Yesterday, I equated Thomas Markle with his daughter, Samantha Markle. Samantha is Meghan Markle’s half-sister. Samantha is the negative a–hole who can’t go a day without trying to profit from her half-sister. Is Thomas the same? Well, we know he profited from the photoshoots he helped organize with Coleman-Rayner. We know he won’t stop calling TMZ. And we know that the most recent photos of him – where he was getting a Frap from Starbucks – looked suspiciously posed as well. Well, Thomas Markle is indignant! So he called up TMZ again!
Thomas Markle says he’s still being chased by paparazzi days after his daughter’s marriage … and he can’t even go through a drive-thru without getting hounded. Thomas tells TMZ the pictures of him grabbing a drink Monday were taken right after his friend picked him up from a safe house where he’d been recovering from his emergency heart surgery. Thomas says there were 5 cars filled with paps following them. What’s worse, his friend’s small kid was in the car.
Thomas says he’s being bombarded inside his housing complex, where he needed the help of four security guards Monday to get him safely inside his home. Thomas says he just wants to be left alone. Thomas tells us, “I never asked for this and my friends never asked for this and photographers, knowing there’s a child in the car, have no business chasing it.”
And, as for the alleged Frappuccino, Thomas says his drink didn’t have coffee and he didn’t finish it, adding don’t worry about his heart.
Sounds exactly like the deal he had with Coleman-Rayner. The TMZ photographers get to snap photos of Thomas doing his thing and creating stories, then Thomas calls up TMZ to clarify and chat. I’m sorry, I just don’t believe that five photo agencies sent photographers all the way to Mexico just to shoot photos of Meghan’s dad. How would they even know when he was being released from the hospital, or where this alleged “safe house” was, or when he went out for a Frap? This is all so shady. And he’s not going to stop either. Which makes this new piece of gossip even weirder:
Ahead of their honeymoon, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry may have another trip in mind. Royal expert Katie Nicholl tells ET that the newlyweds are planning to travel to Mexico to pay a visit to see Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, after he was unable to make the royal wedding due to health concerns. If the trip does take place, it will be the first time Harry meets his new father-in-law in person.
“I hear one of the things they want to do sooner than later — and now that they’re married — is to go and see Thomas Markle, who is recovering from a heart operation,” Nicholl says. “We don’t know when this trip might happen. …I’m hearing from people close to Meghan and Harry that they’re very keen to do it.” Nicholl adds that it’s important to Harry that he know Meghan’s dad. “He feels it’s very important that he gets to meet Thomas,” she notes. “Of course, Meghan — who’s been really concerned about her father’s health — is keen to go see him as soon as possible.”
Don’t do it, Meghan! Don’t do it, Harry! Just burn that bridge. Thomas Markle will not be contained or managed. If they even bother to schedule a trip to Mexico, Thomas will give TMZ the itinerary within a day. If Meg and Harry even make it down to Mexico, Thomas will sell them out spectacularly throughout the trip. And he’ll probably invite Meghan’s nasty half-siblings along too. DON’T DO IT.
Meghan Markle's Dad Buys Frappuccino Days After Wedding, Heart Surgery https://t.co/nTir33bC9i
— TMZ (@TMZ) May 22, 2018
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid and Pacific Coast News.
Pretty sure Frappacinos are not heart healthy.
Just what I was thinking! If you’ve just gotten out of the hospital for heart health problems (IF), can you stay away from crap food for like, a day? No?
My father in law went in for heart palpitations. Sent home with a heart monitor. He literally went to KFC after leaving the hospital.
Is it smart? Not at all. Does it happen? Yes, sadly.
I’m an RN on a Cardiac Telemetry and Stroke step down unit and you’d be shocked how many of my post heart attack, catheterization, heart failure patients who gorge on fast food or get abusive with the restrictions of a heart healthy diet regimen. They’re not every patient thank god but it’s enough to discourage you as they are “frequent flyers” repeat customers
OK but the press needs to back off. Wedding’s over. If they are going to hound this guy for the rest of his life that is really really sad.
yeah, it is also not wise to publicize if there is a probable visit from them. Enhancing his visibility is not smart. Let them decide and visit anonymously if they wish to. I am Mexican, and I live a normal life, but I am aware there are gangsters everywhere that could try to take advantage of a vulnerable person like he is.
If he wants the press to back off, perhaps he should stop calling them.
Izzy nailed it.
They aren’t but then my parents had a friend who was eating an egg salad sandwich after his second open heart surgery to clear blockages. Some people just can’t quit.
I worked at Starbucks seven years and can answer this.
While they are TECHNICALLY low fat, the fat they have is saturated fat, because they are made with heavy cream. It’s low fat only because it’s diluted by so much ice.
Yes, you can get decaf fraps, but the caffeine really isn’t the problem.
Also, my father had multiple heart surgeries, and no, you don’t go driving around getting frappucchinos a couple of days after. That heart surgery? it didn’t happen.
Couldn’t it have been a cath? Or stent insert? Those need very minimal hospital stays, maybe just overnight.
Well, I am taking care of an extreme sick heart patient and no doctor ever mentioned something like a heart diet – one even said, there are people who develop so much stress over the eating restrictions that the stresslevel kills basically the diet effort. After his first heart attack, which was massive, he was also dead for a while, the nurses brought him voluntariliy real coffee (he didn’t ask for it, but gladly accepted it) .
But he is also not into eating fast food and maintains his weight, and what still saves his live is that he was very sportive and active when he was younger.
This eating recommendations just aren’t for all patients.
Of course there are heart diets. Maybe your docs just assumed you spoke with your own doc or a dietitian about it? You should!
Even without the coffee. And seriously – a ” safe house?” WTH?
Perhaps the royal family paid to hide him away for a while. And then Thomas left the building and called the paps, lol.
Seriously, though. Harry ought to stay faaar away from that needy mess. Let Meghan deal with him if she feels up to it.
Is he / are they sticking with the heart operation lie? How odd.
I’m not buying it either!! Especially after this little outing to get his frap
I think it is just more lies to milk what’s left of the money grab. They know their 5 seconds of milking it are coming to an end so they’re making the most of it, calling paps with their whereabouts and then acting victimized. The obvious Markles are obvious.
Her… Half brother? Nephew? Can’t keep it straight was dumb enough to almost get arrested in London on the weekend. Cannot wait to see the end of these trashbags.
If they want to play that game, they need to get trained by the Midds. The Midds are pros.
This again sounds made up. The media has been wrong a lot about the wedding so I’m going to say this is false.
So he needed four security guards and a “safe house” sounds like that would require a lot of money, if only someone could give him money, maybe someone who has their face on money might be in a position to help poor Thomas. Sorry Big Tom but not buying what you are selling.
If Meghan and Harry do make it to Mexico to meet him it should be at a location with no access for anyone but him, (cough, crazy sister Sam) allowing no paps to “find” them, for security reasons (cough, crazy sister Sam)
If I was them, on the day of, I’d send a car to bring him to California. It’s a short drive and safer for the royals. It would also subvert the whole freaking family showing up when H&M do.
Lady D they can travel to Mexico safely, they can go to whichever high level hotel or a house from any prominent person anonymously. Traveling to Mexico and staying is not difficult even for very high level people, they just take a low profile and good security. Especially in the Baja peninsula. He is very close to the border, so he could go to the USA too. lots of expats and foreigners living around Mexico, especially some spots. They have their own support groups, etc.
What is not very safe, is publicizing anything about him, making him known and notorious. Some idiot could think that he has money.
His simple life has been changed forever, and he did not make it easier for himself, going to TMZ and all that.
If I were Harry and Meghan, I would have gotten him security months ago. What if he is kidnapped??? And Her father didn’t ask for any of this. That is true.
Meghan seems to have left all old friends and family behind – her father would just be another one gone.
Veronica, Thomas lives in a gated community & has at his disposal security. He chooses to put himself at risk…it’s his decision & the last time I checked, he is an adult…
Veronica, you seem to lack the ability to be fair (unbiased). FACTS: Thomas staged photos & received compensation (verified by Tom Sr.). Yes, he has contacted the press (verified by TMZ)…He seems to prefer to contact TMZ rather than answer the phone when his daughter (Meghan calls)…
From all accounts Tommy is intelligent and accomplished man who spent many years in Hollywood …he knows what he is doing…
It is unfair of you to hold Meghan accountable for his actions (scams & extortion) …
Question to you…Do you think that a person should stay in an unhealthy environment where you are verbally, emotionally, racially or physically abused because the people in said environment happen to be relations?????
I hope that she leaves him, but that is her choice…
@Tonya I think it is you who seem to lack the ability to be fair or unbiased. You and a lot on here think the evidence supports Thomas Markle is selling out Meghan for personal gain. That is your prerogative, however it doesn’t make you biased if you disagree, because there is a plausible case for the other side. The ability not to see it makes you biased. First gossip sites are your source, and you make a judgement it’s facts instead of conjecture. Second, you say he calls TMZ more than his daughter. You must be privy to his phone records and the royals too for this to be fact. It is a plausible scenario he didn’t like the negative comments. He hired paps to make staged photos to look better based on the recommendation of his other daughter. It’s plausible her half-sister set it up and took the money or even there wasn’t any. When it came out all the negative publicity gave him stress which did make him ill. Finally, he has never said anything negative about Meghan, unlike other family members. Which in my book does put him above her half siblings. Which albeit is a low bar, but still. Just cause someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean they are unfair, especially when the facts you have aren’t really facts.
This is my conjecture, I’ve always said this family drama is like a lot of people’s family drama just magnified with the British and US tabloid press. I’m sure we don’t know the whole the story, but I think Meghan will be fine handling it. It will be interesting if they show up in Mexico to see him.
Exactly what I was thinking. Well said.
About 15 years ago my dad had a heart attack. I was in graduate school and living with him. He yelled down the stairs that he was going to the doctor’s (he’d been outside gardening, so I figured he cut his hand). Then he drove himself to the hospital.
Only when my stepmother called me later that afternoon did I learn he’d had a heart attack. So, absolutely if you are stubborn idiot, you can have a heart attack and still be wandering around. My father also had stents inserted and he was released from the hospital days later.
My father drinks coffee like it’s going out of style although he’s gone from regular to decaf. He works out three times a week at the gym and has a BMI that I’m jealous of. So it’s totally possible Thomas Markle is walking around and feeling better.
But I agree if Megan and Harry go to visit him in Mexico is going to be a Paparazzi Fest.
My father had a massive heart attack at the age of 62. He barely made it to the hospital alive and we were so lucky they were able to stabilize him and make sure the rest of the heart attack could carry on in their atrium. He then went on to surgery and stents were placed. He remained in the ICU for a week before being discharged. So yeah, it depends on the heart attack. But if Markle suffered a heart attack and needed stents I don’t see how he could be out and about less than 3 days after surgery, getting food and drinking fraps. I suspect this was more of a preventive surgery and the stents were placed to prevent a heart attack.
From what’s been said of their relationship, it sounds like he’s been given multiple second chances in the past. He’s her father, it’s understandable that she’d try and forgive him and want a better relationship, but he clearly doesn’t have her interests at heart at all.a
Then again, visiting would shut up the “Meghan’s a heartless daughter” brigade. It would need to be a brief, unplanned visit so that TMZ didn’t catch wind of it until afterwards. Better yet, he could be flown to England for a stern talking to in a controlled location.
The people who are determined to think poorly of Meghan won’t be swayed by her and Harry going to visit her father. They will simply find another hangnail to pick at.
You’re right, sadly. It’ll be written off as caving to public pressure and fake (seriously, people repeat the “Meghan is fake” line, but I still have no idea where it actually comes from).
I know we at this website know better to not trust Thomas markle… But a lot of the public believes that she should have been on a plane to see him the moment the wedding was over. I think Meghan and Harry see this as the “right thing” to do… But people are going to constantly complain about any of their actions. AND and she really is pregnant is he going to leak that info if she tells him or is he going to throw a fit and call TMZ when they publicly announce it because they know they can’t trust him?
Thomas will soon learn how the ‘press’ turns on you like a ‘dime’…if he stops feeding them, they will attack & things spoken etc will be exposed…
Tommy boy is about to ‘reap what he has sown’…even Meghan wouldn’t be able to ‘help’ him. I don’t feel sorry for him because he is a narcissist evil man…
there must be completely other story behind this one. I cannot believe a father could sell his daughter like this. I think as years pass by, we might hear the truth. Right now it is all very strange. And the strangest thing is why H & M did not visit him as the relationship got serious.
Abusive parents are absolutely capable of doing this to their children. And also insinuating that it’s the kid’s fault or just outright blaming them. The guy blamed his son for his heart problems and here he is getting a Frap.
And they’re not ogres 100% of the time. You have to be kind enough to draw the person close enough to be hurt.
We don’t know how many times he’s flaked out on Meghan. We do know he contacts TMZ before answering her calls.
You have to be kind enough to draw the person close enough to be hurt.
Sadly very, very true, and it only adds to the confusion and guilt of the target of that kind of behaviour.
“You have to be kind enough to draw the person close enough to be hurt”
I agree this is very insightful. No wonder Meghan said “I’ve always cared for my father” (instead of “loved”). He sounds emotionally abusive.
Oh, parents and relatives can be rotten just because they’re rotten. No mystery about it.
I have been estranged from my father since I was 18. I will be 38 next month. And the only “other story” behind it is that he was a narcissistic pathological liar who created chaos, and drama in my life at every turn. Sometimes parents aren’t the good guys. Sometimes parents and relatives simply don’t deserve a place in your life. Meghan owes her father nothing. And the idea of her bringing Harry to Mexico to visit her father when they got serious is laughable.
Yep.
+1,000,000.
Sometimes your family is your greatest enemy.
My father and I shared a home for seventeen years and we had two conversations. Two. I can see her father doing this, no problem.
If you can’t believe a father would sell out his child, then you’ve been lucky. Listen, as so many people have pointed out, there are people in the world who range from difficult or troubled to narcissistic or psychopathic. Some of them have children. End of story.
At this point we’re just trying to figure out where on the spectrum of “toxic parent” Thomas Markle lies. I hope they’re not going to Mexico. That’s one nutty junket. Bring him to the English countryside, and if he can’t handle that, well, there’s Skype.
Yes, I was going to say, DON’T go to Mexico, there could be too many bad scenarios. Fly him to England and have the visit in private.
I can believe it in a heartbeat. I suspect she cut off ties with most of the Markle family since 95% of them are toxic but just couldn’t bring herself to cut the cord with her Dad. Bad parents aren’t always evil—their kids can love them even if they let them down all the time—and can keep giving them chances. From day one I side-eyed Thomas for not saying anything about the siblings when they kept acting like he was homeless (his house is fine) and Meghan ignored him. All it would have taken was one public statement from a PR person that he wanted privacy and that two of his kids knew nothing about Meghan or their relationship….and then he should have shut up.
And for the uncle that people bring up, I’ve also seen it before where a family was so toxic that someone just cut off their entire maternal side even though they had one or two okay relatives. This was because the “okay” relatives were in touch with the toxic ones and would constantly let them know my friend’s business even though he asked them not too so he had to cut those branches, too.
Yes, it’s true – sometimes we have to throw out the baby with the bathwater because the “okay” people turn out to be “okay” with the abusers as well.
maybe he needs the money ?
I can believe it pretty easily. All it would take is for him to be selfish and prone to putting himself ahead of his daughter, plus connected enough to have TMZ’s number but not savvy enough to realize how bad he’d look.
I saw Katie’s report last night. Called bs then. Calling bs now. She knows nothing. Thomas said the same thing the day of the wedding. It keeps both of them in the news. Harry & Meghan will probably honeymoon in the UK, then back to work, then have a real honeymoon. No time to visit her lying father. Heart surgery, my ass.
Saw Katie Nichols for the first time on the Canadian broadcast (CBC). What a smug, pretentious woman! The term “she thinks she’s all that” was invented for her, was it not?
I had the same reaction when I saw her on CBC! I assumed she was smug and pretentious because she was talking to peasants from the “colonies” (us Canadians)!
Hmmm well if they get burned again they can blame themselves for keeping the door open.
And if you call the paps you should expect them to follow you. Not sure anyone buys the victim act anymore.
Why havent we ever heard from his former co-workers about this person’s M.O.? Or maybe he’s gotten (even?) worse after retirement. Many men do.
“Keen” means it’s not going to happen, right? I see you Poor Jason.
Have any of the Markle kids visited their father?
This is going to end with Harry and Meghan paying for a home and an allowance. Markle is not going away.
As a UK tax payer I WILL NOT BE happy if Daddy is financially supported by H&M – it won’t shut him up, he’s just like his kids and will milk if for all its worth.
He has to see how bad this is making him look.
As a UK and US taxpayer….I certainly hope not. I am sure that Harry and Meghan can provide some support, if needed, out of their own pockets. And his other children should chip in as well.
I’m not a UK taxpayer but I’d be incensed on behalf of them. I just keep figuring that the first batch of Markle children are apples that did not fall far from the tree.
As for seeing how bad this makes him look? If he hasn’t already, he’s not likely too. Nor are his older children. That’s part of the problem.
No one knows the true situation between Meghan and her father. Meghan herself has praised her father many times on her blog for sponsoring her education, introducing her to Hollywood and giving her good values. She said so herself many times. So, this TMZ business should not wipe away what her father has done for her. If her father didn’t train her in school, she wouldn’t have been in a position for Harry to even meet her because she will be uneducated. Pls cut the man some slack. Yeah, he’s not doing well by always calling TMZ but always know that there are three sides to a story; his side, her side and the truth.
Agree. In the past Meghan has said many positive things about her father. I am ready for the demonization of him to end; the wedding happened, he didn’t show, end of.
Her Father did for her what a parent is supposed to do…and her mother is an educated woman…if her father didn’t give her a dime growing up…Meghan would have been educated…No, we don’t know the backstory to Meghan and her Father…we don’t need to know it…Her father is CURRENTLY lying and pimping out his daughter…that’s enough information to make a decision on the type of person he is…
We don’t really know what the situation was money-wise when MM was young not do we know how much TM contributed. TM likely was making alot of money then. MM has talked about being on the set of Married With Children on a regular basis. She has talked about dinners with both parents and vacations with both parents happening well after the divorce. The photo of Doria in cap & gown with MM is fairly recent. I’ve not seen a date for it but Meghan looks much older than high school age to me. I’m not sure how much money Doria would have made when MM was young if she didn’t earn an advanced degree in social work until much later. We don’t even know how long she’s been a yoga instructor (& really, how much could that pay?) Could Doria have made enough teaching yoga to pay for a private Catholic high school for Meghan? And help with expenses at Northwestern? We just don’t know. And that’s fine– it’s not really our business. But I’m not ready to trash TM for not providing financial support for his child decades ago with no evidence.
It sounds as if she said the positive things that she could say. He paid for her private school, he gave her some industry contacts, he shared whatever more positive traits he had…it’s hardly gushing, he doesn’t come off as exemplary and the children with whom he had more to do turned out pretty bad. He was a difficult parent to some degree and Meghan has clearly tried to make the best of a middling-to-poor situation. So many of us live in these kinds of relationships but they’re not made public.
+ 1 they know what is going on. He seems an idiot who parented a**holes, but even some idiots are worthy of love.
People see what they want to see…
Meghan has never publicly bash anyone (I followed her for years)…
My father was an alcoholic emotionally insecure depressed man – he acquiesced to the wishes of others…never ‘showed up for anything in my life’- made millions of promises but failed to keep any…made excuses for his behaviour & often turned on me when I called him out on his BS…all in all a horrible father, but I loved him & whenever I speak of him, I push forward all the good things he did- the good things I hoped he did because he was my father …
The Mexico visit info is from the same person who said Harry had a 2 year crush on Meghan before they met. Harry said in the engagement interview that before the blind date he never heard of Meghan.
I’m sure they will be visiting him pretty soon. C’mon, she is now part of the BRF where optics are everything. And it looks really bad if she ignores him after his hospital stay.
So much juicy gossip to look forward to! 🙂
When there’s evidence of a hospital stay, then we can judge. The man was not at death’s door.
The BRF is just a special case of hereditary rich folks. They have no political or other type of power and are used for ceremonial purposes. If they all were to vanish tomorrow, the country would have no trouble surviving quite nicely.
If Harry has any sense, he will pull himself and his children out of the royalty business once his grandmother has died, and just focus on being more ordinary rich folk. He is probably praying that Kate and William go for Baby #4, to push him further away from any chance at the throne.
Why should Harry or Meghan worry about “optics”? So some of the BRF might be embarrassed by the tabloid nonsense, just as they were embarrassed by Diana and others entangled with their family. So what? It has nothing to do with real life. They can’t even lose an election over such things. The pageantry continues. The BRF has no trouble embarrassing itself anyway and has survived.
Meghan and Harry = Marry should visit once and for all then if thomas calls tmz cut him off.
Agreed. I also think that if it is at all possible, they should drop in on him unannounced so that he won’t have time to stage a paparazzi stroll.
Bring him to England where she has more safety and control.
The fact that the word “keen” was used by the royal expert tells us that no visit to Mexico to visit Thomas will happen.
I don’t know how to feel about him. Sometimes I’m sorry, sometimes I judge him a lot.
Hope Meghan has a real and long conversation with him and he stops with all this, especially calling TMZ.
This is where I am on this. I don’t have a complete picture of him yet, despite what we know. I’m not ready to stone him…yet.
Everyone that has worked with him says lovely things so he can’t be that bad. I hope he and Meghan are good.
@MCV Very interesting about his former co-workers.
Harvey Levin, TMZ founder, told the Daily Beast two weeks ago – they didn’t pay Thomas Markle, he didn’t ask for anything, they offered him 100K for an interview, he said no. But they were texting him, and eventually he talked to them.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-tmz-crashed-meghan-markle-and-prince-harrys-wedding-devastatingly
The DM in their original article said they didn’t know if TM made any money from the staged pictures (though believe $1,500 was quoted somewhere, maybe by Samantha).
Presumably TM continues to talk to TMZ because he trusts them, as per the DB article (which also notes KP totally dropped the ball). Maybe sometimes he contacts them; other times they reach out with questions. Could be the simple explanation is true – he’s the father of a suddenly very high profile woman; wanted to present a better image of himself, and not embarrass his daughter. Has health problems, probably was increasingly anxious about going to England. The DM reveal two weeks before the wedding was nasty, as was the letter Tom Jr. wrote. Samantha is just vile; and the dominoes toppled.
I still wonder, but not yet convinced he’s coming from the same place as his other two kids.
Also, what’s the story with the mother of the two heinous half-siblings, and her family? Tom Sr. is not the only one responsible for how they turned out.
I have gone back and forth as well. Since he worked in H’wood for years, I find it hard to believe he’s naive about tabloids and how he’s feeding the narrative.
My guess is that the half-sister has encouraged milking the situation for money. She was quoted this week as saying paps are making money from the family, so why shouldn’t she/they get a piece of the pie?
That woman is so evil. Now she’s saying that Doria looked like a hockey player (???) at the wedding.
I think she should visit her Father..we don’t know the whole story with her Father and at 73..well the elderly are very easily persuaded to talk or do things they wouldn’t normally do and also just easily very stubborn with people they love and have known their whole lives.
Who knows how TMZ is taking him? Like a friend? A family member? He might be lonely… we don’t know. Meg should go there and find out and get to the bottom of this and not let her Father die.
It doesn’t sound like he was abusive her whole life or flakey –where are people coming up with this? She talked about him before in her blog and insta in a loving way so…
73 is not considered “elderly.” It’s young-old, and if he is overweight and out of shape, that’s a separate issue. If it’s true that there are cognitive changes – if this is his situation then he needs appropriate medical care, not more photography and whining. It would be hard for the Palace to stop gossip rags from exploiting him as he’s a private citizen in another country, right? And TMZ is a US-based outlet? I hope TMZ finds he’s not netting them the clicks they want, that is the only thing to make this go away.
I’m pretty sure 73 IS considered elderly. Of course people of that age can have different health issues just as people of any age can. But only in a world where people live to be well over 100 on a routine basis can 73 still be considered “middle-aged.” Of course, if Will and Harry are still considered “boys” who are nowhere near middle age, then I guess 73 can be young.
People have made a big deal of TM being out of shape and it sounds like he is. But he has the same frame as his two brothers (the successful diplomat and the priest of the non-mainstream denomination) So some of his appearance is likely strongly influenced by genetic factors.
73 is old, life expectancy for an American male is 76-77 years.
I thought N American males lived into their late 80’s. Hard for me to fathom dying at 76. It seems awfully young for some of the most developed countries in the world.
Gerontologists tend to differentiate “elderly” from “old.” Current nomenclature has 65-75 being old, but “young-old” and 75+ being “old-old.” It will continue to shift. I did not say that 73 is “middle aged.” Currently people from roughly 55-65 would be in “late middle-age.” And that will shift too.
Elderly is a term that most often connotes frailty. Maybe he is and maybe he isn’t – physically, cognitively. He is old, but he’s hardly doddering.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy
Yeah, it’s Wikipedia but it’s the clearest presentation of the data that is reported elsewhere. Nowhere in the world is the *average* lifespan for men the late 80s. The longest for men, a little over 81 yrs, is in Switzerland and Iceland. In the UK men live to slightly over 79 yrs. So yeah, 73 is old pretty much everywhere on earth.
Even if they do visit her father, which they won’t, they do not owe photos of such a visit to the public. It’s a private family matter. Of course vultures like TMZ and its ilk don’t agree.
I don’t click on that site, and the TV show is complete trash. I felt totally icky after watching that crap a couple times years ago. Those people are nothing but disgusting vampires.
+1000
I think seeing him works to MM’s advantage. Whether he had a heart issue or not, its a matter of PR and optics…….if she does not visit him, that will be fodder for the gutter press. If she goes to see him and he keeps quiet, great….if he talks then that proves that MM really needs to close that chapter and move on and she will have everyone’s sympathy and support.
She doesn’t need to play that game. And he won’t keep quiet, and it won’t close that chapter.
IF anything, they could bring him to the UK or they could meet on a former British island in the Caribbean. Given what happened, it needs to be on HER (and Harry’s) turf. Enough.
Life in those circles is all gamesmanship and nothing in life is ever a certainty or definitive.
I think your take on it is 100% accurate. This is about image management at this point, regardless of Meghan’s feelings about her father, which I’m sure are a stew of love and huge disappointment.
I don’t think they’d come to Mexico, but mostly for safety reasons. Things are heating up again here….
As for the fact that she spoke lovingly about her father before, I can say from experience that people can ve very nice when they are not being a**holes.
high level people can drop anywhere in their private planes. There are special resorts for them. It is unsafe in some other areas.
I agree. Security is too great an issue and I don’t think HM or KP would even consider going to Mexico. They should meet in the US since he’s had no problem getting his butt to CA over the past two weeks (as seen in the tabs when he showed up at Doria’s house with a bucket of flowers and the paps). I’d like to know why his older children haven’t visited him since his “surgery”.
I am not sure if the story is credible, but if it is I don’t have a problem with Meghan and Harry visiting Thomas.
If Meghan still wants to have a relationship with her father, that’s her prerogative. I just hope that this time she and Harry get better guidance on how to deal with him from both an emotional boundary and PR standpoint.
I am not too put out that he will likely talk to the media about the visit. If there are juicy tidbits that Meghan and Harry don’t want divulged, surely they will not tell Thomas. Any way you look at it, Thomas can’t be trusted, either he is knowingly and calculatedly cashing in on his daughter, or he is easily taken advantage of by others like Samantha, the set-up pap, TMZ, etc.
I can’t help but think that Harry and William, while loving their mother to pieces, would have had to employ crisis management tactics throughout their adult lives regarding her actions and issues and would not have cut her out of their lives. In that respect, I think that Harry and his family have empathy and common ground with the newest addition.
@AAA: your comment is very insightful as well as original (as far as I can see on here) and so true!
“I can’t help but think that Harry and William, while loving their mother to pieces, would have had to employ crisis management tactics throughout their adult lives regarding her actions and issues and would not have cut her out of their lives. In that respect, I think that Harry and his family have empathy and common ground with the newest addition.”
People who followed her before Harry say she used to post about him on her social media. So they did/do have a relationship. This might be one of those were the child loves the parent no matter what. Not uncommon. I also think he’s been led by those awful half- siblings. He himself doesn’t sound malicious but just the fact that he’s following his other children in profiting from his youngest daughter is sad.
The only safe way for them to visit with him is to send a car to pick him up and take him to a private residence or exclusive resort. Full security, no admission without special privileges. But he will still insist on having photos to sell. There is no way to win here.
I love your user name so much. I wish there were new episodes.
The wait is so long but it is worth it. Season 6 was hilarious. I wish the next season has a few more episodes to explore all the new storylines.
Send a helicopter. Can’t follow that, and they can meet anywhere.
If Thomas Markle reads about himself online, I wish he’d read these articles and realize he. needs. to. shut. the. hell. up. The more he talks, the more the paparazzi will follow him around. If Meghan and Harry were to meet him in Mexico, it would be done at a secluded location on their terms. I doubt they would waltz into the expat enclave where her father lives and just stroll up to his house. I don’t get him at all. He was so quiet and minding his own business before the wedding and then he somehow got into his head staging pap photos would be a good idea and to keep running his mouth to TMZ.
He somehow got it into his head that pictures would be good because his daughter set him up, and the money was too enticing.
I don’t know if this is true but a part of me feels as if they will get around to one—later versus sooner. Meghan knows who her father is. We don’t. However, I’m assuming it’s one of those neutral kind of relationships that’s defined by “I’ve got nothing but love for you; however, I’m not getting involved in your shit. If you are straight-up dying, I’ll come see you but we are down to birthday cards and phone calls at Christmas.” That’s just how it is sometimes and it works for everybody involved. Not all families are living, breathing versions of hallmark greeting cards.
I think Harry and Meghan suspect the surgery is fake. Tom Sr & Sam are going to the press wanting to go to London, Sam wants Dad to go to Buckingham Palace. By going to Mexico it’s out of consideration to his health, and going soon it’s good optics. They will have control of the meet out of security. Most likely the queen is not going to allow a meet and greet to the palace. If Sr still pushes for an all expenses paid trip to London they know what it is for Tom.
The Palace, and by that I mean Clarence House (not the car crash that is KP), will want to control any narrative around them visiting her father – she’s officially part of the family now, so Thomas Sr will have to play by their rules if he wants to spend time with them. He’ll be given a chance and if he does what everyone expects him to then the egg is on him not them.
Its only a matter of time before the sister is shut up – she’s raking in the money and claiming benefits, at some point that will catch up with her. If that doesn’t she will be exposed for faking that car crash, the Florida police are investigating it and have already said that they think its suspicious.
Their downfall will be their own greed and stupidity.
I’m sure Samantha is booking her ticket to Mexico as we speak….
Sure, sources close to the couple . . . blah blah blah. Look, Harry does have to meet his father in law at some point, but I’d bet anything it will be so private no one will know till they get back, and it should be.
Speaking of family, and I can’t remember if this came up in any of the other wedding threads because there were so many, how gorgeous are Earl Spencer’s children, especially the eldest, Lady Kitty Spencer? She got all the best of the Spencer genes, like Diana, only Kitty doesn’t have Diana’s large nose. But she got the English Rose skin, the wide blue eyes, the height – she really is stunning – and I liked her dress (but not her hat). Louis, the heir to the earldom, is terribly handsome, and Lady Eliza is very pretty. Go figure – what happened to Diana’s older sisters was unfair, although the middle one was nice looking enough. But neither of them had Diana’s beauty.
Honestly, I had never seen Earl Spencer’s children and was stunned at how good looking they all were, because IMO he’s very average.
She is gorgeous! their room was a model at some point, and she has very pretty bone structure, add to that the rosy complexion of the Spencers. Diana’s skin was so beautiful (I love pics of her face on her wedding day), and her nieces got the pretty genes.
The mother of Kitty, Louis, etc. is Victoria Lockwood the first wife. She was a model and beautiful, although she doesn’t really resemble the kids. She has spoken about having a lot of drug and eating disorder problems in the past. It was nice to see she was a guest at the wedding.
If true, I suspect they are going to shut the TMZ chatline down or tell him he will be cutoff if he continues.
They would need to tell him that it extends to the older siblings, too. So while *he* might not call up TMZ, there has to be something put in place that will prevent him from telling the siblings, who will probably then turn around and call every media outlet they know.
Katie Nicholl hasn’t had a legit scoop on the royals since he Middletons cut her off years ago. The only reason I could see them to going to see her dad in the immediate future is to personally put a muzzle on him.
Hope she cuts him off. But I cant believe the amount of people that actually trashed her for not going to see him when he had his surgery. What?! He sold her out, made the days before her wedding a joke, and some are still acting like he’s the victim?
What surgery??? Where is the proof??? I don’t believe anything he says (& his children) or the media…
This whole visit-daddy-in-Mexico plan has Bad Idea written all over it. In glitter. Even if her plan is to tell him to eff off forever to his face, it’s a bad idea. Her dad shows signs of narcissism, like the half-sister, Cruella the Thickhead or whatever her name is. The thing with narcissists, is *any* amount of attention, they count as good attention. Negative press, positive press, gives them a chance to turn the spotlight on themselves.
I hope Meghan gets the therapy she needs to see her dad for what he is and cut the ties…I know how hard it is to break away from a dysfunctional family – it doesn’t always work the first time, they figure out ways to reel you back in – but for herself, for Harry, and their future children, she *needs* to ghost her dad & her half sibs. They’re toxic attention whores and limpets.
Meghan, honey, run like your tampon string is on fire. Go live your best life sweetie. Your daddy is not going to change. He’s hot buttered garbage and will not improve with time.
Quite the visual image you provided @where’smytiara. But if that thing is on fire, it’s not something that can be outrun. In fact, running may just fan the flames! So I think there might need to be a different approach with TM.
Nope. The only way to deal with a narcissist is to cut them off. Everything you do outside of that just feeds their narcissistic supply. Life is too short for that cr@p.
I don’t believe this story.
If the father is still talking to TMZ then Meghan needs to keep him at a distance. He has zero respect for her.
I agree that Daddy Markle is as toxic as they come… but it’s evident that Meghan has great empathy for him. For better or worse, he’s her dad. Meghan and Harry mught consider establishing an irrevocable trust for her dad. Buy him a home in a gated community somewhere in California, and place it in the trust along with a retirement fund. They could assign an impartial third party (an accountant or financial advisor) as the trust’s executor, and walk away knowing that his needs and safety were taken care of for the remainder of his life. An irrevocable trust is ironclad and can only by accessed by the executor. That way, his greedy children and grandchildren couldn’t touch it.
+1000
Thomas is a wild card.
The paps were at Doria’s, she had security for a week, made it clear she had nothing to say, and they went away.
Why Thomas did not do the same, because he like his oldest children are shady.
You can give him the benefit of doubt, all you want, but his actions speak for him.
Why should Meghan buy a house for him, he owns a house, just need to stop yapping, but he want to be in the spotlight.
I feel for this guy, and I’m probably projecting but my dad is his age. Everyone ages differently, but I know you can’t tell my dad sh!t about what he will or won’t eat – or anything else – at this age. And he LOVES to talk to anyone, any time, anywhere. If he had TMZ’s # he’d probably call them and we’re not even related to anyone famous. He’d do it just to have someone to talk to. He’s all there as in he can fend for himself but not particularly well. Like, he’s not batsh!t but he’s certainly not as savvy and careful as he used to be. He’s vulnerable, whether he’d admit it or not, and I think Thomas is as well. Meghan probably realizes this. The half-sibs? Screw ’em. But this is her father. If she wanted to burn bridges she wouldn’t have asked him initially to walk her down the aisle; we have to respect that. If I were in her position, I have zero doubt my dad would find a way to be embarrassing while not meaning to be, but I’d never cut him off. My half-sibs would intentionally be embarrassing and I cut them off long ago. I’m sorry, but unless he was abusive toward her in the past or somehow shady otherwise, he’s her father and you don’t just cut off an elderly parent because you find them “embarrassing.” She needs to keep the situation in check, but she shouldn’t just never talk to him again and I don’t think she will cut him off like that.
I’m virtually certain that TMZ initiated contact and has a designated staffer who is cultivating him as a “friend”. It’s the same tactic used to convince older people to buy things they don’t need on the phone, easily scamming them out of thousands of dollars by being so friendly and helpful. They especially go after people who live alone, since there is nobody in the house to say “wait a minute…”. Meghan’s dad seems to be in a similar position.
I doubt that Meghan is as annoyed as folks here. Her dad hasn’t said or done anything awful. He just hasn’t behaved the way you all have decided he must behave as Harry’s father-in-law. And now you want him to completely cut off the rest of his family to satisfy you all?!?! And you want Meghan and Harry to do what – chew him out for not being what you folks want? A bit control-freaky, yes?
Really, what damage can he do? Even the obnoxious half-siblings have limits on achievable damage – anybody whose opinion counts knows that they are just nasty. The old guy is just saying nice things about his daughter. Maybe he got a commission on some posed pictures of himself. He isn’t selling naked pics of his daughter and son-in-law. He isn’t ranting and raging about them or the royal family.
I doubt that any of this bothers Meghan or her husband. They seem nicer than that. And really, what deep secrets can her dad reveal anyway? And even if he did- how would that even affect their lives?
I agree jwoolman, harry and meghan seem like better people than the folks here who want the man cut off forever.
+1000
My mother insisted on telling people my private business even during times of crisis (especially, actually). It only got worse as she got older. She had a personality disorder and there was NO containing it. She went to her grave with a fist figuratively in the air. The half sister reminds me of my mother, but even worse because my mother played the charm game. Samantha Markle Grant does not.
TM is old and in poor health. His judgement is clouded and he’s easily manipulated. My own father is in his upper 90’s and in the same position.
I guess my earlier question was answered a bit ago regarding TM’s former co-workers… that he was generally well thought of.
We don’t know TM’s mental state/accurate diagnosis. I have every faith that Meghan and Harry can and will handle this matter effectively. The most recent incidents may well have been the biggest wakeup call yet.
Please say she isn’t going to visit him, please no. Stay away girl, RUN!
i don’t know why people keep defending him when he keeps calling TMZ. it’s not an isolated occurrence. what kind of loving parent calls the paps to complain about the paps? and then spill about their daughter? he’s a jerk like the markle half-sibs.
Ok, if Harry and Meg want to see her dad this is how it has to go…a car picks him up and takes him to an undisclosed location. There, a he boards a plane or helicopter which flies away and it takes him to where Harry and Meg are. This way the pappz and more importantly, the evil step sister, Samantha can’t show up or follow them. Sam is the devil. Period.
I agree with a few others above that any visit to Thomas needs to be at a pre-selected-by-BRF secure location, no announcement of location. Tom’s cell phone would have to be surrendered for the duration so he couldn’t call the half-sibs or tabs.
Meghan has money from her own work. If she supplements TM’s income, I hope she has a caveat that any word about her in media attributable to TM or via his other kids will result in immediate cessation of money with no recourse to reinstate. It sounds as if Samantha is able to manipulate her father for info pretty easily & only the threat of a serious consequence might enable TM to resist.
He’s her dad. He’s old, she’s more than grown, I think she knows what she’ll get from him. If she thinks it’s worth it to have some more TMZ fuss so she can tell herself she did what she could, I’m okay with that.
I’d be equally supportive if she wanted to write him off entirety, but families are complicated, and in reality most children of troubled people are comfortable with something in between.