pay off especially when it’s obvious that these set ups go back months.
The press has sat on negative stories when it wants and released them later or not at all. It happens all the time. Ask Heather McCartney.
There is no Honeymoon stage for them. They’ve been on her neck since day one and they haven’t gotten off. For god sakes, they’ve literally paid for estranged family members to be flown in and being commentators on a wedding they weren’t invited too for a person they haven’t seen in years, some as long as decades. That’s just beyond cruel and the media has absolutely no shame in how they’ve treated her.
You do wonder why the deal was offered to Thomas Markle Junior’s ex-wife and two sons, rather than to Junior himself.
Her association with MM is tenuous at best and made even more distant by the divorce, so what gives?
Junior may not be allowed to leave the country due to his bail conditions after he was arrested for threatening his gf.
Meghan’s dad has been stupid but pulling out because of the expose has made it so much worse. That on top of the fact that Meghan/Harry found out the same time the world did, via TMZ’s story.
I sympathise with her dad, he did a stupid thing – he’s taken responsibility for it but he should also man up and go to his daughter. Running to TMZ saying that she hasn’t contacted him is not going to help repair the damage this has done to their relationship. I think he’s just too embarrassed to speak to her in person and is why he is using TMZ – although they will pay him. The BBC is reporting that apparently H&M are still hoping he will change his mind and come but they are also saying that her mother will walk her down the aisle.
This really just shows how trashy the Markle clan is, I won’t be watching ITV for coverage as I don’t want to experience 2nd hand embarrassment when the Dooley’s make fools of themselves on TV.
I don’t believe they are hoping he is coming. He said since the story broke he hadn’t even spoken to Meghan nor Harry. It sounds like she was furious if she had not called him to even find out what was going on. Then much later he talks TMZ to say he’s not going.
I think Meghan is relieved she doesn’t have to deal with him.
Not popular to say but I’d guess that the father was uninvited. The heart attack and subsequent chatter is face-saving stuff. I think they all know what they are doing here.
Surely she knew he was staging photo ops before he was exposed for it though. If she were furious with him, why wouldn’t she have told him to knock it off weeks ago? She’d had to have known he was getting a cut when it was the same photographer with all of the “exclusives.”
People who “take responsibility” only when forced to are not really taking responsibility. In light of the video evidence, and the interview with the 18 year-old party supplies seller cum “tailor”, he knew the jig was up.
Unless you are a crazy person, you know there is no plausible deniability, so you “take responsibility”.
I hope he flies all the way there and is allowed to attend the ceremony. I hope he gives a gushing, proud father interview in front of the church.
Then I hope someone else walks Meg down the aisle while he is seated directly behind Beatrice and Eugenie’s enormous hats. Yes, I am petty.
Just a few years ago the Royal family would have had this wedding on lock down, nothing would have been left to chance. Meghan’s Mother and Father should have been here weeks ago to spend time with Harry and get to know the country her daughter will adopt as her homeland. The Queen needs to put her foot down and take control. They have took a step back and let Harry (and William) do things their own way, and this is the result. This wedding is a complete and utter shambles. Harry needs to realise that he needs expert PR help the palace can offer him. Harry, your way of doing things is clearly not working so just STOP. As a Brit i’m beginning to feel embarrassed by this spectacle. I wont be watching even though I like the Royal’s and was obsessed over William and Kate’s wedding.
Uh huh. You don’t sound vaguely racist at all. Nope.
? No she doesn’t. If anything she’s implying old school palace wedding prep would have kept iffy relatives away from the press. They’ve had plenty of practice.
Racist…how dare you. I would have this opinion if Meghan was white, black, British or American. Just because a person has a critical view of the wedding does not make that person a racist. If anything this is critical comment about Harry and his behaviour. I have no issue with Meghan, but the wedding as a whole is a shambles. And please point out which part of my comment is Racist……where are my insulting or derogatory comments relating to Meghan’s race?????
I’m confused. I have read @Sarah L’s post a couple of times and I cannot find a trace of racism whatsoever. Please explain.
lol what?
Racist? Why? Cos Harry tried to win without his family and he failed? Markle’s parents should have been in England weeks ago. Markle and Harry could’ve paid off her family and make them sign NDAs. In fact, everything they did, and since Harry is royal, i think he is responsible for the wedding more than Meghan, everything turned on them.
And kp asked for privacy, but they didn’t check her family? The pr game is so bad that i cannot believe this is brf.
And btw this won’t go away. People still talk about the Middletons. People still see Kate as a dumb little girl who chased her Prince. After three kids, she’s still not good for poor old William.
Yes, you work with the press. You don’t make enemy out of the hands that feed you. The royals need press, but Harry is so focused on doing it his way that he’s gonna turn his own wedding into nightmare. It’s like he hates his family yet loves the lifestyle. He’s crying wolf and his future wife should really give him a reality check cos she’ll be sacrificed.
not everything is racism….
When Princess Mary got engaged to Frederick, the Danish Royals were down here paying off old school mates/family members and getting NDA’s signed…the BRF has fallen behind on this one.
@ cara93
Im black and believe a lot of the negativity towards Meghan is racially motivated, BUT in this instance it is her WHITE side of the family that is acting like trash
Yes Race is everywhere but not everything is about race.
All Sarah is saying is that the ” firm ” should have reined in the Markles long before (it has been done already ) now maybe its harder to do because they are not British but American maybe Harry didn’t wan their help Dunno
But this is coming off like a reality show and not a royal wedding
BTW Contrasting the conduct of Meghans black side of the family to her white on the world stage is somewhat like contrasting the Obamas with the Trumps
Contrary to popular stereotypes we see who is being civil and dignified versus who is being crass and uncouth.
Racist?
Hardly.
The palace machine has slipped. They have failed their newest member. They should have had conversations with dad or flown him over at least two weeks ago.
Nothing to do with Meghan or her mother, who remain silent and dignified.
Please stop w the “any criticism is racist” garbage.
Aloe Vera, everyone has a past and no matter what, things still get out. Maxima’s father, Silvia’s father, Sofia in general, oh so Catholic Mathilde living with a boyfriend for three years before meeting Philippe, Mary’s horrible ex-boyfriends talking about her performance in bed, Mary’s roommates admitting the drunk one-night stand with Frederik, etc.
Mary was the one who stupidly dumped all of her overdue credit card bills and her “beloved grandmother’s letters” in the rubbish bin when she left for Europe. Was the reporter a jerk who dug them out, you bet. But she made that mistake, along with lying about Starmakers and continuing to associate with the close relative convicted of sexual crimes against a minor. And keeping Amber Petty close no matter what she posts on social media.
Those are all own goals on Mary’s part, while this whole thing is a betrayal by a relative. There are some things, and some people, you just cannot shut down. So you cut them off, cut off their oxygen, and live your life without them.
I agree, Sarah L. It has been odd to me that they did not get both parents over there months ago for the in-law version of “princess school” to meet the royals in a lower pressure situation, orient them to the craziness of being peripheral to the royal family, help them understand how to deal with paparazzi/press attention, and even appoint someone to manage their PR. No one has been minding the store.
That kind of orientation would probably have done wonders to make this elderly reclusive American feel more secure being briefly the center of internationally televised wedding circus. And even if they didn’t do anything pre-emptive like that, how hard could it have been to just buy the man a ticket to bring him over to meet his future son-in-law in advance of the wedding? Or to have at some point in the past two years gone to visit Mr. Markle and meet him on his own turf?
As soon as the engagement was announced, they should have done this. BP usually doesn’t do this, but the oh so modern KP should have.
Months ago? Her mother has a job and clients as a social worker. And she hasn’t spoken to anyone.
I’m not sure it would have been necessary to have them over their weeks ago but I’m a bit surprised they haven’t had PR people on Mom and Dad 24/7. You wouldn’t even have to send over your own people. Mexico has a big entertainment industry so there are probably some big PR firms in Mexico City or wherever who could have taken on the task of shielding and managing. Then again, maybe Dad refused. Sigh…such a mess.
The BRF is primarily concerned with the BRF, no one else. That is why they will defend, excuse, and straight up lie about all manner of behavior from the likes of Andrew, Charles, Peter Phillips, etc. They are born-in. Even married-ins who have gone rogue have been dealt with swiftly and harshly (Diana lost her HRH, Fergie was basically thrown out with the garbage). And they have no time whatsoever for in-laws, who are basically on their own in terms of how they behave, though they do use access and favors to somewhat control their behavior. The Middletons have been loyal and mostly discreet, so they get to hang with the Queen occasionally and that’s kept them in line for the most part. But no one cares or is going to take extra special time for months to prepare in-laws for anything. They just aren’t going to do it. Everything that is happening to Doria and to Thomas is exactly a result of their own actions (Doria is being embraced; Thomas is being left to fend for himself). Meghan will be enfolded into the Firm as long as she plays by their rules and her family that won’t play ball will simply to dismissed. At the end of the day, why should the BRF care that Thomas Markle is as trashy as his other children? They shouldn’t. And they don’t.
Lolo: Diana voluntarily gave up her HRH. She volunteered it up in exchange for a bigger divorce settlement. The royals accepted her offer.
I know many here are convinced that the royal family LOVES Meghan but I have my doubts. Racist Philip supposedly calls her DOW for Duchess of Windsor, aka Wallis. They don’t really know her yet and if Harry did a Harry and stamped his feet and insisted his family accept her, they may be just shrugging and saying, “Hey, Harry, this is your Circus. You wanted it, you figure it out.”
I mean, does anyone think that most of the royal family cares if MM is run over by the Media Bus? I doubt they care. She isn’t one of them.
Veronica, Philip is 96 and very close to eternity. I would give all of the assets that I have (which are not inconsiderable) before I would believe that he calls Meghan “DOW,” or pays attention to her in any other sense than the vague one that one would pay to the future wife of a beloved grandson whose wedding one desperately hopes to attend before shuffling off this mortal coil.
Harry loves her. After the events of the last two days, he loves her more than ever. You watch on Saturday. It’s going to be Ryan Gosling in the Notebook x Leo in Titanic x Scott Moir in, well, real life. The heart eyes will be pinging.
I agree. More than for her family, this has been embarrassing for the palace.
It should have been made really clear to them not to talk to anybody and accept any money or bribes and to sadly endure all the media attention that will die down after the wedding. Having him fly over only a few days before the wedding to deal with the new inlaws and all the craziness seems in hindsight amateurish.
I know for sure that my parents would not sell me out. So if he has done it, I do not feel bad for him at all and rightly so that he should not attend.
Given what we’ve seen of these relatives? They would have immediately run to a tabloid and sold the story of what the Palace said to them.
Sarah L – while I don’t agree with everything in your post (W &H are in their mid 30s, I don’t blame the 92 y/old Queen for giving them space to manage their own lives) I didn’t read anything I found racist. In fact I didn’t read anything critical of Meghan or her mother’s side of the family.
cara93 – maybe you are seeing something we are not (privilege can do that) and if so, maybe you could explain?
I don’t see how what Sarah L said is racist in ANY way?
If anything, there is a class issue at play here (also not intimated by sarah L in any way?), in that the Middletons and most other royal adjacents have known how to ‘play’ the game and get their $$ without making obvious fools of themselves – whereas the Markles have sadly appeared and been portrayed as money grubbing upstarts behaving badly.
This whole saga has been utterly mismanaged by KP, but the Markles put the blood in the water – why would the rep tops NOT pounce? It is their MO and bread and butter.
I agree. Why haven’t Meghan’s parents been over in England being put in in a nice hotel for the last couple of weeks? Something is strange here. Even her mother wasn’t in England as of a week before the wedding. I’d have thought Meghan would want her there for support and to let her get acclimated to London and such. I know the Middletons were there to support Kate when she had practice run throughs of the wedding ceremony.
If nothing else, having Meghan’s parents over there earlier would have avoided this bad publicity in the run up. We wouldn’t be getting these shots of her Dad grabbing Gas-x and fast food (McDonalds and KFC) and her mom grocery shopping with the trunk of her Honda CRV full of crap.
Doria was only papped when Tom showed up with his flowers and paparazzi crew. She shouldn’t be blamed for her ex husband’s shenanigans. Doria has been discreet and nothing has come out of her side of the family. This falls on the Markle side completely.
I didn’t see any crap in her car???
There is no reason to have them here for weeks on end before the event. And given what we’ve seen of this side of the family, there is very little the Palace could have done. If Markle Senior is acting erratically and he’s that vulnerable to his eldest daughter’s manipulations, shot of putting him in a box for the rest of his life, there’s nothing to do.
@Nic919 It’s not true to say nothing has come from doria’s side of the family – her brother sold photos and stories to the DM. nothing negative, but her family leaked too.
You’re right. Both William and Harry have shunned seasoned advice from those already employed for years, thinking they know best (they don’t) and preferring people their own age. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that… except that they have chosen rather inexperienced, more compliant people who can’t say ‘no’ to the two men. This debacle has come about purely because Harry has sent several threats to media demanding the Markle’s be given privacy; they are teaching him a lesson. And that is, get your own house in order. Is it right? No. But everyone here is a player at some point, using media for their own agenda. The public has to fund the circus and should be screaming, ENOUGH.
I agree with Sarah….it does look like this wedding is not being tightly controlled and directed, and Charles and the Queen have taken a back seat. Also remember that there have been a lot of changes with the senior advisors. It all looks too loose. Nothing racist about that.
Yeesh!
I’ve been side eying Megs from the jump for wanting to marry into this racist bunch of colonizers but the Markle side is something else.
I’m embarrassed for her. This whole thing is a mess and I wish they could have just eloped.
Harry is going to say forget this whole thing I can’t deal with you and your crazy family. Her family is mess.
Harry’s family is one of the most f’ed up in the world, you think he cares much about hers?
Oh please. The entire world knows Harry’s father wanted to be a tampon, his mother was the source for her own tell all biography, his grandfather can’t go a week without a racist gaffe and he himself, well I’ll start with the Nazi uniform and finish with naked in Vegas. Other than this being troubling for her, the actual infraction is small time.
I’m also trying to decide who is more garbage, her siblings or the British tabloid press. Let’s just say they deserve each other
STOP TALKING TO TMZ!!! She should just have her mother walk her down the aisle she seems much closer to her and if her mother does stage pap walks too she’s much better at it.
I agree. Doria should be the one walking Meghan down the aisle. Forget protocol – this is Meghan and Harry’s wedding and they should insist on classy Doria accompanying her daughter on her wedding day. After all, this is supposed to be a private affair, not a State occasion. Let them do what they want. Ignore the trashy Markles.
Surely the plan all along was for him not to attend the wedding. If she was so close to him and wanted him there, why would she not visit him, especially at a time of ill health.
That’s my thought too. She didn’t have him at her first wedding, she probably want him at her second.
There was a civil service in LA then the ‘wedding’ in Jamaica…Thomas was absent to both.
If this was the plan all along, it is the shittiest plan I’ve ever seen in my life. They could have easily cited medical concerns as the reason for his absence if they were looking for an excuse to keep him away.
Or maybe she was told by people who claim to know better than she would be pummeled in the press for not inviting her father. So she relented and invited someone she didn’t want in her life anymore. I have sneaking suspicion that Thomas Markle has lived up to his daughter’s expectation.
I didn’t know that he hadn’t attended the first wedding. Reason?
None of our business.
I feel so bad for her. She totally has the right to go in her own direction and to try to make her life and live her dreams and all, and these people are just dogging her.
In a way I feel sort of bad for him too. He’s just so utterly outmatched by this situation, and he’s only further embarassed himself and alienated his daughter.
She should have saved herself this mess and never asked him to walk her down the aisle to begin with,what a jerk.If his health is in serious jeopardy not going is understandable,but it should have been decided privately,between him and Meghan.I like what I see of Meghan,she’s not responsible for her family’s ludicrous behavior,but this mess I’m afraid will follow Meghan,and the British tabloids are going to go at this more and more.I hope Harry is worth the continued scrutiny she will face,I can honestly say I think I’d bolt,take my own money and go to a remote island and live my days out in privacy.Good luck Meg!
I think I’d run away too. As much as she loves Harry, she’s going to be dealing with endless crap for it. I don’t think I could give up my freedom to marry into that stodgy family. The dysfunctional loony Markles would be easier to handle than the royals and the press.
As a Brit watching this from the sidelines, I am puzzled in the extreme that Mr Markle hasn’t been taken in hand and protected more by the Kensington Palace press office and Prince Harry himself.
Why has Harry reportedly never met the father of his bride in the nearly two years he has been dating her? Why on earth was Thomas Markle not flown in weeks ago? This is a man who is expected to meet the Queen a few days before walking his daughter down the aisle in front of millions – if not billions – of TV viewers. I would be petrified.
Who knows, perhaps Thomas refused assistance or has been prevaricating about attending the wedding. But this sort of problem could and should have been handled sensitively and proactively months ago, even prior to the announcement of the engagement.
Anyone with an ounce of sense could see the Markle family – with the exception of Meghan’s mother – are MESSY. What a farce.
Jasmine, I agree except Doria is a Ragland 😊
Tonya – LOL. Agreed!
I completely agree with this. Whether her dad is a bumbling fool or an attention seeker, I don’t know, but he should not have been allowed to do any of this.
He was staging photos for months and they did nothing. Why would they not step in and put a stop to that? Then the news breaks that he was in on it and they seemingly hadn’t briefed him on how to respond to any of it. The fact that TMZ was able to get a hold of him and get him to say things on the record is ABSURD.
It’s not even about protecting him from the intrusion, it’s about protecting Meghan and the royal family from this nonsense. She knows her father, surely she would know if he needed more guidance than say, Doria. Did KP not offer assistance or did Meghan or her father just refuse it? Because this whole thing is looking like amateur hour.
Small correction! TMZ didn’t “get a hold of him”. He called them. I wonder if, no matter how much advice and assistance KP offered, he would follow or take it. I think you are right in that option, and he refused it for some personal reason. His first call should have been to Meghan, not a tabloid to explain his side.
Lol omg this guy is a famewhore
Agree completely. If Harry has still not met dad Markle after two years, there’s clearly a problem. It’s not our business but it would have helped Meghan to be straight up with KP about her family so that they could help her and Harry navigate the road ahead and help family in appropriate ways to manage the media interest etc. I didn’t expect Thomas Markle to ever be at the wedding; it’s been an odd vibe about his attendance from the get go.
“it would have helped Meghan to be straight up with KP about her family” …maybe she had no idea that her family could/would sell her out in the most humiliating way they could?
@Jasmine. As another Brit, same.
As another Brit…same here.
Short of putting him in a sealed box for the rest of his life, what exactly was the Palace supposed to do? Instruct him to never to speak to his elder children ever again? No doubt a new money-making story would have been made out of that.
As an American cardiac nurse when we have a patient with a MI be it mild or severe usually you buy yourself a 72- hour hospitalization to be sure the MI isn’t worsening and you don’t experience abnormal and sometimes fatal dysrhythmias-you see this man walking around with his fast food and I think he just wanted the heat from the press off his ass and he didn’t have an MI Yet
He may have been having chest pains but that could be related to stress and not a heart condition.
Or maybe gas? He was seen buying a box of Gas-X. 🤔
I think the MI story is a lie.
I think the out buying fast food right after is also a lie. They could have taken those pics anytime while following him.
“You buy yourself”? Do you hold them against their will? He claimed he checked himself out. I don’t believe him either but that’s not the issue I have with his story. Lots of people are poor patients and refuse to rest in a hospital.
My father is one of them and has had several surgeries, and it’s a struggle to get him to stay for any kind of observation. He finds the hospital environment stressful and says it’s impossible to rest with people constantly coming in and out of the room.
When you leave against medical advice, you also let the hospital off the hook for any post-hospitalization problems. So you can leave but if you have complications that result from the hospitalization, it is going to be pretty much impossible to bring a lawsuit against the hospital.
Evie I mean you are placed in the hospital and you foot the bill for a three day stay-I’m glad your family member is doing well after going through so much as far as not wanting to stay in a hospital due to interruptions no one gets sleep you gotta have vital signs taken and be assessed frequently it isn’t done maliciously it’s because I always have in my patient group of six at LEAST one who is hyper or hypo tensive or in pain or nauseated and I treat them accordingly thus the need for frequent interruptions it’s not a relaxing time
I agree with both of you that it’s not a smart decision and I’m well aware of the risks involved. I specifically called people who check out early “poor patients”, as in bad patients.
I hope when you say the patient foots the bill you don’t mean their insurance won’t cover it and they will be solely responsible for it. This is a lie that somehow keeps getting perpetuated by medical staff, often used to manipulate patients to stay. There are many articles on this subject but this one from the University of Chicago discusses this and the surprising proportion of physicians at their hospital who mistakenly believed this. http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2012/20120203-billing.html
The cost is irrelevant anyway. Even if the cost were the same either way, the choice for these people is simply between where they’re more comfortable.
Which was whole the point of my comment: There are people who will stubbornly insist they’ll be fine after the immediate danger is past and just want to go home, where they can have privacy and an illusion of control and eat whatever they want. It’s foolish but unless you’re holding them against their will, which I can’t imagine is legal, these people will think they know best and do what they want. Studies have found men are more likely to do this. Maybe it’s contrary to their idea of masculinity to be vulnerable in that way.
Apparently this guy also claimed he was scheduled for heart surgery tomorrow morning, so maybe we’ll all be eating our words doubting his story soon.
@Eileen, thank you! As a fellow cardiac critical care nurse I couldn’t have put it better! No way this man had a MI within the past few days. Seems to be on the path to having one eventually.
💕 Cardiac tele isn’t for everybody- I work on a step down unit with a blend of tele and stroke patients
ITA……..unfortunately.
There has actually been zero evidence that he ever was hospitalized.
TMZ for God’s sake…..
The issue is they’re Kardashianing a royal wedding. The Middletons staged photo ops but it was done in a less obvious, in your face way. No money was involved (that we know of), they weren’t pictured googling their own son in law etc.
As for the royals who sold their wedding? There was a lot of criticism of that eventhough they did it for Hello (which is the Tatler of gossip mags) and they had a photoshoot without any fuss.
The Markles are online, being interviewed all over the place, getting paid by paparazzis and openly talking about their sister (something the Middletons have never done publicly) and they’re not even close to Meghan!
It’s just so tacky.
Whatever anyone’s opinion of Meghan you have to feel so sorry for her.
I suspect Mr Markle would have been told he is no longer welcome at the wedding and anywhere near the Queen.
I hope Meghan’s mother walks her down the aisle but if that is not allowed I could see William or Charles doing it.
“The Markles are online, being interviewed all over the place, getting paid by paparazzis and openly talking about their sister (something the Middletons have never done publicly)” .
Wrong – the extended family who were not invited to the DoLittles wedding was all over the media talking about them, one was even on morning TV in the lead up. Pippa and James were all over the place after the wedding, cashing in on it – in fact Pippa got an opportunity to be a US TV anchor off the back of it. The Middletons were just as trashy as the Markles.
They cashed in on it (obviously) but despite interviews about their businesses etc I don’t remember any of Kate’s siblings talking to the Press about their sister and brother in law.
I don’t think the Middletons are stellar people but you can’t compare them to the Markles.
I can’t believe anyone would even want to defend the Markles! Considering poor Meghan hasn’t spoken to most of them for over a decade she’s probably horrified right now.
The Spencers cashed in on Diana. Her brother worked as a royal correspondent in the U.S. during the years she was married to Prince Charles.
Oh, I missed the part where James wrote a letter to William saying not to marry Kate…or when Pippa tried to sell a book about her sister being a gold digger. I agree the Mildetons have used their royal connections and sold shot off the back of it…but they have absolutely not behaved like Markles siblings. Nope nope nope. Absolutely cannot compare the two families. The Middletons are smooth operators and practiced social climbers – the Markles come across as a bunch of fools with no respect whatsoever for their sister/daughter.
Diana’s brother is an utter pr*ck. He treated his sister (and his wives for that matter) like sh*t when she was alive, never saw and spent any time with his nephews and then suddenly made this appalling speech at her wedding and announced himself as the Spencer saviour who was going to rescue poor Wills and Harry from the clutches of the evil Windsors.
Then proceeded to have no contact whatsoever with said nephews and cashed in on his sister’s grave.
Even he wasn’t ranting about his sister in the runup to her wedding!
Mostly agree. But the Spencers have cashed in on Diana, as have her two sons to garner sympathy etc. The Middleton’s have most definitely cashed in. Sophie tried to sell access. So did Fergie. The Markle’s are just joining the club. The difference is the latter are heavy-handed and stupid; the Middleton’s hired a PR expert to manage their campaigns for Kate and Pippa. The difference is finesse but the goals are the same: greed for money and/or fame.
I agree that Daddy Markle is no longer welcome at the wedding, if indeed he ever was. Harry and Meghan can publicly wring their hands all they want, sure in the knowledge the man isn’t going to turn up. This is a game for everyone; the mugs are us in believing their shite.
Her poor dad, silly old fool. Manipulated by his daughter to stage photos with the paps. I don’t know why he would still be talking to her or taking her advice given the awful things she has been saying about meghan. I feel for meghan days before the wedding but also for her dad this is horrible for both of them.
Manipulative adult children do horrible things to elderly parents all the time.
Meh…. I don’t think Meghan was shocked or surprised at her dad staging pap pics for money, 99% of the paparazzi pictures we see on DM and other tabloids are staged . She’s worked in the entertainment industry she knows how it works. I think she’s hugely embarrassed that the tabloids had the balls to ‘out’ him and that he has made such a mess of the fallout.
There’s a difference between calling the paps ahead of a family stroll or meal out etc. like most celebs do, and setting up a ridiculous pap photoshoot, complete with ridiculous props and multiple locations.
This is reality TV casual walk on the beach +++ level of staging.
No-one is naive enough to think this could be a good idea.
I can’t believe people feel sorry for Meghan’s dad.
This.
I only feel sorry for her dad in the sense that he’s brought it all on himself and is now affected by the embarrassment of it all. And the daughter can spin it all she wants, but he did it for the money. The fact that he’s in touch with those trashy children as they are trashing his youngest daughter is also mind-blowing to me. I would disown them, like it appears the mother did, at least with regards to Samantha.
But those cringeworthy set-up pap shots aren’t a set-up pap stroll from his house. And he didn’t even have the decency to call his daughter after the news broke. She didn’t call him either, probably furious. He’s the dad and should have called her. He told TMZ he hadn’t spoken to her since the news broke. So what does he do? He tells TMZ he’s not going and starts this heart attack business, making it even more of a story.
Who I feel sorry for is Meghan right now.
I feel bad for her. This should be a wonderful time, and instead she’s dealing with all this nonsense. Her father and half siblings have tried to make it all about them, instead of being there for her. Maybe it’s best none of them are attending.
Anyone who calls up TMZ to chat is a no in my book.
I feel sorry for her too, she should be enjoying the lead up to the special day with her family, not in spite of her family. Thankfully her mother seems to be a reliable person in Meghan’s life.
For someone who is allegedly a private person Thomas Markle has an awful habit of falling headfirst into the media, of all the outlet he goes to TMZ, just smdh. Then the reports chest pains and calling TMZ to say he may go to the hospital, just go to the damn hospital, no calls to the media.
Yeah the hospital call is the one that really made me side eye him – what the hell, man?
You can’t choose your family, that’s for sure. I hope she and Harry are truly happy, and she is able to build a loving family with him (assuming they want children).
Also, God forbid her MOTHER- ie the parent who’s always had her back!!- walk her down the aisle. There’s that whole ´being a woman in the most ancient of patriarchal customs’ thing though :/
Frankly, if they were brave and forward-stepping enough to do it, I’d think them really modern and positive, especially for royals.
Why should her father ´do the honor’ if he’s had very little to do with her life in the first place, let alone allowing so much shame to be brought to the situation?
I couldn’t agree more! I’m getting married the week after Harry and Megan and both my parents will walk me down the aisle. They are divorced but very good friends and both had a hand in raising me so why should my dad get all the glory!
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Have a wonderful day.
Selling stupid pap pics is embarrassing, but when it gets out and you don’t own up to it and let your daughter down – that’s terribly weak. On the other hand, if he really did have a heart attack, I would be on a plane to see my Dad, wedding or not.
Time to just cut them all out of her life.
She already has, hasn’t she?
She hasn’t spoken to most of them for years and hadn’t even introduced her fiance to her father!
Didn’t stop them, though.
Her father is either a fool or clearly does not have his daughter’s best interest at heart. The step-siblings are the worse and could care less about her. I agree, sometimes, you have to cut out the people who keep hurting you, even family. Meghan should just wash her hands of those losers and move on. They will eventually fade away. This is a big day for her and the British so concentrate on what is important in your life. I feel bad for her but I think she is strong enough to pull it off with grace especially with Harry’s and their friend’s support.
Regardless of the reason, this is sad for her. I have a dad with a disconnect from us as well, and it hurts. There are a lot of reasons he is the way he is, and I respect that, but it hurts. Her dad should step up, period.
My father was an alcoholic & drug user…he constantly made promises & often failed to keep them. I loved him ( he is now deceased), but I had to keep him at a distance for my mental health…I never openly shared his condition because it was private…personal & sad…
Maybe he will still attempt to come without the press others knowing? I’d hate the scrutiny he should have had some sort of advice ages ago (PR company) and not from the idiot half sister/brother. Listen you will be approached by all sorts ignore do not engage, keep your head down and go on about your business. That would be me but maybe he’s so far removed from all that sort of stuff has no clue.
The man is a hollywood veteran. He wasn’t born yesterday. The copyright on this set of pictures is the same on all the pictures since February and earlier. He has been playing the public for much longer.
This last set was amateurish in set up, and as long as the DM doesn’t point out the copyright, they can all pretend it’s the first set he did.
The DM story was a reaction to KP missive to leave him alone in the same week that parliament had a debate on press freedom. Harry has sent letters to IPSO threatening to throw his weight behind parliamentary efforts to curb the press.
This outing was a dagger aimed at Harry.
Yes, I did think the Fail was using him to get a dig in with the RF. The Fail is a disgusting rag and should go the same way as News of the World.
But please can we give the ‘poor papa Markle got tricked’ narrative a break. Agree that the tabloids have their daggers out – but Markle is, as LAK said, is a hollywood veteran…and apart from that, he is a grown ass man who, despite having already seen how is kid is being treated by the tabloids AND her siblings, STILL took advice from one of those siblings to set up multiple photo ops.
There are no excuses for this shit and plenty of blame to go around – lots of it landing on papa ‘TMZ on speed dial’ Markle.
Something seems very shady about the “heart attack” Thomas Markle is alleged to have had six days ago. Considering how Meghan’s siblings want to trash her any chance they get, how come the news of her father’s heart attack is only coming out now? Shouldn’t they have been screaming to the world how heartless Meghan is by not flying to her father’s side or postponing the wedding until he gets better?
Now that it has come out the photos were staged, makes me question the heart attack
That family is just trash
He’s been quoted as saying he checked himself out of the hospital, because he wanted to be at the wedding (the subtext being he is a selfless individual that would put his daughter’s need ahead of his own health).
But there has been zero evidence he actually was in any hospital, either Mexico or State-Side.
So is that another lie?
Yes, apparently it is another lie….a heart attack…when a day later he is photographed going to McDonalds and Kentucky Fried in the same day, on his way BACK to Mexico, when everyone assumed he was on the first leg of his journey to London??!!
I do wonder if he had a flight booked and tickets paid for. Taking an international flight requires planning- valid passport, time to acclimatize to the different time zone, get over the jet lag. Not to mention, did he even have his morning suit made up?
Why wouldn’t the parents, who are so central to the wedding party, who still needs to meet dozens of future in-laws for the first time, not have been already in London?
This is the question we are all asking…..I have the impression that never had any intentions of showing up…
If the belief is that he never had intentions of showing up, then the next question is ….did he somehow successfully bamboozle his daughter and everyone else?
It’s inconceivable that Meghan wasn’t asked to verify her father’s expected arrival date, as the Palace or someone would have been making arrangements for picking him up, transporting him to wherever he was staying, making plans for wedding rehearsals, meeting the in-laws, and scores of other details, big and small, many of which would be predicated on knowing his scheduled arrival date.
Did he bamboozle everyone, or did Meghan?
Her parents aren’t necessary in the run up. There is no reason for them to be here for weeks leading up to things, even her mother with whom she so close. Showing up a few days before the wedding is plenty of time.
That may be, but then it’s not really about necessity, is it? When it comes down to it, the only “necessary” people would be the bride, groom and clergy. Everybody else is just staging.
A mother who has only one child, about to marry into the BRF in front of a world-wide audience is a pretty big deal. No one would find it odd if she came early to stay with her only child, but it IS odd that she is still in California mere days to the wedding.
Firstly, this set of photos wasn’t the first time he did this. If you look at the copyright of ALL papped pics of him going back to February, they have the same copyright. The DM outed this latest set, but they are taken by the same pap/ agency as every photo since February.
The DM is sticking it to Harry because KP sent out a missive last week about the media harassing her father which was a red flag to a bull so they outed him on this set of pictures for revenge because if Harry is going to send out missives insisting that the DM (and other media) is stalking her father in the week parliament had a vote about curbing press freedom, then they will reveal the collusion.
Everyone (the Markles + DM) is pretending this is the first set when the evidence of the others is written on the others as well, namely the copyright.
As for father, he should man up and go walk his daughter. This will not be the first time or the last time the press exposes something he would rather keep quiet. It’s not right, but that’s the world.
And that Samantha is an opportunist who is trying to hitch her wagon to her father so MM will cave and invite her to the wedding as his plus one, if not in her own right.
Again, i believe Harry and the Palace are a lot to blame for this. They are the professionals and should have tried to do damage control, make sure that the key players of the family are taken care of and supported through out the media storm before the ceremony.
100%.
As disgusting as the Markles are, coupled with a rabid UK media, Harry has handled this extremely poorly. Right from the start.
He poked both bears instead of managing them.
@LAK this just further proves that the joint PR team they have is not up to the job, he and Meghan really need to get their own and experienced team and/or return to his fathers PR team.
I think they all need to be under Charles’s team. That happened briefly, then they broke away again. Centralized scheduling, messaging, PR, all of it.
Strangest of all… if the ex-bf chef was locked down with a rumoured NDA, custody of the dogs and a pay out that supported his roast chicken franchise, then why no risk management of the loose cannon family members?
Agreed, Maria.F. Like I’ve said before, this is poor PR management on Kensington Palace’s part and they need to clear house and get in a more experienced PR/Communications team. The whole debacle is an embarrassment, that could have easily been avoided with more experienced staff at KP.
@Celeste I don’t think the chef got a payout. I think he’s just a decent person with his own career and reputation who has no interest in being messy or selling her out. Why silence Cory, but not her siblings or father? I think the people pushing that narrative believe she cheated on him with Harry, so there was a need to pay him off. I don’t think she cheated, I think she just moved on at record speed. He was a TV chef, he could easily put together a group of investors to fund his restaurant.
Ps: i just realised what i said about walking the daughter, and i take that part back. Mother should walk the daughter. That should have been the plan from the start.
I think that was the plan from the beginning, to walk with her mother but the press made a big deal about whether he would or not.
I’d be happy with mother, Charles, or Harry and Meghan together.
How embarrassing to cry foul about paparazzi stalking when you are feeding them photos of you. He is driving up his own demand. And while I believe Markle is a disappointment for following his racist, cruel daughter’s advice (someone who has been attacking Meghan in the press since the beginning), I totally believe this exposure has to do with the British press firing a warning shot at Harry. If he wants to censor them and shut them down, they will show him all the ways they can hurt him without needing official access. It makes me wonder how long before something hits William, or if they will finally get better PR in place that will work with the press, and manage the trashy tabloids.
This whole thing is a mess. I hate the Fail, they created this who!e controversy. And it is just dumb. The way the press and public are acting you would think the guy murdered a puppy.
This is just terribly sad. I despise the unsurprising way the media have handled this.
It’s a tremendous loss when a parent simply doesn’t have the capacity to be available and supportive for a child’s biggest life events. In contrast to her father, thank goodness Megan has a mother who appears to be steady and supportive.
My mother abruptly decided days before my wedding that she wouldn’t be coming. Given what a difficult person she was, it was for the best. But it was yet another heart-wrenching act out of so many from her.
I’m heartbroken for MM. This is the worst drama. And now she has to worry about him possibly dying over this drama. Their relationship will never recover.
I was explaining all this to my husband who doesn’t care at all, lol, but he said “it’s not like he sold horrible stories about her?! Why can’t he just issue an apology and go? Say he’ll donate the money? “. He couldn’t believe he would miss his own daughters wedding over that.
What Tom did was so, so wrong but the pics were dumb and clearly set up. The part that makes them bad is that he made money and KP was like don’t stalk the family please. Plus Harry hates paps because his Mom. So did the daily mail(or whoever) wait for a few days before the wedding on purpose?!?
I hate this for her. If he would have done this just to make his image better, with no money exchanged, would this still be so bad??
It’s amazing to me that Samantha Markle had that much influence over her father. By all accounts, she has always been a major piece of work and based on how she’s behaved towards Meghan, how could Thomas Markle let her get involved in any way? Unless it doesn’t bother him and he cared more about his own comfort and image?
What kind of horrible behavior has the father enabled over the years at Meghan’s expense if he could overlook what has happened over the last 6 months? It’s so emotionally negligent.
The money was the drawing point. The fact that he’s having close contact with his horrible daughter, who is trashing Meghan ad nauseum in the press selling stories, is the most depressing part of the whole story.
I believe that he has been colluding with Vonnie from the beginning…
ex. 1. When there was a question about him walking Meghan down the aisle: Vonnie appears on tv then pictures appear of him exercising…
My husband has had panic attacks that have had him so certain he was having a heart attack that we’ve gone to the ER. The doctor checked him out and wrote him a prescription for Valium. Maybe Pops Markle is in a similar situation, or maybe he’s just trying to duck and cover.
I will say, if your family has a history of disappointing you, that they would do it again on one of the biggest and most stressful days of your life probably comes as no surprise to Meghan.
He didn’t say he had a panic attack. Your husband was informed at the ER what it really was.
Mr. Markle claimed to have had a heart attack. I find it all suspicious.
Regardless of his actual medical condition, if he thought he was having another heart attack, he should have called for an ambulance, not TMZ. He’s a lying liar who cares not one bit about his youngest daughter.
Piers Morgan went after Samantha on Good Morning Britain today. He called her a vulture, cashing in on her loose connections to Meghan, threw back her previous statements during the interview. When Samantha denied what she said in the past , Piers fired back and told her we have all the transcripts. I think Piers is going to make it a mission to take down the money hungry Markles. A silver lining as if we’re.
I can’t stand Piers Morgan, but if he does take those vultures down, I’ll have a new respect for him.
Do not trust Piers Morgan
Good Morning Britain flew in the family members? It’s all a game to the media. They are not trying to take anyone down..
+1 The Markles are a gift that keeps on giving for the press.
Piers “She met Prince Harry and cut me off” Morgan lol. What a joke.
Here’s the problem with her dad selling these photos:
1. The photos were ridiculously embarrassing. Cheesy pap strolls are on another level.
2. He clearly doesn’t know how to play the game. It would be different if he had his eyes open but he didn’t.
3. Apparently he did the photos under the direction of the half-sister that causes him so much stress. So why listen to the sister Meghan CLEARLY has no relationship with and probably detests at this point.
That’s what gets me. We all know these guys play the game. Celebs do it on the regular. But get someone that KNOWS how to do it with discretion and won’t cause absolute embarrassment days out from the big day. Harry is putting out these statements about leaving him alone so of course they outed him. The narrative (while awful) is too good.
They should let her mom walk her AS SHE WANTED.
Her dad should pick up the phone and put on his big big pants and explain this to his daughter.
And let her enjoy the last days of freedom
Re: point 2. I have to agree with LAK he spend years working on HW, he knows how to play the game. The fact that he went straight to TMZ tells you all he needed to know.
The more information/stories that are coming about about Thomas Markle the more sympathy I loose. He has embarrassed himself more than Meghan.
Regardless of what the Fail says, the general public actually have a lot of sympathy for her and the situation with her family – i have many friends and colleagues who say they have trash like that in their families who would do the same if they were famous/wealthy.
I have zero sympathy for him too but yesterday people were still saying that he was naive and it wasn’t that bad.
It IS that bad to know your family will openly embarrass you and sell you down the river. As thirsty as the Middletons are they cooled it right before the wedding and frankly actually love their daughter. I have doubts that anyone but her mother loves her unconditionally.
Isn’t it at ALL possible that he – like plenty of other people – have watched TMZ occasionally before? I mean, my god. My dad watches it once in a while, and he is in no way adjacent to being Hollywood savvy. And working in tech in Hollywood isn’t quite the same as being a working actor. You don’t have people clambering to get a sound bite or photos from you. And I doubt that in his position he’d be hanging out with the people who NEED experience in HW hustle. I’m not saying he’s completely insulated from it in his career – but we can’t expect the same from him as we would from a working actor.
On top of that – he worked from 1979 to 1996. His credits consist mainly of General Hospital, Facts of Life, Married with Children. He wasn’t exactly working with the A listers of HW. And things weren’t AS rabid as it is now when it comes to celebrity culture and the instantaneous gratification of the internet.
I’m not saying that he should be written off because of that – but I also think people might be giving him more credit than he’s earned career wise. He doesn’t even have any credits on IMDB after ’96.
Yeah, I still think that what he did wasn’t nearly as bad as what her half siblings have done and continue to do. Also, I bet he’ll end up going to the wedding anyway.
Maybe now we’re getting a partial explanation as to why the Markle half siblings are problematic, they had/have a problematic father. He’s still on the young side of old, he’s not elderly, and his life circumstances seem like they should be different given his career so there is some kind of problem in character, health, relationship behavior or all of the above. I wish Meghan hadn’t been pressured to invite him whether for protocol or sentiment or the vain wish he’d be different. He’s been messy a long time and he is gonna stay messy. Have to hope Harry doesn’t let her down.
This whole situation is MESSY! That said, it was also pretty predictable. You don’t have to be a PR expert to know that once Harry got engaged, that the tabloids and paps were going to scrutinize and dissect her family background. They hit the jackpot with this group. The half-siblings are the worst of the lot. But someone at KP’s PR should have briefed Meghan and gotten briefed on her family background. It took the British tabloids no time at all to uncover the family divisions and the fact that both Doria and Thomas Markle had (separately) filed for bankruptcy.
Markle, Sr. is 73, not in great health and living in a small town in Mexico – of course the paps were going to get to him.
So KP should have given Meghan’s parents some media advice — especially the Dad since he’s been living in Mexico and hasn’t seen her for months or met Harry. KP, Meghan or someone should have told Thomas Markle to avoid all paps and stunting like the plague. With a little coaching this mess with Thomas Markle could have been avoided.
I feel sorry for Meghan and I feel sorry for her father. What he did was tacky and amateurish, yes. But he didn’t sell Meghan out by selling photos or stories about her. I don’t think he’s malicious or greedy. He just wanted to be left alone. Unlike his trashy son & daughter, he didn’t court the media. Markle, Sr.’s timing in pulling out of the wedding couldn’t be worse. It’s turned into a major distraction and front page news story. Thank you DM — who ran the pics and paid the for them! Nothing like manufacturing your own drama.
God forbid Thomas Markle experiences a major health issue or heart attack for real — this week right before the wedding. The press will turn on Meghan like jackals for being uncaring. This is a lose-lose situation.
It is pretty clear that they DID do that with Doria. Doria had a pre-written statement that was handed out to the press after the engagement and had security. But Doria also faced racist threats too.
At the time of the engagement, the media did not know Tom Markle’s Sr’s address. His brother sold him out a couple of weeks later to the media.
JMO, but I think KP tried to work with Markle Sr and he turned them down out of pride or whatever. If KP had tried to pay the siblings off? The media would have gone bonkers. These siblings have been awful since the beginning and the media has lapped it up. There was very little KP could have done about them. The amount of money the siblings would have demanded to shut up would have been insane and even then, I do not think for one second it would have stopped them.
IMO the thrill for these siblings is not the money, it is that they get to bully their sister. The black sister they have hated since she was born, in Sam’s case. The media is giving them the platform and its frankly disgusting. It is absolutely abusive.
Tom Markle is a selfish old man. He sold pics, which was bad enough, but then to pull out because he’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to face Doria, Meghan and the BRF. Give me a break. Put on your big boy panties and do right by Meghan. And I don’t see why people are blaming Harry either for this. Newsflash: Tom is an American and a grown ass man. He doesn’t have to be brought to heel by the Firm. Harry nor the Queen can control any of the Markles. Tom Sr and the rest of the clan need to have a modicum of human decency not to use Meghan and Harry for fame & money. The tabloids are shit-stirrers. They live for trashy people and ridiculous stories to publish. Add in Meghan’s race and it was always going to be a free for all.
I hope Doria or Charles walks Meghan down the aisle. I hope she puts her family and their dysfunction behind her and concentrates on the new life she’s building in the UK and with Harry. Focus on the good.
He apparently doesn’t have any big boy pants, or he would certainly not treat Meghan this shabbily
Oh FFS. eyeroll
This is really sad. And I don’t even like Meghan M.
Anyway, I wish she could have convinced him to come. Howevee if he has sudden chest problem this close to wedding, He probably will not be allowed.
As for media and sting and all: boo. Sleazy tabs doing sleazy tab thingi.
Saw Samantha Markle being interviewed yesterday. She took responsibility for urging her father to stage these pics. She said she wasn’t going to the wedding due to being confined to a wheelchair and hadn’t attended Meghan’s first wedding for the same reason.
My question is were any of the Markles at her first wedding? Apparently Thomas Markle didn’t attend either. Maybe the problems with her Dad predate this latest string of events, and if so maybe she didn’t really want him at this wedding but was advised it would look better if he attended. I’m thinking the guy has problems either physically,mentally or both.
We never saw him papped with his daughter in Toronto,so I wonder if he ever visited. Something going on there, more than just this.
Hmmmmmm…. makes me wonder if he was ever actually invited?!?!
Or maybe he was a last minute add on due to guilt?
If you were Meghan, would you want him there? I wouldn’t.
I get the feeling that Mr Markle had no intention of traveling to England for the wedding. He played the part and eventually found a way out.
Meghan’s Mom can walk her into that church or Meghan can do it alone.
I agree. It just wasn’t in him to do it. Looong flights are exhausting for the old and dangerous die to stroke. It’s not like he’s Mr health and wellness. Then the sheer exhaustion of the media circus and dressing up and being presented around. Horrid. It is a lot to ask of anyone. I do not blame him one single bit for selling photos. He lives on a pension and his life has been turned upside down, with his privacy lost. Why shouldn’t he profit when everyone else does? He can probably live for years on that money and won’t have to ask Meghan, who now has it made, dor money. Everyone is profiteering here.
Do you really think Meghan is profiting from her father’s selfishness? Do you really think it’s OK that he used his daughter’s very public wedding to make some money for himself with no thought to how it would make her feel?
Why shouldn’t he profit?! Because it’s profit at the expense of his daughter, that’s why. How ridiculous, it’s a big deal to dress up and be present at his own daughters wedding, really? If he couldn’t handle it then he should have been honest from the beginning, that way H&M could’ve planned for it. Now the man is calling up TMZ and talking about chest pains ffs. I believe he’s known he was never going, but he wouldn’t have been able to turn that into a money making story for the paps, so he lied! Despicable.
On top of that it now comes out that he’s been in touch with, and taking advice from, that awful Samantha this entire time. The same woman who has been selling her own sister out to the highest bidder. Those Markle kids are awful and now we know why they’ve both gone unchecked by their father, he was doing the same damn thing. Markle Sr didn’t even have the decency to be open about it like his kids. Why is a man who isn’t even famous so concerned about how the British press is presenting him? All of the Markles are trash except for Meghan, and she won’t be a Markle much longer. They can rot.
I haven’t read much of the Fail coverage, but did check out some comments today. There is speculation he was never intended to walk her down the aisle. I doubt this was an orchestrated effort, though. He simply sounds like someone without a lot of backbone or good judgment.
Thomas has proven that not only is he unreliable to Meghan, but is influenced by his other children. I’m sure the sister has already told him how much money he could make by getting inside pictures at the wedding. That’s why this staging for money bothers me so much. It shows that she has to keep her father at arms length if she wants to preserve her and Harry’s privacy. Yes, the Middletons could write a book on how to become a “celebrity” off marrying into the BRF, however, I have no doubt that Kate had no worry about her family going too far and selling her out. The risk is there for Meghan. Meghan is being scrutinized for every little thing and you would think both her parents would be the ones to just have her back for a week. I’m glad Doria and her side of the family have been silently supportive. As a black person, I’m just glad the tabloids can’t blame the black side of Meghan’s family for all this hoopla.
As a Brit, I’m well familiar with the tactics of British tabloids. However, this shambolic turn of events cannot be laid at their feet. The Markle family have comported themselves badly from the outset and there is a vast difference between pap strolls and yakking non-stop to anyone that will listen or stick a microphone in your face. The engagement and subsequent events were rolled out too quickly and it was too much adjustment, too quickly. Yes, yes I know that Meghan is a mature actress and she is comfortable in the spotlight, blah blah. But anyone entering that family will have difficulty. The Markle parents should have been in the UK ages ago, away from cameras, prepping for the big day. That her dad was still wandering around Mexico as recently as yesterday, where he could be followed and got at, is a shambles. Sorry, but there it is.
Truth. It’s strange that Meghan, Harry and the whole KP / BRF establishment did not get in front of this better – or at all, from the looks of it.
I don’t think Meghan ever wanted him at her wedding. I think he’s grabbing cash when he can from the photos and TMZ chats, then going on benders. No one cares about this loser.
I just feel bad for Meghan. That’s about as high profile as a wedding gets and no one wants to look like their family is a bag of hammers.
Thomas Markle is entirely to blame for this particular mess.
However, the other story is that William and Harry can’t run a PR machine to save their souls. Once it was announced that he would be walking her down the aisle, someone from KP should have been schmoozing this man along. Assigned to him. Talking to him periodically, getting him on a first class flight at least 2 weeks ago, setting him up in some fancy remote hotel and giving him daily advice on how to act. Doria, too, although she has character and knows how to behave. But she deserves a spa week or two in the lead up.
I don’t blame Meghan at all for this. She had been silent and dignified.
Definitely. Although I do think Meghan has enough savvy to equal if not surpass KP’s bumbling PR efforts… plus has a priori experience with her family members and therefore should have anticipated some risks such as her parents getting hounded by paps at the least. Rather than issuing a media request to leave them alone, why would she not be inclined to send handlers, send a jet, book a suite and put her arms around the situation proactively as you suggest, and yes, give her mom some spa time before the global media circus ensues. That part I think is on Meghan every bit as much as Harry and KP.
I feel for Meghan… her father did a terrible thing. He violated her trust and deeply embarrassed her. He pretty much gave ammunition to the British tabloid. I scanned the comments section on other sites and they were vicious towards Meghan even when this is not her fault. She is not responsible for what her family does.
Did anyone see the pictures of her (Meghan) extended family arriving in London? They were not even invited… this is going to be a mess.
I saw the pics of her extended family arriving in London. They have had no communication with Meghan in two decades. And yet, they are special correspondents providing their “insight” on the wedding for Good Morning Britain. What an utterly awful bunch!
In a way Meghan’s father’s betrayal lays the groundwork for her not having to be bothered with him or his children ever again. M didn’t have to cut them off-they did it themselves.
My issue with him is that he NEVER told his kids to shut up about M. He let them continually trash her and never once said it was wrong. He can run to TMZ when he wants but couldn’t run to them to protect his daughter.
I don’t feel sorry for him at all. Now we see exactly where his kids get it from.
What could he possibly say to his kids when he was doing something similar though? He wasn’t talking but he was setting up pap strolls as far back as February. He’s no better and they’d have probably called him out on his hypocrisy.
I question her sense of judgement somewhat. Is this the first she is realizing the family would be a potential “problem”? Her father seems like something mental is going on. Perhaps she should have paid him a visit, brought him to England a while ago and spent some time with him. If he would have been resistant to this, then I would have excluded him from the wedding.
Given what we’re seeing from him? He would have sold everything she said to a tabloid.
Yep! It’s best he was never let into the inner circle. He’d probably have been wired up like a bumbling spy.
I question yours somewhat, using mental gymnastics to put this grown man’s actions on Megan’s shoulders some kind of way. Couching it in concern his presumed mental health even more so.
Really Diane? LOL. It takes “mental gymnastics” to figure out that this reclusive, 73 yr old loner may have some type of dementia or something? It doesn’t excuse him, he’s awful, but obviously she hasn’t had close contact with him either, and if she wanted him included that was something she should have taken care of.
Let’s cut to the chase…he and his other kids are tacky idiots and it reflects poorly on her genetics.
WOW – I can think of other people who used genetics against people…
This. The Third Reich and the eugenicists come to mind.
Look up Habsburg jaw, King Tut, and hemophilia re. royal genetics.
Actions are a choice. It’s got nothing to do with genetics. Do you even know what you’re talking about? SMH
Yeah, poor royals. Now they’re going to have tacky little Harrys running around KP because their genes are so tacky–because of their mom, you know. But, I guess they’ll fit right in with the other tacky little kids that are related to Uncle G, the wife-beating cocaine fiend and Uncle E, the pedos’ best friend, or even the little Matthews when they come to visit, running around with their granddaddy’s predator genes. What is the royal family coming to?!
edited, meant Uncle A (not Uncle E). Oh, and I forgot to mention Uncle G’s side-business with the “ladies”. That Gary, what a fixer.
I could forgive you for being dumb enough to believe such a thing if you atleast had the good sense to recognise that it is Harry’s bloodline, full of violent, inbred half-wits, that’s the ‘inferior’ of the two.
Ever get the feeling you are being told one thing and actually something completely different is going on behind the scenes. This whole thing stinks of PR spin. She never wanted him there and I doubt she has been ‘begging’ for him to attend
With all that stretching, have you considered yoga?
No, Meghan Markle did not want this to happen and she didn’t mastermind this behind the scenes for sympathy votes.
So much rotting in the state of Denmark. I do agree that there are so many lies and PR facades at work here. It is quite possible MM never did want her father there as he wasn’t at her first wedding either – and there is nothing wrong with that other than a normal dysfunctional family relationship, lol. So I think it is entirely possible he was never invited at all or he has been uninvited and this has been a whole long drama of shenanigans on tom markle’s part and PR mismanagement on KP’s part.
I hope that this is just a red herring to get the press off his back so he can quietly fly over for the wedding.
My husband does the exact same job on a television show as Mr. Markle did on “Married” and other shows. Granted, I’m biased, but it’s hard to imagine doing that job without being a) reasonably socially aware and b) pretty smart. It’s a competitive field, and if you’re _not_ performing at a high level, you don’t get hired on major network shows. Period. So it seems reasonable to assume that whatever problems he’s having have not always been present, since at one point he was clearly somewhat capable.
Now this MFer is telling TMZ (yes again TMZ!) that he thought it over and that WILL go to the wedding after all because “it’s history.” Not because of love for his daughter (who’s called him but who he hasn’t call back and is talking to her though TMZ!) but because of “history.”
Look, I know Meghan loves him, but Thomas Markle Sr. sounds like a gaslighter of the highest order. Either that, or he’s just compelty unstable. If he actually DOES make it to the wedding, I hope Charles, the Queen and especially Doria chew him a new one.
I just posted this up thread— could there be any more drama! She should have just done that thing that Japanese people do where if they have an undesirable family, they hire actors to pretend to be the family for purposes of the wedding…
Really…loool! The Japanese!
omg really? I never heard of that. I love that idea. lol
so awesome! Lol … what a smart idea…
in other (bad) news tho …
if dad doesn’t get his shite together, the only time he’s gonna wear that new suit is to his own funeral.
no bueno.
I actually just recently read a whole article about this renting fake family members thing in Japan! I forget where but it’s a real thing. You can rent fake husbands, fake parents, fake children… some people do it to get their parents’ off their back about being single. Some do it because their spouse has passed away. It was so mind boggling to read!
This poor woman, her father sounds like the worst. We all have “those” family members, mercifully mine aren’t calling TMZ. I hope she can just enjoy her day and let her dad’s messy family go stew somewhere else.
Samantha set this whole thing up to cause more trouble and try to either stop the wedding or at least ruin it for Meaghan. She also figured it was a way to stop her father from attending. My guess is that he has some kind of mental problem and Samantha knew she could manipulate him. It’s all so sad. She’s evil.
It’s just a bunch of noise at this point. But come Saturday no one is going to be thinking about the markels. It’s going to be about meghans dress, the tiara and the wedding itself.
OMG he changed his mind again and now he’s walking her down the aisle:( Courtesy of TMZ and People gossip. STop talking!!!
Oh, NOW he is coming! Because it’s the “greatest moment in history”?! What the…
Latest News! Mr Markle now says he wants to come………
If his health allows,he said. Which gives him an out and makes him look like less of a jerk. It’s too late in any case. I’m sure that it’s already been decided who will walk down with her. Personally I hope it’s Harry because this whole giving away business sounds archaic to me.
Honestly sounds like a normal family to me. We all have family drama…the Markle’s just have the disadvantage of it being super public (some of it is their own doing of course).
Agree, it makes it easier to relate to Meghan. It’s a normal family drama. Not like the Middletons who want to paint a picture perfect family.
Nope
TMZ is now saying he’s changed his mind after he spoke to Meghan and said ‘This is a historic moment. I’d like to be a part of history..’. Says his heart has been badly damaged from his heart attack last week and might not be able to go for medical reasons.
There is something very fishy going on here – I still think he won’t do it and this is all to save face and repair the damage that his statements caused yesterday.
Actually, he DIDN’T speak to her. She’s called him, but TMZ said he didn’t call her back. Just like us, she’s finding out about this though TMZ. Just like how she found out he original had decided not to go.
Ugh her father is looking more and more like her half siblings. He’s not even talking to her, hes talking to TMZ. KP needs to come out and say either megan is walking herself or someone else and be done with her shitty father already.
I agree with Sara L above that Royal reps handled this very poorly.
M’s father is a recluse living as an expat surrounded by people who admit they don’t know him. He sounds and looks like he could be a severely depressed person who doesn’t have the financial and emotional means to travel to England, participate in an event where he will be in the cross hairs of the international media. As for his staged photo ops for money, he made a big, embarrassing mistake. He just seems so out of his depth in this experience.
@Indiana Joanna – I’m thinking the Royal reps were doing what H&M wanted at first and were acting on their wishes. Perhaps H&M really underestimated the extent of the potential damage and thought they could control the media content the way they thought they could control the media with that threatening letter in fall 2016. I think H&M were maybe out of their depth. It’s not as if the Royal reps could really do or say anything that H&M would instantly contradict.
I think we’ll know more when the Palace responds to Father Markle’s latest PR stunt (the U-Turn on the wedding complete with whining about his health) and see what the result of the discussion between Meghan and the Lord Chamberlain’s office was.
DM is reporting he wants to attend after all. Says he doesn’t want to miss this moment in history.
As a daughter, I would have a major problem hearing that- so supporting me is not your priority – you don’t want to miss your moment in history.
Those who were waiting for the other shoe to drop, is this it?
If he purposely set out to embarrass her, he’s doing a fine job.
@Canadian Becks – -o-m-g. He has to stop this, he is making a fool of the royal family and that cannot be doing his daughter’s entrance into it any favors.
I seem to remember that initially H&M insisted that they would do their own PR “their” way. I wonder if they made a mistake and should have listened to more experienced hands.
I just saw something on Reuters saying that a new YouGov poll says two-thirds of Britons have no interest in the wedding, and an exchange on Twitter between an entity called “Royal Reporter” (who I think is Richard Palmer but don’t quote me because I’m kind of confused about who these people are) and someone called Mark Cuthbert, another journalist, said that despite the claim that 5,000 journalists had been “accredited” spaces were being taken down due to lack of “numbers”. Cuthbert said he hadn’t heard or seen anything like an accreditation process, but that foreign broadcasters were being asked “astronomical sums” to build special studios, and those might be the ones pulling out. Palmer’s name sounds vaguely familiar but Cuthbert’s doesn’t.
And, Andrew Morton apparently collapsed while touting his other book about Wallis Simpson this morning on TV and had to be rushed to the hospital.
I am starting to feel really weird about all this – like I’m in the Fun House with mirrors at Coney Island or something.
Link to YouGov poll on British interest in wedding:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-royals-wedding-poll/two-thirds-of-brits-not-interested-in-royal-wedding
To be fair it’s a minor royal wedding on a saturday.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/royal-wedding-street-parties-meghan-markle-prince-harry-not-interested-yougov-poll-will-kate-a8352386.html
Interesting. Not only are 66% of the British NOT interested in the wedding, 57% want the royals to pay for the security, also. I think it isn’t just tumblr folks and racists who resent paying $30 million so Harry and Meghan can have a carriage ride and wave to the plebes.
I was just coming to comment. He (1) doesn’t want to miss history and (2) walk his daughter down the aisle. Way to set your priorities. History should have nothing to do with this. The only thing it should be about is supporting your daughter, regardless of your role. And, seriously, KP has to know that freaking TMZ now has an inside track on all the private plans thanks to him.
This entire debacle is sadly going to be fodder for MM naysayers. I can see their nods and almost hear the I-told-ya-so’s echoing across the pond. Ugh.
I blame the Royals family, they should’ve help her father with some protection like her mother is protected by bodyguards pay by Harry. They should also provide him some pr advise, he was trying to show British people with those pictures a positive side of him but it backfired on him without the help of the Royals family. The man was under a lot of pressure.
Talk your child before or instead of talking to the press especially the tabloids. How hard is that? It’s common sense and decency, which her mother has had no problems exhibiting so far.
Thank you Diane. As I said, him calling and talking to TMZ (now THREE TIMES at least) shows what kinds of person he is IMO. Not talking to TMZ and instead calling you *daughter* is basic common sense. Doria somehow didn’t feel the need and had the common sense not to talk to her daughter though TM-f’ing-Z.
As someone below said, he did a great job NOT talking to any press for months. He knew what to do before now just fine.
Maybe MM is not taking her father’s calls. We only ever see the tip of the iceberg. Or the illusion of an iceberg.
@CynicalCeleste except we know Meghan has been calling him because Thomas (though TMZ!) said as much. And said HE hasn’t called HER back.
It’s pretty hard to believe anything he says at this point.
@CynicalCeleste . . . you know what? You’re right. I actually can’t argue with that.
@Diane – ITA with everything you and the posters who replied to you said. All his communication is going through TMZ, is it likely he’s not being paid for every stir of the pot he’s giving them? So he’s still making money off Meghan? I sure hope she’s not taking his calls – and I sure hope that being disinvited he doesn’t show up on one of the UK news outlets along with the rest of the relatives being paid another wad to talk about his daughter.
How hard is it to just shut the f*ck up? Like, that’s all that is required here – and he was doing a stellar job of it until very recently. Don’t talk to the press. Simples.
I agree with this totally—all I can think is he is getting paid by TMZ now and that has opened up a new and more lucrative line of credit than he got from those pap pix
Oh goodness he really needs to stop talking to the media about his plans and changing his mind every day. It’s better for everyone if he stays home in mexico.
I have to agree with you Lindy. As much as Meghan might have wanted him there and to have him walk her down the aisle, I really think it would be better and not as much of a distraction if he just stayed away. And honestly, if it was me with all this back and forth and indecision he’s putting her through I would wash my hands of him and be done with it but then I’m kind of cold hearted like that 🙂 And please would someone stop him from using TMZ as his mouthpiece!!
I hope he can go to the wedding. Even with all this crap I think Meg and Harry still want him to come. Having a heart attack is no joke so I assume if he comes he’s cleared to fly. I would think they’ve spoken by this point. Mom is there thank goodness.
Just read he is NOT coming. He is having surgery tomorrow, while Meghan prepares for her wedding. I wonder if she will fly to be with him during surgery? I would.
I thought he had a “heart attack” though (was later seen dining on KFC). But sure, this guy is functioning on all cylinders…lol.
I’m sure TMZ will gladly fly him to London…
Bottom line – TM is just stupid. He was led astray by his toxic older daughter. I’m sure stuff like this has been going on for years and Megan had to distance herself for her sanity. That whole side is so entitled and gross. They all voted for Trump, would put money on it.
The family has made this wedding about themselves and not about who it’s really about. They are all cashing in on her good fortune. If they really cared about her they would just STFU, be they obviously don’t. And they’re all wondering why they didn’t get an invite. I could totally see my father’s side of the family selling me out.
Meghan’s family is doing a fine job of making sure that her wedding day is all about everything but her, eh?
Totally agree with you. Samantha claims Meagan is narcissistic but she’s the one. On top of it she’s a bitter pill.
This guy seems like a real piece of work. He said something about not wanting to miss this moment in history and that he’d like to be a part of history – as opposed to not wanting to miss this moment in his daughter’s life or wanting to be a part of her wedding. I hope he just misspoke and that he really does care more about what this all means to his daughter rather than just wanting to be a part of history.
So now he is traveling to England for the wedding…after having a heart attack…
No, just no. He needs to stay home.
It’s fun to watch a sexist tradition blowing up in their faces.
They should have invited her mother (the parent to whom she is closer) to walk her down the aisle.
My dad was threatening to boycott the wedding up to the morning of the event. I wish I’d let him.
Hold the Press!!!! Thomas now IS going to Royal Wedding. IF he is cleared by the drs. omgosh.
Watch him bring Samantha as he is “too ill” to attend alone. He needs to just stay home.
she has MS and is in a wheelchair. he can’t bring her to help him as she needs help herself.
Well now he WANTS to go so he doesn’t miss a historical moment.
And with that…if I were MM I would be DONE with this guy.
He is officially a famewhore.
He sounds so disconnected from her. He doesn’t seem to care about Megan the way a real father should. Being married twice tells me she is looking to create the stable family unit she never had.
How does one choose among your children who are not a united family? It must be extremely stressful to try to maintain a relationship with each one when they are so evidently divided. His youngest child wants him to be present for her wedding, but does not want to include toxic siblings and their scattered offspring. I just hope that he can find peace within himself so that he does the right thing and that his daughter who is getting ready for one of the biggest days of her life can start her new life with hope and joy.
He obviously doesn’t want to foot the bill for the wedding.
LOL!
How do we know he actually called them first instead of Meghan? We dont know what he did or ddidntt do we are just going by what the press writes, I wouldnt believe anything till the day of the wedding I just hope Meghan wll have her dad there if she truly wants him there. if TMz or any media outlets have been following her dad and he has been truly sent to the hospital he wouldnt even to say anything, I would think they would put two and two together, heck I wouldnt put it pass the press to follow him to the hospital given the chance, just a thought
It’s been established that he lied about being hospitalized for a heart attack and checking himself out, no? They’ve got a very detailed timeline of his recent activities and he never left his house on the days in question.
So if he can lie so brazenly about things that are 100% disprovable, you gotta wonder if anything he says can be believed.
What a selfish POS. Harry, what did you get yourself into?? LOL Although, the royals are equally as dysfunctional so Meghan and her family will fit right in.
Perhaps Jason didn’t do anything more to avoid this train wreck bc it makes William and Kate look like the good, stable ones…
@DP – Well, William and Kate are stable, if uninspiring. I think they learned from Diana and Fergie that bland stability is maybe more desirable in the long run than glamor and excitement. It’s back to the “celebrity” thing. And Kate did keep her mouth shut, it must be said, for all that long time, she never once talked about him and I don’t doubt she had offers of fortunes to do so during those 8 years. Her discretion is probably one of the things that got her the prize – you didn’t see bananas spooning on Instagram accounts from her!
And it’s no use saying the royals are screw-ups too, because they have more latitude: they are already part of – in fact, the pinnacle of – the entrenched British establishment, with huge influence, status, and history behind them. And (I can’t figure out why sometimes) the British seem to want to keep them. Diana was a screw-up in many ways and she was adored. Meghan is in a different position: she’s marrying in after barely a year of relationship from way outside and is just not on the same footing with either the British people or the establishment, her footing is far less firm. So this is a bad start.
@Violet -“you didn’t see bananas spooning on Instagram accounts from her!” – lol! The writers on this blog!
I think though she was safe, simply because at that time Harry was already looking to get married and she is a very good match on many points. Aside from her garbage of a family.
Guess you missed the kate gf years. Because while there was no Instagram posts….because social media didn’t exist then… there were plenty of pap strolls etc.
^ Meghan did pap strolls too sooo…
Even if that were true, both Meghan and Harry have been in this game a long time. It’s not like they need Jason to ask her father to show some discretion. They have to know how bad the optics of this are. This was handled so poorly, I almost wonder if they were advised NOT to intervene. Or maybe her dad just completely went rogue and ignored her wishes.
It reminds me of her former agent saying that when they first started dating and she tried to explain to Meghan how intense the scrutiny would be, Meghan held up her hand and said “I don’t want to hear any negativity.” When the story about her Dad being in on the photo ops first dropped, Us Weekly or People had quotes about how she was just trying to relax and enjoy this time before her wedding. It’s almost like she checks out when faced with potential issues. If that is the case, maybe that is why she did not put a stop to her dad’s photo ops. Maybe she subscribes to an ignorance is bliss way of thinking.
Um.. Will and Kate have a stable, loving family.
For the folks who would like to know, once and for all, if there TRULY were plans for him to attend the wedding, the test must surely be:
Did Thomas have a morning coat with tails, or at the very least, a new suit, made for him? He should already have one by now, no?
Given her years of mingling with people of means, she knows how crucial dressing for the occasion is…. I would not find it credible that she would leave that detail up to him, living where he does. Mexico is not like Hong Kong, the fashion and brand capital of the Orient, where there is a long tradition of skilled bespoke tailors plying their trade around every corner.
Yes it is what I find very surprising in the midst of this unfortunate mess. I cant imagine the level of stress this must be for Meghan. Mr. Markle has been living a quiet, reclusive life for years and has kept a very casual style, to say the least. How is is possible that he hasn’t been flown earlier to England for 1. serious rehearsals and a smoother mental transition into this world that is as farther apart as can be to his current one 2. being properly fitted to look perfectly styled for walking his soon-to-be royal daughter down the aisle under the watchful eyes of millions of people. Even if there hadn’t been this mess, flying out only now would seems to be quite last minute? The Royal Family likes precision and perfection in these events. How do you achieve this with a reclusive man who isnt used to crowds anymore, definitely not the public eye, and hasnt probably worn a suit for years.
Thomas Markle obviously suffers from depression and other health ailments. It is quite doubtful that they would have been able to convince him to come early. I am of the mindset that when the reality of the event was coming soon he went into a full blown panic attack and bailed. When I suffered from panic attacks I would say I would go somewhere and then back out. The heart condition is a convenient excuse.
What a mess!
I have to admit I find this whole mess wildly entertaining!
E! News on Instagram just reported he decided to go to ‘be a part of history’….what about just being there for your daughter?? Wonder if this is true?! He needs to call MM and say ‘if you want me there, I’m there.’ This should be her call, not his.
Gonna lose my job at this rate . . . I just want to say last thing that I am wondering if there is method behind the Markle’s madness – that is, if this whole “trashy family” mess with the reverses and u-turns, etc., is a strategy to accomplish something, not just get some money. What, in the long term, do they get out of it? They surely can’t think they can stop the marriage – at least, her father can’t think that, because his little dance started way too close to the day, stopping it is unthinkable. Are they trying to see that she limps into the public eye with a tainted reputation? Are they trying to undermine her position with the royal family just as she gets in? I just keep wondering if there is some real plan here that I can’t see – or are they just trash and I’m giving them too much credit?!
I think you are giving them way too much credit. Meghan is obviously bright if she went to Northwestern, but her siblings and her dad seem to have below average intelligence to me. The siblings probably hold a lot of residual resentment towards Meghan. Their dad went off and started a new family and his new daughter ended up famous and wealthy. And she wanted nothing to do with them. I think it really is that simple. They have probably wanted to knock her down a peg for a long time. This is just me speculating, but I’m guessing at least one of them has hit up Meghan for money in the past. This is them finally getting to leech off their successful little sister and take swipes at her for making them feel less than.
All of this. I completely agree with your assessment of the siblings motives.
I totally agree with you. Piers Morgan trashed Samantha today (poetic justice).
So he is NOT coming again 🙂 Oy vey :)) This is very entertaining.
Her dad should not have been shamed for doing something that Pippa did for a year.
Now he is having heart surgery tomorrow, claiming it’s due to the letter his son wrote to Harry to run.
What a mess. Just a total mess.
This whole sitch is making me feel a little nauseous and it has nothing to do with me. I can’t imagine.
I’m not going to be shocked in the least…I have a feeling the wedding is going to be “postponed”.
Doubt it. The royal family aren’t going to let that happen because someone like her dad is playing games. The amount of time and money being spent for Saturday? The British public aren’t going to play that game.
Once this train starts, it doesn’t stop. The wedding is happening, no matter what.
OMG! Make up your damn mind already! Either go the wedding or don’t. Be present in her life or don’t. Take stage photos or don’t. But he needs to tell his older daughter to f**k off because she put in him in this mess to begin with. And someone needs to take his phone from him so he can stop calling TMZ.
Preach!!
Alright, forget Papa Markle, Meghan’s Mother is seemingly on her way to England. Let’s get this show/wedding underway…
Do you guys think they’ll be a photo op, of Megan and her Mom, Friday night, as Meghan and her Mom enter the Hotel? That would be great!!!
Kate, Pippa and Carol offered up such a photo op the night before Kate’s wedding!
Daily Mail is also reporting that none of the Queen’s cousins children and grandchildren have been invited.
Yes and it sounds like they’re PISSED about it!
This is a true cinderella story, she is being plucked from the ashes of this terrible family and marrying her prince! I am sure once she puts on the beautiful dress and her mother arrives, she will be ok. It’s just a wedding, most weddings are a sh*tshow anyway. That’s why everyone gets drunk.
Lol
He’s now going to undergo heart surgery I guess this week. Heart surgery on a 72-year-old man, who is obese, not in good heath, in a hospital in Mexico? I don’t know. I’m getting a bad feeling. Are none of his children concerned? I would want to find out the credentials of the cardiac surgeon and the hospital rating, and if questionable, set him up with a second opinion with someone more reputable or a hospital more reputable to have it done in.
Best comment! And most seriously yes, she will appear at the church, stunning in a gorgeous dress, her beautiful mother by her side and all this will be forgotten in an instant. My guess is that since the beginning of the Markle mess she just chose to keep the show on, and made sure to constantly present a perfect image that would bury the mess. The images will stay, the mess will go away. A little bit like Ivanka sorry for comparison. Opposing beautiful images to whatever else is going on. Maybe it’s smart. It’s the long game.
LMAO!!
If Meg wants her father there and he can travel then go. It’s a mess yes but so what. She should do what she wants. Shit happens, you make adjustments and keep it moving. Who cares what ppl think screw them. I am sure Harry’s family will be nothing but kind, welcoming and generous to her dad. As it should be.
Having a stint put in requires down time because it is put in through the groin. He will have a HUGE bruise like a melon on his upper thigh.
He is obviously very sickly and considering his age is not going to bounce back like the day of the stint but i also dont think he just had a heart attack. Maybe he was having a panick attack or chest pain/angina but i dont believe the heart attack story.
The entire engagement must have been so stressful for Meghan’s parents.
I wish doria would have colored her hair and got a fresh hair do. Shoulda tried harder unless there are royal hairstylists that will be working on her
It’s stent, not stint.. Mr. Markle is in some trouble. Now it’s being reported he is in the hospital, scheduled for surgery tomorrow, Wednesday. Then we will probably know what’s what . He won’t be in the Wedding , now “probably”. Better he is being properly cared for, than dealing with a transatlantic flight (from Mexico) dealing with the insane press, and going through that (now it’s become) a nightmare of a Royal Wedding.
I feel so sorry for her that her family is messy. I’m glad Piers Morgan checked Samantha. By Samantha’s present actions I’m sure she did something to Meagan for her to stop speaking to her. I would have disowned her as well. I could totally see my father’s side selling me out as well. They are all about the coins.
Well, well, well, Meghans Dad is having heart surgery today and will not be coming to the wedding. Could it be that this “cold-hearted” 36! year old once divorced woman, who constantly burns bridges, made sure, that her father quickly got a date for the surgery and this woman will cover the cost?
Um. You guys. Don’t feel sorry for MM. She’s good. She’s marrying PHG.
I feel bad for all involved in a weird way. But also? The entertainment factor is priceless. Those two families deserve each other. It’ll only get worse when H&M’s 2/4-year honeymoon phase wears off and the real drama starts. Strap in. Oy.