For what it’s worth, I like Richard Kay as a royal-journalist and royal-commentator. Ever since the Diana years, he’s had deep sources within the palaces, and he’s delivered some good scoops. But this weekend, Kay was wrong. Incredibly wrong. Kay wrote a piece of analysis about the Thomas Markle situation and how Markle now poses an “existential crisis” for the royal family. I truly don’t understand. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Existential crisis: The latest revelations from Thomas Markle has shown that this situation “is fast turning into an existential crisis for the Queen’s family. Even though it is impossible not to have some sympathy for Meghan who is finding adjustment to royal life hard enough, the tragedy of it all is that it is a crisis entirely of the Palace’s making.”
The palace response: I have spoken to past and serving royal aides who believe the response and handling of the whole Thomas Markle affair has been both ‘inept’ and ‘feeble’. There is even some fellow-feeling for Mr Markle who clearly feels ostracised by his daughter and son in law. Yesterday one figure said it was ‘probably too late’ to get Markle back on side short of Meghan herself ‘turning up on her father’s doorstep – and even that might not work now.’
The palace has lost control? “For the royals [Markle’s revelations are] dangerous and unfamiliar territory. Even when Diana was provoking detrimental headlines there was rarely the sense that the Palace had completely lost control as there is today.
Kensington Palace screwed up: “All in all it is impossible to escape the conclusion that Kensington Palace and other courtiers responsible for the wedding arrangements blundered when it came to dealing with Mr Markle. Yes, he was invited and Meghan had arranged fittings for a wedding coat and shoes. As I revealed last month, she told him just to get on a plane and everything would be arranged for him in London.”
A comparison to Kate’s dodgy relations: A Palace aide involved in the arrangements for Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011 certainly believes that the handling of Mr Markle has been ‘inept.’ The aide said: ‘The perception is that he was treated very much as an afterthought. No one went to visit him when the answer would have been to have someone fly out from London and explain to him how things were going to happen. Even after he started talking to the media it was not too late. When Kate’s uncle Gary found himself in the newspaper spotlight [Gary Goldsmith was the focus of lurid headlines about alleged drug taking] he was brought into the fold, not excluded. He was told he would be invited to everything but that if he felt inclined to speak out and give interviews, we asked that he let us know in advance so that we would be prepared. No one seems to have thought of that this time.’
A source claims the palace should have brought the Markles in: “The trouble stemmed from well before the wedding when there must have been an opportunity for Harry and Meghan to pay a private visit to her father. This was long before he started giving interviews. I also think the Palace should have invited the whole Markle family; they wouldn’t all have come and it would made them feel included and less likely to make the negative comments they have been making.”
While Kay might have sources deep within Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace saying all of this, I disagree completely with the analysis of Kay and these unnamed aides. Well, let me adjust my criticism: the week before the wedding, when Thomas Markle seemed hellbent on destroying his daughter’s peace of mind, I did think that this was a Communications-office-blunder. I thought Poor Jason Knauf would be out of a job for the terrible way they were caught flat-footed by Thomas Markle’s toxicity and narcissism. But now, three months later, I don’t think that.
I think Kensington Palace and Harry and Meghan have handled everything the best way they could. There is literally no way to negotiate with these emotional terrorists. What was Harry supposed to do, invite that deranged jackass Samantha Grant over for tea? And all of the awful sh-t that Thomas has said about his daughter and his son-in-law, what’s supposed to happen, some kind of forgive and forget? No. Spare me the hand-wringing about palace officials screwing this up. They did the best they could with a group of toxic famewhores who would have gotten salty over literally anything.
Also, I’d like to point out that the press has not gleefully set out to take down Kate’s family in years and years. Pippa was in a car with gun-toting rich hooligans, and she cheated on her then-boyfriend with her current husband, and she was just pap’d with father-in-law who was accused of raping two women. Gary Goldsmith, Kate’s uncle, brutally assaulted his wife in public last year. Where’s all the hand-wringing from the media about all of that? Kate’s family issues should not be on Kate, just like none of Thomas Markle’s toxicity should be on Meghan, you know? Face it, the British media is behaving very differently with Meghan.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, ITV and WENN.
I disagree, I think KP could have handled this differently and maybe achieved better results PR wise by bringing the Markles over to England before the engagement to talk them through everything. It might not have worked but it would have been more proactive and more pragmatic.
Of course whilst that might be the best way to handle things PR wise it doesn’t mean it’s the right way to handle it. KP may have gone down this route because this was what Meghan wanted and they cared more about her than the tabloids.
I agree with you, as a PR strategy it might have been better to bring at least the dad into the fold and treat him like he was special etc. I think leaving him out there by himself was really poor strategy; KP needed to have more control and contact. They left him to his own devices and of course he got sucked in by the media and Samantha.
Of course, Meghan may not have told them how unstable he was. That’s always a possibility.
I thought that the dad stated in one of his many, many interviews that he was approached and offered to be protected and helped and he refused. How do you handle that when he is refusing help from experienced palace people?
Everyone needs to stop the articles and chatter like the palace is dealing with reasonable adults, the Markle extended family have shown themselves to not be reasonable adults.
Yeah, no. KP did the right thing. Don’t feed the beast.
@ Zapp
Exactly! Thomas said he refused when Harry offered to have someone come to him, can’t make someone accept help.
Considering that Meg wanted public to think she had normal relationship with her dad, i agree that their tactics failed.
But you can’t change that now, sadly people lost jobs over this, so the damage is done. As for Meg, I’m sure she will be fine. First cut was the deepest. His later interviews are more of the same.
Of course Harry has no idea how to act or how to protect her. Of course he had no idea what to do. Of course he run off to Africa. But Meg is smart, she should really ask for Caroles help. No shade.
I disagree. I think ignoring him and letting him hang himself with his own words and lies was the only course. I think Meghan did tell them what her family was like and that’s why they ultimately left him out of everything. He doesn’t deserve to be a part of her life, didn’t deserve to be a part of the wedding. She tried- he made a fool of himself.
To put the horrible behavior of the Markles on anyone else but them isn’t right or fair.
@Mariposa – he didn’t get sucked in as he knows what the media is like with celebrities. Let’s not forget he worked in Hollywood for years.
@Mill – how do you equate Harry going to Africa for a saving the rhinos event (which was probably planned in advancd) to running off. And, no, she should not ask for Carole’s help – she is her own woman.
They tried to and he turned them down. Maybe Samantha was right and Thomas would only come if he received a private jet and was personally escorted by Harry.
From Thomas’ own words, it sounds like he was receiving guidance, lied about setting up pap photos, was angered about being told he screwed up and wouldn’t be giving a speech during the ceremony, and then had his health crisis that he blamed on his son. That’s when the public got to see what the “recluse” was really like.
Swack
I know Meg is an adult. I know she’s smart. But she needs extra help because she’s now a royal and she never experienced this, the media, the brf. It’s wise to turn to the ones who managed to survive the media scrutiny.
And the Middletons got a lot of heat for being social climbers, for William marrying a commoner, for Pippa, for basically breathing, which i didn’t realize until Meg came to the scene. Hating on them was like a pass time, but this is worse, because Meg only has her mum and Harry. Hopefully, Kate and William.
Thomas himself has said in more than one video interview that they tried to get him over to London. Thomas said Meghan said just get on the plane, everything will be fine.
Thomas also stated that Harry sent a friend over to help him get himself to together and onto a plane. Thomas reports calling the guy from a car saying no sorry, going to hospital.
Thomas himself states more than once he rejected all offers of help. He didn’t want to be in the way in London. He didn’t want PR help because he is his own man.
The video is one YouTube.
I cannot understand why Richard Kay feels this was a palace error. Should aides have handcuffed the uncooperative dad and bundled him onto a plane?
Richard Kay is an experienced journalist right? If he had taken the time to watch interviews of Thomas available on YouTube, he might have reconsidered some of the charges he levels against Kensington staff.
The only criticism that appears fair to level at them is the inertia we have seen AFTER the wedding.
Probably the best path forward for those staffers would be to ask Meghan what action she would like to take. And than shut up and let her.
True full blown narcissists are about 1 in 100 people. Richard Kay likely has not had much personal interaction with one. Harry’s staff probably lacks experience with them.
Meghan seems to have a pretty accurate measure of the man. If she wants to cut him off, they should let her. If she wants to talk to a lawyer, get her the phone. She did a good job getting away from him after high school. Let her get on with what needs done.
I think that’s what happened – Meghan didn’t realize or hoped the situation wouldn’t be this serious and didn’t tell the Palace just how trashy her family could be. Look, she has built her image on looking and acting professional and classy, can you imagine trying to tell you in-laws that you dad is trash and they should watch out? Besides, many people have bad apples in their family but how can you predict they will go and start making money off of you on TV!
So Meghan did the right thing by inviting her dad and by hiding his true nature from the Palace, she gave him an opportunity to be a Father of The Bride. Respected, revered even. But he is trash. She could have killed them with kindness and invite her family to the wedding but I don’t blame her for not risking it.
I honestly don’t think it would have worked anyway. He would have found a way to get offended by SOMETHING and demand more and more and more.
Zapp, TM even stated that the aide flew out to come take him to London, and he sent the man packing! TM had NO INTENTION of going. This “man” and I use the term loosely, did not have heart “surgery”. First it was called stress, then stents (which are inserted through an artery, usually in the groin), NOW he says “heart surgery”. Yeah, I (and others!) want to see receipts. NO ONE who has stents put in is up and around the next day, driving 6 hours, stopping at McD’s (for milkshakes no less!), and carrying a potted plant for an ex-wife. B-frickin’-S!
I think once Scammy started buzzing in his ears about allllllll the ways Meghan “wronged” him throughout his life, and how “ungrateful” she was, and what she “owed” him, TM, being the narcissist that he is, his resentment and anger grew and grew, with Scammy cheering him on and on.
NOTHING will ever satisfy these creatures.
We will never know the “whole” story of what he did and didn’t do to Meghan and Doria. By Meg’s accounts, and those of her teachers at Immaculate Heart, he helped with her school plays, built sets, did the lighting… So maybe this wasn’t always the case. Maybe it’s a form of dementia taking hold as he aged out of Hollywood (even happens behind the scenes). Who knows. But all that shows NOW is this raging sense of entitlement, this outrageous behavior. The BRF’s only way to handle this is to do what they’re doing. Ignore him and he will eventually run out of steam.
On the local news *just now* they’re reporting that “TRF is saying it may have to take a “more aggressive stance” on this matter. Not that I believe this (I think they said the source was E!… isn’t that Meghan’s friend Jessica Mulrooney’s husband’s outlet?). Perhaps this is Meghan’s way of announcing to her father she’s going to get the big guns ready lol
I have to agree with Jan90067’s assessment of the situation. TM never had heart surgery, and he has been on an extended Self-Pity Tour for months now because it gets him the attention his malignant narcissism craves, as well as the ready CASH he is given each time he sells out his daughter. This level of publicity is catnip to a patholigical narcissist, and he will not tone it down until everyone stops listening.
For this reason, I blame the tabloids. It’s a situation of their making. He couldn’t have done it without them.
You’ve clearly never dealt with psychos. Bringing them over to talk about things? hahahahhahahahahaahahahahahahahha. Yeah, uh huh, that would’ve helped. NOT. The only way to deal with these assholes is to ignore them until they die.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a relative like this. She’s a jealous, spiteful, unsuccessful, bitter sociopath who took great joy in trying to tear me down in certain social circles because she couldn’t stand that I’d finally found someone who made me happy.
She spent years screwing with people then finally turned her hand at me. I was like a game to her. She relentlessly tried to ruin my relationship but once I called her out on it and stopped giving her oxygen, life became a hell of a lot easier. She still tries to mess with me occasionally but I don’t bite at all. This has been happening since 2009, and I’m still going strong with my partner. She’s been dead to me a long and my life is 100% more peaceful without her shit.
Fortunately, I’m not a celebrity so I can’t relate to dealing with sociopaths on a very public level, but Meghan’s father and her sister are toxic scumbags who don’t deserve an iota of acknowledgement for their disgraceful behaviour towards Meghan. Harry and Meghan have handled them well all along, IMO. The Markle’s behaviour has only reinforced that. Now, if only the media would cease to give these cretins oxygen…
But he’s managed to gain that Footnote in History status he craved: he’s left not only a long shadow over Meghan’s wedding by hijacking it, but blighted the first months of her marriage with his toxic antics. She must be absolutely devastated.
Exactly. If you feed crazy you get more crazy. There is no appeasing someone like TM. I think KP is handling this the only way they can – by ignoring his outrageous comments and saying nothing in return.
Agree 100%! Even if Meghan had invited the half-siblings, this wouldn’t have gone well, and that would have opened her up to even more emotional blackmail. No, no, no. And I think this is just another way to for the British tabloids to keep the conversation going; more click-bait, and more Meghan bashing. If I were Harry and Meg, at this point I’d be asking for an appointment to Australia, Timbukto, anywhere.
I agree with you and just to remark as I said at the time that nobody in Kensington Palace would be fired. Jason and his team are a bunch of enablers to their employers and they’ve kept their jobs for a long time thanks to this.
There was not other way to deal with this situation. It’s obvious that Meghan knew what her family was. She knew no amount of inclusion could quell the venom her siblings had for her. She knew if they were given an inch, they would find something to exploit. Instead of out right selling her out, Samantha and Thomas would’ve done it behind her back. And the fall out would’ve been even more embarrassing for Meghan. can you imagine Meghan and Harry meeting with Thomas and or Samantha and them not taping it? Keep the wolves out of the chicken coop.
So right. No one makes a decision to not invite a sister and brother to a wedding lightly, without careful thought.
She took some flack for her choice to not invite them in the press. And the headlines about having no family members were talked about.
She obviously knew it was better to endure the embarrassment at being called out for no family there (except mom) than to live through storm of having them there.
She’s the only one who knows how inviting them would have played out. Maybe Sammy would have screamed “you cold bitch” at the queen when she realized her dad wasn’t being made a duke?
I don’t think she was willing to risk having them there when the Archbishop called out for anyone w/ reason to dispute the marriage to speak now or forever hold your forked tongue!
Exactly. Richard Kay has as Kaiser mentioned, been a royal writer for ages & pretty good too. He got this wrong though. Badly wrong. I read about it in the Daily Mail (hangs head in shame) and wondered WTF. Thomas Markle & the half siblings have shown their true colors and there is really nothing that could have been done differently. I wish the press would just ignore them and cut off the oxygen.
It’s mind blowing to me that people still think the Markles would have ever cooperated.
Samantha is estranged from everyone in her life except Thomas. Thomas is very clearly verbally abusive and resentful about taking responsibility for his behavior. From his own words, we’re finding out how much Meghan and Harry tried and how demanding and deceitful Thomas was. These are not reasonable people and the other areas of their lives clearly demonstrates this.
What makes anyone think they ever would have gotten on a plane or ever cooperated? What is this never-ending benefit of the doubt extended to clearly abusive people?
I disagree. Thomas Markle has shown that he is not willing to listen to anyone. They were in contact with him and he, himself, admitted to turning down the help they offered him. Remember, Doria did not step foot in London to meet with anyone until the wedding. All communication with her were through whoever was sent there (protection) and Meghan and Harry and yet, there was no problems from her. She was dealing with this long before we found out Thomas was hiding in Mexico.
The media is willing to use the Markles against Meghan the same way they’ve been trying to “take her down” since the start. Harry’s letter was his attempt to get them to back off. They were never going to give her a fair chance and to risk the Markles having even more information to sell, it was smart to keep them at arms length. Plus, the way they are treating Meghan tells me that she doesn’t want them or need them in her life. That kind of negativity is tiring and no one should put up with them for the sake of PR.
They’ve been handling it right. The public is fed up with them and the media that keeps entertaining them. They want to make this something that defines Meghan and Harry but the Markles are just terrible people. You can reason with people who was irrational and what what they want. They would make demands and then run to the media to sell whatever when they weren’t meet. You can’t work with people like that.
Thomas Markle Sr. stated right in the beginning that all that Richard Kay and his guys claim was not done by KP WAS actually done but TM Sr. turned them down on every single suggestion they made regarding him being included. They wanted him to get support re: media, he said No, I got this. They offered for him to fly out way earlier before the wedding, he was like No, No need for that. Before engagement was announced, he was offered the opportunity to go to the UK etc, he turned them down on every single thing. Maybe this was the point Meghan pleaded with her father to talk to Vonnie so she can stop the attacks she was making on Meghan but apparently as TM Sr. said in the latest interview, he chose Vonnie’s side over Meghan because “I have 2 daughters blah blah blah”. So, no ALL blame is on TM Sr. not on KP or anyone else. I always have a problem with people deflecting people’s bad behavior and blaming others. This man is 74 years old, he is capable of making the right decisions regarding his life and his children. Of course being the selfish narcissistic man he is, he is incapable of thinking about anyone else other than him and “whats in it for ME, ME, ME, ME”. There are more people in Meghan’s family than her father, her half sister and her half brother. None of them was invited to the wedding and none was ever “brought into the fold” but none of them is giving these scathing interviews and screwing over Meghan over and over and over except for these 3 nasty beings. So, no this is not on KP, this is entirely on TM Sr.
And please RK needs to spare me the blame it all on KP. The moment Vonnie learnt that Meghan was dating Harry, she started with her “princess push” hogwash, trashing her half sister in the tabloids time and again. The British Media have gone out of their way to hurt Harry in every possible way, and now Meghan’s father, half sister and half brother have made themselves the British Media best weapon ever. They’ve won in the sense that there are some that hate Meghan badly. But they’re loosing if Meghan cares less about her haters and just loves her husband and they both continue to live a happy life. Best revenge ever.
So, yeah, there’s lots of blame to go around but I don’t place any of that blame on neither KP, Meghan, Prince Harry nor any BRF member.
This man always intended to screw his daughter over. His silence in the beginning was just build up to an epic rupture of crap that he intended to stink up his daughter’s life for a very long time. He had no desire nor any plans to work with Meghan on anything, he had every intention to work with Vonnie so they can destroy Meghan. Its becoming more and more clear to me that Meghan and her father and half siblings have not been getting along for a very long time.
Awesome point about all the other family members who did not attend and are not being crazy monsters about it.
How were they going to make him come there if he didn’t want to? Kidnap him or pay him which is what he probably wanted/ expected. Doria didn’t need to be brought over so why would they do that? Look, he’s an emotional extortionist, I think Meghan and Harry were expecting shenanigans but weren’t prepared for the lengths he would go to. He doesn’t want to be controlled or helped, he wants to call the shots. If they give in one inch he will extract every mile he can get, the best thing to do,is nothing. Giving to him will never stop and it will NEVER be enough.
Just maybe, Meghan did not want the Markles there, she invited her father and look how that turned out
They were dating for eighteen months and she never found the time to take PH to meet her dad, that was intentional
Doria was meeting PH in Toronto, London and who knows if they meet up else where.
Stop blaming the Palaces, they were taking their cues from Meghan and she just didn’t want the Markles there.
Kensington palace should not be involved at all in making decisions about this situation unless Meghan asks for their help. Before the wedding or today.
This is a deeply troubled father daughter relationship hanging by a thread, it appears because of dads dysfunction.
This situation may result in Meghan severing and losing all contact with a dad she says she still loves. Maybe that is what should happen.
But that is for the daughter to decide.
This is not at all a PR problem. It is a family problem that should not be interfered with unless Meghan wants and asks the palace for help.
Oh, please. I doubt the BRF is losing any sleep over TM, he doesn’t have that much power over them. He’s just a minor irritant.
Agreed. One way or the other TM was going to be a terrible person and it is better that it happened now. If he had ever set foot in England and was given some legitimacy what we are seeing now would be child’s play in comparison. All his lies would then be more believable.
As it is there are no photos to sell of TM with any members of the BRF and we know he has never even met them. He would have made impossible demands to remain quiet until they were fed up and he would have then been a much nastier toxic version of Paul Burrell. Then Vonnie and TMJr and the rest of deranged Markles would have also been able to milk their new proximity to the BRF through TM.
This is the only way this should or can go down.
Agreed.inclusion tactic would have made it much worse. As it is seems as if burning out, earlier interviews were covered more widely and longer, now when I google Meghan other articles pregnancy speculation, jewelry are there not just TM stories. Nature of the beast, media , public attention is fickle.
Best to stick with the truth with marriage, especially such a public marriage where people and press will forever be hounding and scrutinizing who you are to make a buck. If the truth was that Meghan’s relationship with her father and the Markles was not a good one, and she didn’t feel she could trust them, then best not to invite them and pretend it’s something it’s not.
I think she’s made it very clear that they are not a part of her life, and she’s not going to cater to them. Now we can all see why. Inviting them to the wedding would have only given them more opportunities to sell stories to the tabloids which could then include other wedding guests and royals.
I think Thomas himself is absolutely nothing to them. But the people that love Harry have to be pained by what he and his wife are going through.
There is no way Harry is not in a state that he can’t make these people stop trashing his wife and protect her from her relatives and the press.
This is a personal family crisis. It’s not a palace crisis.
In a sliding door situation maybe if Samantha had been invited she wouldn’t have been in her fathers ear getting him to give interviews and stage pictures. Her bitterness is the catalyst for all this craziness. Would they still be toxic?? Hell yeah, but probably not publicly. Its too late now though. Not sure theres much they can do now. It will lose steam but there’s always interest in royalty so they will ride this out for a very long time.
Stop blaming vonnie for thomas’ behavior, the man is a narcissist, have you seen how belligerent he is, sure she is in his ear, but this is all his doing.
They all have a sense of entitlement, he declaring he is a family member of the Royal family.
The bucks stops with Meghan, and she is not letting her father run her life, he is repeating the same thing over and over.
I see him getting called a narcissist very often and I guess I’m not a fan of that and I’d caution against it. I’m not saying the man isn’t a nasty piece of work – he is – but a lot of professionals don’t diagnose or label people they don’t actually treat. Its basing and making a diagnosis off of what is, in reality, very little information so it’s not exactly appropriate to do. I guess my point is we shouldn’t diagnose him off of what little we have seen of him. It’s not our place to be doctors to people we don’t know.
Agree, labeling him with a diagnosis of NPD is inappropriate. And there are a lot of similar disorders with narcissistic features. Sometimes even in a treatment setting picking the exact diagnosis is difficult or takes months or years to determine.
But narcissistic language and it’s usage against a target is clearly happening here. It is irrelevant what the guys exact disorder is or maybe he doesn’t have one. And narcisstic language is sometimes used by those with slightly different things going on.
It’s his behavior that people are observing. His pattern of speaking in truth, calculated omission, and lies that is sorta special.
Evrry single person has the occasional narcissistic blip or moment. But no one here could just decide to whip up a mix of truth, calculated omission and lies like cookies.
This man has made a lot of behavior, feelings, and beliefs fully public. By choice. He was not exposed against his will.
Judging behavior is fair. No one need make a diagnosis to call his behavior narcissistic.
Honestly, Samantha seems capable of some very outrageous behavior. She would have looming for slights to become enraged about. Shrieking about what she calls indignace (her own made up word) seems like her normal every day behavior.
If there is one human on earth that would scream you heartless bitch at the queen during a reception, it would be Samantha.
The stupid cow would also spend the rest of her life bragging about it as if it were a great accomplishment. I wonder if that would be enough to turn her fans at the DM against her?
Vonnie is NOT responsible for TM Sr. behavior, and she is NOTin his ear or making him do anything; geez, please stop with this madness. TM Sr. is a frigging adult that is making ALL life and financial decisions for himself without Vonnie doing nothing for him. TM Sr. has said so in a million words, why are you still blaming Vonnie for TM Sr. harassing his daughter?
I was responding to a comment about wether she should have invited her sister. Obviously I agree with those that think she was wise to withhold the invite.
Why would they invite her?? She clearly does not know how to conduct herself in public so I don’t blame Meghan at all for not setting herself up for public embarrassment by inviting this piece of trash. I highly doubt it is the first time this vile woman has acted this way. Remember she used to refer to Doria as “the help” when she was younger. I doubt Thomas is much better and it was a gamble inviting him and look what happened. Oh my gosh, can you imagine Samantha actually at the wedding??? I can’t even imagine what she would have done, but behaving and being a model of decorum would not have been the outcome. Sometimes you get dealt a crap hand with your family and you are better off without them. At least Doria is a class act through and through and I am glad for Meghan that she has her.
Yeah I was agreeing with you. It would have been insanity to invite her.
Sorry, Hershey, I didn’t mean to respond to you specifically, just ranting about how wacky that situation would have been. I don’t know what Samantha would have done, but it would have been horrific because she has no dignity and doesn’t seem capable of embarrassment!
British media and all these Royal reporters are literally obsessed with Meghan, it was since the days of Lady Diana that I didn’t see such a thing.
I wonder if Harry ever thinks ‘what have I gotten into?’. It sounds harsh but this is something I’m sure he was not expect It to deal with.
I doubt Harry ever thinks that. He’s happy, his FIL is in Mexico and running out of sad sack tabloid material, they’re moving onward.
I doubt it. I think Harry knew how awful her father’s side of the family was before the engagement. Remember the uproar over his comment about Meghan finally having the family she needs (or something like that), with the exception of Doria of course. Plus, he’s no stranger to family controversy. In any case he really loves her, that much is clear.
You mean the Nazi uniform wearing prince Harry? You mean the son of a man who made a tampon statement?
Harry was seen worse.
There are pictures of Harry wearing a Nazi uniform all over the Internet. He has no room to criticize anybody.
Why everytime, out the Nazi uniform. Everybody has made mistakes and he is not allowed?
He is allowed to make mistakes but when you make racist, ignorant mistakes of this magnitude (espacially in the public eye), you have no room to criticize anybody else.
Anyway, the point is probably moot as I doubt Prince Harry is blaming Meghan for that mess with her dad and half-siblings.
@Sushi, because he was literally wearing a NAZI uniform. There are “mistakes” and then there is dressing like an ‘effing NAZI when you are a Prince of the United Kingdom, and when your great-great uncle was also known to be a Nazi who hung out with Hitler. It’s gross, and incredibly disrespectful.
If his grandparents, who literally fought the Nazis, can forgive his stupid youthful behaviour, the rest of us ought to be able to do so.
There are plenty of people who fought Nazis and who are missing some family members because of them who are not okay with this “youthful” behavior. And by grandparents, are you refering to racist extraordinaire Prince Philip?!
Yes, I am. World War II Royal Navy hero Prince Philip (whose mother hid Jews in Athens and is recognised as one of Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nations) and ATS driver Princess Elizabeth. People contain multitudes, including Prince Harry and other royals.
The US Army was officially segregated in WWII (unlike the British Army). It was, in many ways, a very different time. And I will continue to explain the cultural distinctions here until there are no more pixels. In the UK, people have traditionally worn Nazi uniforms to make fun of them, to ridicule them. This is not like Richard Spencer, showing actual support for Nazis. It is different.
Harry used bad language when he was in the Army as a young man, like all of the others in his regiment. He doesn’t do these things now, as a mature adult. You can call it “making excuses” if you like, but I think it is a terrible shame that a person who is going to be a public figure his whole life is forever condemned for things he did when he was young and for which he has apologised.
Tina, you’re spot on.
The UK has a long tradition of poking fun in order to reduce the horror – a ‘hang man humour’. This means dressing up in Nazi uniform, or as a serial killer at Hallowe’en. Harry is one of many young men to have walked that path.
Likewise the army terminology. Others may not like it, but when soldiers are facing the enemy they denigrate them, try to reduce them comical figures, or belittle them. That means using language you may not use any other time but it serves 2 purposes; it creates camaraderie, and it helps to suppress fear and nerves. Desktop warriors would do well to remember Harry was a fighting soldier at the time, and a young one at that.
Like I said before MM has told him about her family. The fact that Harry was never even introduced to the man makes sense now and it speaks volumes and volumes about his subsequent statements about her not having a family. MM is probably the one telling everyone else what kind of lunatic her father really is.
Besides, the Windsors have plenty of scandals of their own. Fergie and the toe sucking, Fergie touring America selling access to Andrew for money, Andrew the pedophile, Charles and Cam, Diana stalking a married man, Diana’s affair with that red haired guy has haunted Harry his entire life, Phillip sleeping around, Princess Margaret’s notoriety, Uncle David and Wallis being Nazi sympathizers and then the racier stuff that never makes it to the papers. There something very dark about Lord Mountbatten but I can’t remember the details of that scandal.
TM makes himself look bad. He doesn’t reflect on the BRF so I see no reason they would really be up in arms over him. If anything it probably brings them closer together.
@magnoliarose AMEN! He knows his family arent angels and tbh this drama probably brings him and Meghan closer/I think they’ll stick together through this.
The abdication of Edward VIII from the throne was an existential crisis for the royal family. A crazy family member is nothing compared to that. The media will eventually move on because most have seen through the Sammy and tommy show and are starting to tune out.
And it should be noted that Pippa’s father in law is accused of raping a minor. That’s going to be a far bigger deal when it comes to family get togethers where the Cambridge kids are involved.
You mean buck-naked-in-Las-Vegas-hotel-room Harry? I doubt it.
Lol. I forgot about that one.
Isnt’ that funny that out of the royal quatuor, Meghan, the actress, is the only one who does not have nude pics out there?
Sarah, is it fair to say Kate has nude pics? And there are topless pics of Meghan on some scary website I would never visit.
I thinks he’s like any other man, he’s probably heartbroken and beyond livid he cant protect his wife
Um, the British Royal Family is more fucked up than Meghan’s family. Why would he think that?
If he acts like his dad in the future, will be forced to agree with you.
I don’t know him, but I give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong.
Letter he sent about the press harassment in 2016 sounded pretty genuine
Ha ha ha ha @Loopy, I can see right through your thin disguise!! What do you mean Harry is asking “what did he get himself into”, LOL. Lets see:
1) Harry has naken in Vegas picture all over the internet.
2) Harry has drunk like a frog and making a fool of himself videos all over the internet
3) Prince of Wales and his infamous tampoon telephone recordings
4) Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall affair for years
5) Prince of Wales association with the pedophile priest is well documented
6) Sophie Wessex attempted to see access to the BRF
7) Edward Wessex used his position to sell out his nephews
6) Sarah Ferguson attempted to sell access to Duke of York (and all other Sarah Ferguson crap she pulled over the years)
8) I’m not gonna speak ill of late Princess Di (RIP), she is passed and Ill leave her out of the narrative
9) William taking out his willie and pissing in public
10) Prince Andrew the pedophile and all his other crimes that were swept under the rag
11) And don’t get me started on Kate and her family shenanigans
The list is endless.
Trust me, Thomas Markle and Vonnie are just potatoes compared to the BRF crap and Harry’s family has no moral ground to stand on.
And IMVHO, this “crisis” is just an imagination of some people’s parts. This is such a nothing burger Im surprised the tabloids are still milking anything out of it.
Only here to add that Fergie (during her marriage to Andrew) got her toes sucked by her “financial advisor” whilst the two (she and the aforementioned financial advisor) were sunbathing in St Tropez, and I, for one, cannot let that be forgotten!
They could only sever all ties, there is no managing this idiot. I have to say, every time he shows up I feel more sympathy towards Meghan. I can’t imagine people feeling negative towards her when her dad is so clearly cashing in on the connection and embarrassing her at every corner.
This is all on Markle and his family of idiots. Not sure what more they could have done right before the wedding because Markle bailed out at the last minute (need the receipts on that heart attack to believe it).
This is some BS.
Thomas was told not to talk to the press, like Doria more than likely was. He choose to listen to his crazy daughter that’s been talking crap about Meghan since we first found out she was dating Harry. He made this mess because he’s sneaky and didn’t want to listen or accept help from Harry and Meghan.
Why would Meghan want people invited to her wedding that ran to the press as soon as her relationship went public. She wanted her father there, but he wanted to cash in like his offspring, got caught and couldn’t face the music.
I agree with that; I think that’s what actually happened. And that there was genuinely no room for “a little speech” from him like he wanted. It wasn’t an ordinary wedding, you silly man. Adult narcissists often act like a tantrumy 6 year-old when they can’t get their way and control the situation to their liking. Fact is her “family” is bummed that they had no part in it. The palace handled everything the best way they could. True narcissistic behaviour is frightening and mind-boggling up close. It can be very dangerous. He had his chance, he blew it. Just go away now, sod off. Let them make their dirty money and stew in their own juices. They bury themselves deeper every day with their nastiness.
This is so true and if you have not dealt with a full blown adult narcissist- you have a lot of trouble wrapping your mind around TM behavior. I have dealt with this and he is so predictable. Once you spot the pattern- I know MM sees this for what it is.
There is no way BP could have predicted that thomas would be so pathetic and toxic.
The blame is just on him.
I think TM and his other older children are dicks. It’s not on Meghan nor is it on the Royal Family. Bringing them over to the Palace prior to the wedding would’ve just given them more info to sell to the media.
Exactly.
My thoughts too. He would have burned through 5 smartphones recording and snapping photos on the sly.
Exactly. Even today, if Meghan were to give her father a 2 minute long phone conversation, he and Samantha would milk those 120 seconds into 8-10 more interviews.
I think the Palace could have done more to prepare Thomas Markle but I really doubt much would have changed. Meghan hasn’t spoken to her siblings in years. Samantha was trashing her since they announced their relationship. It just got worst when they announced their engagement. Thomas didn’t do or say anything until a couple of weeks before the wedding. I don’t know if the money and attention got to be too much but I think he still would have gone to the tabloids.
As a couple posters have stated further up, TM was provided with help but sent the poor fellow away. You can lead a horse to water…..
Do you remember when Harry had said that Meghan had been fine at Sandringham at Christmas with the family she had never had and people had criticized him? Well, he was right.
Yes.
But perhaps that was the blunder that set off the Markels into attack mode. Was that the first mention of them to the public? If so PH stepped in it first and made them publicly look bad. Even if her relatives, like Samantha, was already making waves in the press, he shouldn’t have given them such a big bone to gnaw on. It would have been better to say he and MM thought it important to use the holidays for MM to meet more of his family and to experience the more formal aspects of royal life among the family she was marrying into.
Any kind of feeble excuse would have been better than giving them such a blow that obviously drew blood. I mean it pretty much just slams them.
If there were any mistakes made in the handle the Markels game plan, I think that may have been the biggest. PH went off script again and basically slapped them in the face in front of the whole world. Ouch.
Idk. MM and Markels obviously don’t have good relations, so likely there was bound to be shenanigans no matter what.
Harry, obviously, isnt too smart. And I just read that he files more complaints against the press than any other royal. I think he is an entitled, thin-skinned, spoiled and petulant man-child. I used to think William was the more difficult brother, but he hasnt had temper tantrums at the press, the way Harry has. Maybe Carole M is a tempering force for William and gives him good advice on how to deal with the press.
Like Carole or not, the woman seems to be very smart and very savvy.
Well I’ll give PH a little bit of a break. It must be very difficult for anyone, even an entitled prince, to be raised under the constant scrutiny of global press. Especially when the press has such a traumatic association for him in relation to the harassment of his mother and their participation in her death. Entitled or not, most young men growing up with that kind of pain would have a hard time holding their temper when they feel helpless to protect their loved ones.
Yes Harry’s got to get more savvy about how he handles the press. The thing is, for as mortifying the Markels are for MM right now, Harry is the one that is possibly more terrorized by it.
MM knew what her father’s family was like, and although this hurts her deeply, she probably knew something to this effect would happen. She’s tough. She knew what she was getting into in regards to joining the RF and the obstacles her family would pose. She still chose to go ahead. Yes she’s wounded right now, but she knows she’s already won the battle. People (Markels) are just trying to get in the last shots at her to hurt her in their defeat and to score $ at her expense.
While MM was prepared for this battle, and in fact chose it (didn’t run away), Harry is ill prepared to handle reliving the emotional trauma and frustration of seeing again his most beloved being attacked by press. He was raised being told to just bare it and not react. That easier to do when it’s just you being attacked, but when it’s someone you love and because they’re relation to you makes them a target, it must be painfully frustrating to go through. Yes Harry is a rich, entitled prince, but he’s obviously suffering a great deal over this just as MM is, but from a more painful experience in his youth that you just don’t get over cause you’re grown man.
The half sibs were dragging Meghan before her engagement to Harry so I think they did the right thing of icing them. And this story shows what the palace and the royal reporters think of the Markles: American trash that simply should have been bought off. They basically admitted they threw trinkets of Kate’s Uncle Gary, proving how low they think of him.
The Windsors are winning the PR war here. Sam is so toxic she is not on Celebrity Big Brother; Piers Morgan dragged Meghan on Twiter, pressuring her go see Evil Papa Smurf and people dragged him back. The royals did what they could and I think holding the line is the best course.
The difference between the Middletons/Markles is that the former are not hellbent on destroying their daughter/sister/niece’s happiness. If anything, they understand that in oder to have access to the royal-adjacent lifestyle, they need to play nice up to a certain point and not be too public when they screw up.
The Palace is dealing with something entirerly different with the Markles who don’t want to just financially profit from Meghan, they are also keen (lol) to DESTROY her life, marriage, happiness, anything they can touch.
There is a level of personnality disorders on the Markle side that is not present on her mom’s side or the Middletons. Honestly, Gary’s embarassing and sometimes criminal antics cannot be compared to Scammy’s 18 month long campaign of verbal abuse, in terms of the impact they have on Kate/Meghan.
But I fail to see how Meghan or KP could have avoided this mess. I guess they could have refused to involve Papa Markle from the get-go, given that he was not in her first wedding, but it was hard to anticipate that he would f**k up this badly. I think Meghan is used to being somehow let down by him but not to this degree. This time, the scales were higher, hence the magnitutude of his f**k up was higher as well.
@the Middletons are a close knit family. The Markles are not. Meghan has her mother. Really the only one she can count on.
Thank God for her mother. I remember when Papa Markle tried to involve her in his paparazzi shenanigans by deposing flowers on her doorstep for Mother’s day. He is so embarassing.
Also, the other difference with the Middletons is that its kind of normal scandalous stuff (omg I cant believe I just said that about the sister of the future queen having an alleged rapist for a FIL.) But – someone above listed some of the royal family scandals from the past few decades, and the Middleton stuff kind of slides into that. The royal family knows how to deal with those types of scandals (and I think the press would have made a bigger deal over things like Pippa’s father in law, but Markle is taking up all their royal coverage right now.) And right now too the press is invested in painting Kate as the perfect British royal, while Meghan constantly “breaks protocol.” So the coverage of Kate and the Middletons HAS changed since Meghan came on the scene.
As long as the Thomas markle stories keep getting hits and the interviews keep getting ratings, they will keep doing them.
If only the Markle could just shut up. I feel tired and they’re not even my relatives. I cannot even imagine how Meghan must feel about their nonsense.
Ever wonder WHY he wasn’t at her first wedding? Or ANY of the Markles? I think they’re only making the stink now because of the grand scale of Meghan’s new life. Married to Trevor, a “nobody” on a famous scale: who cares? PRINCE Harry… BOOM! Like cockroaches scattering on the floor!
Thomas Markle is a narcissistic abusive douchecanoe who is publicly abusing his youngest daughter through the only means available to him, and the media are helping him.
It’s time for everyone, ESPECIALLY the media, to stop blaming Meghan for a grown man’s behavior. She ain’t his mama. She is not, nor was she ever, responsible for his actions.
I firmly believe that people who say, “they should have done more! given Thomas more!” have never dealt with an emotional abuser and toxic manipulator. Believe people (especially women) and the boundaries they set.
The media did go after Kate & her family for years. The accusations against Uncle Gary & Pippa’s father-in-law made the front pages. Many derogatory stories have been written about the Middletons including their social background, and not to even mention the constant attacks on blogs & on social media. The press have also written many sexist & misogynist stories about Kate. The Middletons didn’t have it easy with the media, the difference is the Middletons have kept their mouths shut & continue to remain unified.
Yep, I agree; there was a time when almost every front page news was something to do with dragging the Middletons. Kate had it bad, too- perhaps not as bad as Meghan whose immediate family are parasites, but can we stop with the comparisons.
I don’t think it would have mattered what they did to invite the Markle family in. Something on this order would have happened eventually. Thomas Markle would have found some grievance to exploit for money and/or attention soon enough. I agree with those that think ignoring him entirely is the best thing they can do. Give him no oxygen.
The reporters are doing their chicken little act, the monarchy will be destroyed by three people, who are loud mouth liars, with no access to the ‘the dust old crown’ in thomas markle words.
Is is all about Meghan’s race, they can dress it up, how ever they like.
It was Meghan and PH wedding, their choice who gets invited. There was no way in hell Meghan would’ve invited abusive vonnie and Jr. the woman beater. Thomas thought he was running the show about who should be invited.
Pulling stunts, trying to manipulate them with his fake heart attack, announcing, he was not coming then he was coming, then Meghan put an end to it by announcing he was not coming.
Just give him another week and he will be blabbing that they withdrew his invitation, like how he blab about not being allowed to give his speech.
Now we know why thomas called Meghan willful, because she did not cave in to his demand for providing airfare and accommodations for the markles.
There he was thinking Meghan hit the jackpot and her job was to support the markles, because he did what parents are suppose to do, take care of your children, now he wants a knighthood for it.
Peg unfortunately I think you are right. It all boils down to race.
Cease and desist letter, defamation
They need to pursue legal action
lol no. That would be TM’s dream, the little guy against the mean old BRF.
In the US, they have probably met the bar for legal action. And if so the magic word is CEASE. If they don’t comply, she can seek damages. They probably don’t want to see their earning from daily mail seized.
And easier for a press injunction. If they can’t get their words out, they are done.
Hershey, but he is not IN the US, he’s in Mexico. What is the burden of proof there, and will they actually enforce it? Highly unlikely against a US citizen.
“They need to pursue legal action.”
I’m curious #Stacey..who is “they”? Personally I can’t imagine a lawsuit against Meghan’s relatives being the way to go. Several things argue against that approach to me although I’m not a lawyer. First, there’s an expression about s*it, the more you stir it, the more it stinks. A lawsuit would stir things up. It would also involve discovery. Second, it could make the monarchy look weak—a 1000 year institution that has survived wars, an abdication during the last century, Nazi affiliations, religious crises, political uprisings, beheadings of various folks, and all kinds of palace intrigue can’t survive “mean words?” Third, there are no meaningful assets to collect if a lawsuit was successful. And if there were assets, how would it look for the monarchy to be squeezing Meghan’s certainly-not-rich relatives for money? But if a lawsuit is the way to go, who is the “they” who would bring it? Harry and/or Meghan? And in what country/countries would the suit be brought? Or would the suit be against the press? That’s a chilling thought even though this situation is bad and I have alot of sympathy for Meghan.
It is not about the monarchy. It is about Meghan, her husband, and the dad and sister.
Here in the US no one would expect to be able to defame anyone like this and not need to hire a defense attorney.
Yeah the legal action would get attention. But it has been three months. I don’t see this stopping without her taking action.
It’s not like the public is going to lose interest in her. She deserves to get on with her life with her husband and start a family if she wants.
No human being should have to live under a volcano of abuse. Really it doesn’t matter how it looks. If she wants to make it stop, she should be able to handle this however she wants. I can’t possibly look much worse than it does now.
I would have agreed with you in June.
If “they” means Meghan then I’m all for it. Meghan is the only one that needs to take legal actions against her father and her half sister and half brother. Get a restraining orders against them and get a cease and desist orders against anything concerning her name. They can continue to say stuff about the BRF if they want but nothing that connects her and her new family. And if they break it, pursue them legally in the US courts and knock all the wind outta their sails; sue them for large sums of damages and donate all proceedings to abused domestic abuse charities. Thats what needs to be done.
i agree with masamf
cease and desist letters and restraining orders so they stop the harrassment.
i think Megan Markle’s evil half sister is the one who is walking a fine line with digital bullying. She could easily get out of hand and they should keep on eye on her. I believe the sister and father’s actions are leading up to a shake down. I predict the sister and father will resort to extortion and blackmail when they run out stories to sell to tabloids.
Megan/Harry need to send out a proverbial warning shot via lawyers that enough is enough.
You cant stop someone from talking about you when you are a public figure. Look how the Trumps talk about Hillary. Suing is sure to cause more shenanigans, and get the public angry at the bullying royals.
What are they saying about Meghan that she could even sue for? That they weren’t invited to the wedding? In the sister’s case, it’s true. So sue over her saying that? And you think some shark lawyer wouldnt defend the Markles pro bono and counter sue the royals? That would be interesting! Discovery in the US would force the royals to reveal all their assets. You think they want that?
You all need to calm down. This is what happens to people who marry into royals. Kate’s family was dragged and now this family is being dragged. Meghan should just ignore it and move on.
No way. They would make into a theatrical production on a daily basis. Already they are pretending to be victims when nothing has happened to them. I don’t even want to imagine what they would do with that.
Legal action would be a mistake if it won’t work. I’m not a lawyer. But if hers feels it would be effective? It would make this stop.
And really right now the circus can’t get much worse.
I think its also borderline harrassment and digital bullying (which is a crime). The Markle side needs to put on notice by Megan and Harry to stop their illegal behaviors or they will face legal action, IMO.
I don’t know if giving multiple interviews to reporters that are later carried online = digital bullying so far as *TM* goes. So far as defamation goes though, my basic *layperson’s* understanding is that in the US “pure opinion” is usually not subject to defamation claims (although the line between opinion and assertion of fact may be murky or the two can be mixed in a single statement.) Generally, it’s only when a person makes a false statement to a 3rd party about someone and causes damage or has intent to cause damage that there may be defamation. The statement has to be capable of being proven false. If it can’t be proven true/false, it’s not defamation. So if TM says “Meghan is selfish” for it to be defamation it can’t be a statement of his opinion and if it’s not ruled an opinion but a statement of fact, I believe in the US the burden is on the plaintiff to prove she’s not selfish. Ugh. Who would want to try to do that in court? His statement along the lines of “I made her the person she is today” seems to be opinion and can’t be proven factually true or false (although I certainly don’t think it’s true myself.) But again, probably not legal defamation. Other things he’s said like “Meghan lived with me from 11-17” are factual statements that are either true or false. But the process of proving what TM, DR, and MM were doing two plus decades ago during those 6 years to determine the truth of the statement would require lots of court evidence about private matters—quite messy and generally courts are open to the public in the US. Plus, how is Meghan defamed by that statement anyway even if it’s false? I guess Doria might be, if she was the primary caretaker but TM claimed he was especially if TM said something to suggest Doria was unwilling/unable to parent. But so far as I know, he hasn’t said that. I’m also not sure if Meghan is considered a public figure so far as the law goes.
So IMO, a lawsuit brought by Meghan would be messy, no slam-dunk, no damages to gain even if there was a win, and terrible optics besides. I doubt the mere threat of Iegal action would shut him up. I expect it would only make things worse.
I think this will eventually go away because there won’t be anything new for TM to say. I just don’t see the law being helpful in this family mess but I’d love to hear informed views from practicing attorneys!
Meghan, and only Meghan, is the only one that needs to file suits against her family members.
I think it could have been handled differently with TM. It might not have changed the outcome. We’ll never know. But stuff didn’t blow up with TM until close to the wedding. It was always odd to me TM was supposed to meet Harry for the 1st time in the UK right before the wedding. I know people commenting on CB on other stories have said their spouses didn’t meet their parents in advance. But I’m assuming their weddings weren’t televised worldwide either. Harry’s public comment about the family Meghan never had–while perhaps accurate–might not have been made had Harry actually met TM. Of course, Harry and Meghan have to do what they think is right and they can’t control the behavior of others. TM is responsible for his own bad behavior as we all are. But there are ways to avoid pushing buttons as Harry’s comment did. (And why wouldn’t it?) What was done by KP was a bad plan IMO. I have read TM said he didn’t want protection and maybe he would have refused everything. But I’m not convinced of that if he’d met Harry.
There are lots of reasons MM and her family has gotten attention Kate’s didn’t. One, besides racism, is that they are American. And while they are the gift that keeps on giving these days, they also provided drama close to the wedding. Many of the things mentioned about Kate’s (British) relatives didn’t happen close to the wedding or close together in time but have been spread out over many years. Uncle Gary’s drug use was a fairly big deal as I recall and if he had fed the press, it might have been a bigger deal. It does seem the palace helped control that. I think the BRF also suppressed negative reporting re: the Middletons. I don’t know whether they can’t or won’t do the same now. I suspect they can’t because the American press isn’t under their control. Even so, I doubt the Markles are causing an existential crisis.
Carole is very smart. She befriended Paul Dacre (Daily Mail proprietor) early on. Goldsmith/Middleton scandals are minimised. Meghan has no such protection.
She did try to get him to come over to london well before the wedding according thomas.
I think he had an interesting life for himself in Mexico. He has been photographed with interesting friends in Mexico. He has had friends tell reporters that he would beat his personal demons to make it to the wedding.
That seemed to be theme, he would rouse himself from his cave and shake off demons.
This guy had personal problems of some kind going on that make him getting to that wedding way more complicated than buying him a ticket and inviting him.
This makes Prince Charles look like father of the year. In the end, it’s going to be good (well, maybe good is a stretch) for the RF because NOT taking action and just letting TM tire himself out makes the royals seem more sympathetic. They are being harassed and these rotten people (TM + kids) are just out to cause trouble and make money.
TM has made such unstable comments recently (“Maybe they’d be better off if I were dead,” for example) that it’s best they stay away.
I actually think all of that is a good thing for the Royal Family. They appear like a close-knitted, perfectly functional family who have totally embraced Meghan and her mother, compared to the Markles. No more accusation of snobbism or racism!
And if things go sour between Harry and Meghan, you can be d*mn sure that they will use her family’s shenanigans against her.
The writer and his sources seem to assume the family members are reasonable. Their constant verbal assaults show an extreme lack of that character quality. Any attention or perceived slight fuels their behavior.
The dad will milk his last conversation with his daughter and Harry until people stop paying attention. Trying to appease him now is like rewarding a bullying or petulant child.
I find this all very interesting and whilst I believe Meghan had already told Harry about her toxic family I do wonder if they told the BRF and TQ everything. It seems odd for them to be so underprepared for something like this. Just idle thoughts.
I think Meghan herself was surprised by the magnitude of her dad’s shenanigans. I think she is used to him not always being there for her, but stagging pap photos, speed-dialing TMZ every few hours and faking a health scare the WEEK before her wedding was not something she anticipated IMO. If so, she would not have invited him. But the scales were higher, the stage bigger so Thomas Sr decided to upp the drama.
I find comments like this interesting. I am not accusing you of this, but I’m kind of getting tired of the backhanded victim blaming I keep seeing.
“She should have told BFR everything.”
“She should have known her father would do this.”
“Why didn’t she just invite her family?”
“Why doesn’t she try to do something now?”
Meghan is being emotionally bullied and used by her biological family. Why is it HER responsibility to control what they do? All she can do is cut them out of her life and try to live her best life with her mother and her chosen family.
I found the part about Gary’s interviews very interesting. Should we take it all the interviews he’s done since then have been approved by KP? Also his “alleged” drug taking was him recorded taking drugs and then talking about how he could get more and underage girls too. Not to mention the abuse.
And As if the Markles wouldn’t have found the money to fly over for the werdding if they’d gotten invites. Hell they would have sold themselves to the highest bidder and given a behind the scenes insight to it if given the chance. A woman Meghan’s never even met was supposed to be on ITV to talk about her, they would have sold their story to everyone if they’d been invited.
I also don’t believe for a second that the Palace is having any sort of crisis or have lost control. They’re doing the only thing you can do with people like him, ignore them. Sadly I think Meghan’s been through this before with him,she knows how to deal with it.
I am so over these royal reporters insisting that KP and Meghan could have “done something” to stop Markle, or that they could still do something. Richard Palmer in particular has been bad about this on Twitter.
The only thing that will stop Markle is if tabloids stop taking his phone calls (or stop calling him) and stop running these annoying interviews with him. I think it makes the tabloids look bad, not Meghan. He’s not saying anything new, his story keeps changing, and every time he opens his mouth more and more people understand why Meghan has cut him out.
Richard Kay wants some big drama. There is an hysteria around Meghan and from what reporters are saying, the palace is keeping them away from her because they clearly intend to twist her words and just make a big deal out of everything. This thing with Thomas Markle is exactly that.
They want to make this some huge crisis and it’s not. Meghan is probably the only one truly upset and bothered by it and Harry because she is his wife. But I don’t think even they are letting it get to them. Thomas has shown who he is and what he’s going to do. They’ve done their best and he won’t be satisfied until they are kissing his ass and giving him everything he wants. That’s not going to happen.
The media needs to let this go. it’s a one sided narrative of a emotionally abuse father who wants to bully his daughter in contacting him and not respecting her, her husband, or her agency. He betrayed her trust in the most public of manners and these reporters seem to be ignoring that because it gave them a story. They want them to contact each other because they know Thomas can be bought and they will have their “in”.
Imagine how much money Thomas and the media can make posting exclusives about a pregnant Meghan or pictures and details about the life of a Baby Sussex?
He can’t be trusted and as long as he obtusely continues to talk to the media, she will never contact him.
They did the best they could. He set up the pictures with the paps behind their backs. That should have been a clear sign that he was going to do as he pleases and he expected everyone to accept whatever damage he causes. Thomas is unreasonable and like a narcissist, he does not care how his actions affect others. He wants what he wants and you better give it to him. That’s not how the Royals operate and that’s not how Meghan should be forced to live her life- pacifying and pleasing her father in fear that he’ll unleash his anger on her in the media. It’s a very twisted and unhealthy relationship and no child should be forced into it.
I agree. Support for Thomas is mostly press-driven. And people aren’t dumb, they can tell why the press is so invested in Meghan contacting her father.
It’s completely press driven. I took a look at the comments on the last article the fail ran on TM. It was pretty obvious the highest rated comments were fake.
Anything calling TM out for what he is were being immediately downvoted by the hundreds or deleted, as there were posters talking about their comments disappearing.
So the fail does moderate even the comments to suit their narrative, along with the obvious bias in the articles about Meghan.
They’re shameless and hateful, I don’t know how they sleep at night.
So agree. It’s not a monarchy crisis at all. It’s a really sad personal family crisis for Meghan and Harry. And for the people that love them.
I don’t by what some of the media say that Harry and Meghan are somehow immune from having feelings like this.
Harry sent that letter about her being harassed before the engagement. He had steam coming out of his ears dictating it. You could hear it.
That was over things press stories and comments.
This is her family! Their words can’t be more hateful, they have maxed out the hate.
I’m pretty sure Harry is livid. And enraged he can’t protect her. He has lived shades of this scenario before in his life.
Wish Richard Kay had a shred of empathy in him.
Well said.
A year ago many were predicting that stories about the Markles would die down. We can argue about the rights & wrongs and who is to blame, but the plain fact is the strategy employed by Harry & Meghan and KP to handle the Markles has been a complete failure. Every capable organization needs to have a crisis management plan, it’s about gaining the upper hand & not allowing other people to set the narrative. H&M and KP have allowed the narrative to run away from them.
How has it been a complete failure when the public is tired of these stories?
The press is out of touch here. They think they’ve hit a nerve with the BRF so they’re seeking revenge for Harry’s letter and lack of access to Meghan. Richard Palmer’s self-pitying tweets made this quite clear. They’re wrong and they’re going to lose this. It was brought up yesterday that many people come from abusive families and understand these dynamics and Meghan is actually gaining sympathy instead of being shamed.
What the public think is not always what matters. This is a woman being bullied in the most hateful way by her dad. I doubt she gives a crap about how much sympathy daily mail readers have for her. Why should that matter at all.
The sympathy of strangers is kind but what she needs is for this to stop hurting her and her new husband.
Harry sent that angry letter about the press harassment in 2016. While his dad was on some important tour. This must be much worse for them.
It matters because it affects press coverage. If there isn’t an audience for these stories, we’ll have to see what the reporters do next. Thomas’ words will just get uglier.
The press and Thomas Markle don’t want to be controlled so the press is using Thomas against Meghan and Harry. There is no way to stop this because the press is vile enough to keep using Thomas any time they feel slighted. On the other hand, I think the tide is slowly turning. I think it’s best to wait and see what happens in the fall when Harry and Meghan have more engagements in terms of an audience for Markle stories.
You think the public is tired of these stories? Where are you getting your info? These stories have the most comments, thousands and thousands of them, up to 10k one day, mostly horrible about Meghan and supportive of her father. If the paper is writing the comments themselves then they are paying a lot of people to write a lot of comments. I think it’s pretty obvious that a large % of British dislike Meghan And I don’t even think it’s racism. I think it’s because she’s American. Chelsea couldn’t take it anymore and she was a blue-eyed blonde. Even Kate had a terrible time for many years.
So what papers are you reading wher they support Meghan?
@suki
What you are seeing is what I see elsewhere. People here are sick of this story, but everywhere else? Meghan makes a juicy story that people love.
It’s not really a PR issue. It’s an abusive family member that Meghan should be calling the shots on how she wants handle the mess.
A child parent tie is about as close as it gets. If she wants to cut ties, the palace should support her. No matter what.
If she wants to put her side out, the palace should let her. If she wants to take legal action, they should back her up.
If she wants to air some of dad’s history to lesson his credibility, they should let her do that.
If the root family issues are addressed by Meghan, the story will shrink on its own. And hopefully end in a way that lets Meghan get on with her own life.
I agree with @Sophia’sSideEye that the DM comments are astroturfed.
Where else are there thousands of comments?
I don’t think Meghan should respond. Any response will be oxygen to the Markles. Let the Markle stories sit side by side with stories of Meghan and Harry carrying out engagements and making speeches. This is a long game issue.
Natalie S, that is a LOT of astroturfing! The people who don’t like Meghan are the same who voted for Brexit and that was a majority of the British. They also like Trump, although I noticed that changing on the DM. When I used to comment and mock him, I would get hundreds of red arrows. Now, I get mostly positive.
It is sad to realize how many ignorant fools there are in our countries, but the numbers have shown that there are.
A crisis plan needed. But this a family crisis for Meghan and Harry. A huge, awful personal family crisis.
I think the right strategy would be for the palace to frame this for what it is. It is a family situation for Meghan and Harry. Thomas has nothing to do with the monarchy or the Queen. It is a mistake for Kay or courtiers to make this an inferno that will wreck the crown.
It is a devastating situation to Meghan. She probably knows how she would like handle her dad. They should support her getting on with whatever she wants to do.
👏🏼 Spot on analysis! Pffft existential crisis! Does he even know what that means? They are deranged jackasses and emotional terrorists and there is no way whatsoever to manage them other than to ignore everything they do. Part of me wishes Meghan could go all Tom Cruise and sue them for slander but…. Bottom line much of this is the fault of the treacherous media who are feeding and using them.
This is a man who clearly does not have his daughter’s well being and happiness as a priority. And let’s be honest, I believe MM knows what her father is like and anticipated something but not to this degree. I’m sure the toxic crap started when they were dating and his poor behavior showed While she was gaining fame as an actress. I believe they handled it to the best of their ability. But I do think they never expected him to be the douche that he is. He has reached new levels. Shutting him down by ignoring him is the best way to go. Do not negotiate with terrorists and he is an emotional terrorist.
The palace isn’t having any sort of crisis.
At this point, there isn’t much left for the Markles to say, is there? They’re bitter and angry, and have been running their collective mouths since before the engagement.
Thomas kept quiet, well, until he didn’t, and has sold out his daughter, his ex-wife, and his son-in-law in the worst way possible: in the tabloids.
William & Harry both blame the tabloids for their mother’s death, with good reason. Now this. There will be no makeup session with the Markles. The Markles will get no new information to sell. This is it.
Let them say whatever they want. They’re running on borrowed time.
I don’t think it is a palace crisis. It is a personal crisis for Meghan and her husband. No one should have to endure harassment and defamation from a father, sister, and press every few days. For months.
Richard Kay is boo hooing about the palace. No one is hurting the palace. But two people are suffering all summer after their wedding.
And yes, she and her husband are just as battered and crushed as any one of us would be. Being royal or famous does not at all give them special powers that let bullying bounce off a shield protecting them.
It is a crisis, Richard Kay just has no idea what the real crisis is.
Can you imagine crazy Samantha at the Royal wedding and standing up in the church in front of the world objecting to the marriage? She’s that crazy and her hatred and jealousy for Meghan run that deep.
I think she would have caused some sort of scene. She someone who enjoys feeling offended. Something would have happened.
No.
Samantha Yvonne Grant/Markle, whatever her name is, has been granting interviews since 5 seconds after it was announced Meghan was dating Harry. Here’s a Youtube video from November 2016, which is when the world at large learned they were together featuring Samantha giving an interview slamming her sister for not telling her she was dating Prince Harry and calling her narcissistic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JpFPNKsRP4
The fact she did this only days after it was revealed they were dating (and a year before the engagement) shows she was chomping at the bit for any kind of excuse to publicly shame her sister. I doubt inviting Samantha to England would have solved anything. It would have just given Samantha more of a platform to announce things like “I had tea with the Queen and met her corgis!!!!” And Samantha is estranged from all family members apart from her dad so as difficult as it is, ignoring her and not engaging with her is the only method that will work. If they give her any kind of attention, it gives her legitimacy. She clearly can’t be trusted–she ran to the tabloids immediately after she found out Meghan was with Harry. Telling her not to speak to the tabloids was a moot point by then. Meghan clearly didn’t tell her because she knew Samantha couldn’t be trusted.
And her brother is no better – he recently gave an interview in which he whined that their father always treated Meghan better than him and his sister. It’s obvious that they are extremely resentful, bitter and jealous of Meghan, not only because they think that their father gave her more than he gave them, but also because Meghan has become successful and they haven’t. The resentment goes back many years and explains why she was estranged from them.
Am an American. I travel to UK regularly, but was born and raised in US.
The mainstream British press has been unfair in their coverage of a lot of issues. But coverage of Meghans situation is so biased. Richard Kay piled huge mountain of blame on palace, but it felt like his intended target was Megan.
Richard Kay made no mention of how Thomas’s behavior is harming Meghan.
In US, this would definelty be called bullying. Here when bullying occurs because of someone religious or ethnic identity, it is called harassment.
Are there not laws in UK that prohibit defamation or harassment? Cause it kinda seems like the Markles and press are committing both in broad daylight.
I’d settle for one publication calling out his bullshit. Isn’t there one pro-Palace paper, magazine or news show that could highlight the traits of a narcissist or flat out call him on his bullying?
Narcissists are so good at harming others because they use something called narcissistic language.
A combination fact, lies, and calculated omission. They put some truth in so their words are not immediately discounted. Which makes the lies harder to spot. And they leave out any information that debunks the lie they want you to believe.
This is what they use to turn others against their victim.
A lot of the press is probably just fooled. Journalists like Kay are probably putting out what some of the courtiers want put out to the public.
An article like that wouldn’t seem consistent with messages from Heads Together. And it would be a PR nightmare if it came out or was even suspected the palace was behind an article like that. Other than saying something like this is a private family matter (which it is), I don’t think palace action will help at this point and has the potential to make things worse.
You cant sue someone for saying you’re selfish. It would be a huge mistake to try. Counter-suits would be filed, what a circus!
And Lady D, What would happen if a newspaper called out a private citizen and called him a narcissist? You think Thomas markle wouldn’t own that paper? You cant diagnose someone as mentally ill cause you dont like their behavior.
True, but you could also run large articles on narcissism signs and symptoms without ever mentioning TM’s name.
I don’t believe Markle situation is anything close to a crisis for the British Royals. The Prince of Sleaze; Andrew and hanger-on Fergie caused all kinds of problems yet the British Royals go on. That’s the power of the British Royals. To believe they have no real power, or believe they’re just figureheads, is foolish thinking.
If MM continues to ignore her troublesome relatives then eventually it’ll quiet down.
No the royals themselves are not in an existential crisis because estranged family members of the sixth in line to the throne are talking to the media.
I think that there are Palace staffers who are wringing their hands because it is their job is to deal with and manage the media on behalf of the BRF, so the Markle media storm is having a significant impact on the staffers more because the Markles, namely Thomas and Samantha, are controlling the narrative which must be unsettling to the media pros.
There is not ongoing hand-wringing by the media over Middleton related antics because the Middletons and Middleton adjacents are not feeding the beast by granting interviews to any and every media outlet that will pay them and/or give them exposure, and then making provocative comments.
P.S.
Just to be clear, while I am saying that the Markles are controlling the narrative, I don’t mean that the things that they are saying are being embraced, rather that their soundbites are grabbing the headlines.
Oh hell to the.no!!! She was wise not to include those people, they would have made many scenes and acted a fool. Also why on earth would you invite someone to be in the presence of your Mother who they referred to as the maid??!! They are not close, they don’t come to the wedding, stop with the appeasement crap.
Harry and Meg did offer to bring Thomas to London…ordered suit, shoes and would take care of him while there. He shit all over them. He allowed his other evil & deranged daughter Samantha to meddle so she could extend her tabloid salary. It was her idea for the paparazzi shots in a twisted attempt to repair his image. When their “Mickey Mouse” plan failed and the world found out. TM informs us now that during phone calls with Harry, the stupid old man hung up before saying once again “it’s easier if I just die”. I agree with Kaiser, there was no controlling of this situation. It’s exactly why he didn’t meet TM in person. Mr. Markle showed his true colors early on. His story WILL run out. I hope Meg and Harry freeze him out forever. He’s a despicable person and doesn’t deserve to be a grandfather to their future children by his treatment of his own daughter. What is so ironic is both Thomas Sr and Samantha are estranged from other family members but want to pick on MM and CONTINUE TO MAKE MONEY OFF HER NAME. Aren’t there any laws on slander and defamation?
For all the commenters saying that the Palace should have handled it better – what do you think they should have done then????? They tried to include Evil Papa Smurf but he rejected ALL OFFERS OF HELP AND INCLUSION, to which he has admitted to several times. I’m intrigued to think how you would have handled toxic narcissists who want to control and ruin anything you have that they don’t but want.
As I said in a previous thread, the press are continuing to push the vile Markles on us to punish Harry, Meghan and the RF for the lack of perceived access to the new Ducal couple. This is dog whistle racism and classism here, they don’t like that she’s an American mixed race divorcee. Wallis Simpson was equally torn apart all those years ago – even now she’s still trashed.
As much as I’d like to see the press burn the Markles with their skeletons am not sure that would even work to make them go away – it might send Evil Papa Smurf back to his fast food man cave but it would only further excited the unhinged evil step sister. She truly is mentally unstable, the hatred and bitterness oozes from her every pore. She will always shriek about Meghan and for the most part is ignored – which just enrages her even more.
Although saying all that the Fail has published a couple of articles with their usual passive aggressive jibes and Daddy Dearest reiterating his lies and bad behaviour. Subtly pointing out that he lied about where he watched the wedding (in an AirBnb close to his home and NOT at deaths door in hospital) and that he likes to stuff his fat face with fast food while claiming he eats healthily.
Yeah at first I was thinking what kind of journalist doesn’t watch available youtube on his subject.
But Kay values his access with palace. That’s what matters to him most.
I think he is putting out what staff at either Clarence house or BP want said.
Hopefully Meghan will handle this situation for herself and do what is best for her and her husband.
I don’t think this is a crisis for the palace. Somebody just wants to use that as pressure on Kensington palace. Either Kay or a bigger palace.
This may be a naive question, but here goes: are royal reporters hired on the basis of how much they hate the BRF? It seems outlandish that Kay would go out of his way to not only sow the seeds of discontent by baiting PH & MM, but then outright say that her father deserves to be mollified? Maybe I’m overthinking this, but as an American, I’m genuinely confused as to why a person whose sole job it is to cover the royal family would try so hard to earn the enmity of Harry, who will be around for decades as the son, brother and uncle of future monarchs? It can’t just be racism, can it? Are they really gunning for him to dump Meghan?
I think he’s doing a couple of things. He probably feels he is giving them advice on the situation.
He makes a living on his access to those who work at the palace. Which you are right, he won’t do anything to hurt his access.
Which means likely staff at clarence house or BP have put this in his ear. Which is sad, it means likely Meghan is being pushed by more senior staff than her own to bring dad back in.
Unlike Kay and probably some staff, I think this is just a crisis for Meghan and Harry. I think she should be allowed to do whatever she thinks is best to end this.
NO one is going to think Thomas has tarnish the queen. It is just a daughter and her abusive dad.
My take is not British. Am also American.
There is no crisis! This is fabricated drama so the royal reporters have a story to print.
Stop feeding their narrative.
No crisis. I think people are savvy enough to realize Daddy is not mentally well … and he doesn’t get to set the tone of their relationship because he’s a loose cannon.
I’m not sure that there isn’t blame to be handed out on all sides on this. First, I think a distinction has to be made between the jealous psycho half-sib, and her father. The half-sister is just trash. But Meghan made very public, very loving statements about her father and how much he did for her and this relationship is probably more complex. The fact that Meghan kept her father and Harry apart – that there was this strange situation of a father sort of but sort of not asked to walk his daughter down the aisle to marry a man he’d never met. Not because there wasn’t any way for them to meet, but because, I suspect, Meghan didn’t want them to meet, for whatever reason.
I don’t think we’ll ever know the truth of this, but Markle Sr. strikes me as being one of those people with no inhibition controls who’s been cut out of his daughter’s life the moment she began dating a royal. I think it was all handled badly.
The BRF is in a sticky situation – if they bully him or threaten him, he’ll go right to the press with it, too. He’s an American citizen, not beholden to them, and trying to shut him up will backfire on them, too.
I think this goes back much farther than the wedding – I think it goes back to Meghan not allowing Harry to meet her father, maybe because she was ashamed of him, a perfectly human and understandable reaction. But it has backfired badly. He isn’t the psycho sister and he is her father, and she said lots of nice things about him.
There’s a strange gap in this story that I just don’t get, and that probably we may never get.
The life he lives or lived in Mexico is a gap no one thinks much about. In the months before the wedding he was photographed living a pretty dodgy looking life.
His friends were quoted in the months before the wedding, saying he would shake off demons, or pull himself together and manage to get to her wedding.
Not one single friend said of course Thomas is on it, bright and chipper all ready to go.
This was a man who had some sort of problem to shake off that was going to make it complicated to get him to the wedding. Meghan tried to get him to come to London early. He himself said he said no.
There were problems of some kind going on that prevented him from going to London before the supposed heart thing.
It is not his daughters fault to fix his disordered or addictive behavior to make him presentable to her fiance. It was on Thomas and he chose not to.
She was so ashamed of him that she asked him to walk her down the aisle before over a billion people.
Most people tend to talk about the postives in their lives.
Think positive act positive makes you feel positive, all the yoga and meditation helps with a family like hers
She knew her father was a narcissist and that is why he was kept out of the wedding plans, plus his mouth runs like a stomach virus
Totally agree.
Back to them dating. Meghan fills in dad. But it was clear, she was estranged from her father. Beyond calls, he was fine with that. None of the Markles cared they didn’t get invited or attend her first marriage. But NOW they’re so offended. Sam hasn’t ever liked Meghan, even her child said she was awful to Meghan but she’s nonstop on RW. Markles screamed opportunists from the beginning. I think it’s a cop out to say TM was quiet until the actual wedding. That’s what he’s suppose to do bc he’s not getting married and didn’t care during her first marriage. He says he’s tired of being in gossip rags. Dude no one cares about your image lol, no one cares about your bad press TM. That’s a terrible excuse for using his daughter for money. RPress wrote Doria lived like a Compton, you didn’t see her running to DM to set up fake photos. And lastly about what’s come to light since TM been talking so much… Sam is literally speaking for Thomas. He condones everything she says, he co-signs everything she says and defends everything she says. Sam speaks for him. He’s the star of their shitshow and when he quoted his creditials of how he didn’t need Meghan’s fame lol that was his “I will not be ignored Dan” moment, I’m the boss. Funny, early on i never expected him to leave Mexico and was shocked he even pretended he was… bc he never intended to attend. So it just makes the spectacle he created since NOT getting an official invite, or Meghan not visiting or being given no help and only wanting to see his daughter- bullshit cry tears of nothing. Meghan supplied both her parents the same amount of support, early on. TM would’ve never gone to just visit KP. Go look at him. He doesn’t care about Meghan no more than he cares about his son beating his wife. Kay’s article is ridiculous bc Meghan was estranged from this family for years and years besides calling her dad periodically but distant. There’s a reason they were distant. And in no way do you go into a new marriage pretending to be close to estranged relatives praying they don’t get to UK and backstab you like they’ve always done in order to pretend for cameras. When the dad can’t even be trusted, no way were his kids to be brought into RP. Kay knows this. They’re only after money. But paying them off would’ve meant a lifetime of being hostage to paying them. Also, I don’t agree that RP is sweating over TM bc it’s very transparent and he comes off as a abusive narcissist father in name only.
You can love someone, you can be grateful to someone that is a piece of shit. She probably does love her father but that does NOT make her beholden to him for the rest of her life. Look at how TM has handled all of this: Meghan did the right thing by keeping him away from her then boyfriend and now husband. I would have done the same.
“Emotional terrorist” exactly describes this jerk. He wants to pull all the strings and nothing else will satisfy him. In fact, nothing will satisfy him, period. He revels in creating total emotional mayhem. Treat him like you would a spoiled child having a nonstop tantrum. All he wants is attention. Don’t give it to him. Ignore him completely.
I totally want to be compassionate about Thomas. But I did a blog yesterday and his astrology chart is dodgy. With relationships, sometimes you just don’t know what the history is. But I will tell you he is suffering. And he is her father. I tend to agree they could have handled it much better and he deserves that just for raising her.
He himself has said on video he turned her down when she wanted him to come to London early. He said he turned down PR help.
She can’t help him if he says no thanks. And he is on YouTube saying he refused the offers.
Dodgy is what the glimpses of his life in Mexico looked like in the months before the wedding. His friends were saying in March he would shake of demons to get to the wedding.
Sure I have compassion for a such a troubled man on a certain level. But I have a lot more compassion for his daughter who has probably been hurt by her dad’s problems her whole life.
The right way to show compassion for anyone with disordered or addictive behavior is to say get help.
No one can handle or fix a man like Thomas. The only message he should hear from anyone is get professional help.
That’s what parents do, so give ever parent out there who are not verbally abusing their grown up children a medal, so thomas loses out again.
He can’t win for trying.
The last reading I did, said I would with win the lottery, still waiting but have to work in the meanwhile.
I always felt that KP should have brought the dad in before the engagement interview, that is one mistake I will not concede. Would it have worked though? Probably not. I find your analysis illuminating regarding the comparisons and I agree that Meghan is being treated much worse, especially considering Pippa’s gun incident which I thought was by far the worst thing by a royal-adjacent person. My biggest disagreement with Kay is that the royals are fretting over this. I don’t really think they are. TM is nothing more than a pesky fly. He doesn’t embarrass Meghan, not to me anyway. If anything, it’s made her look better for having a dad like then but still turning out OK. I mean, look at Samantha.
It is a huge assumption to make that he could have even been brought in. And we have no way of knowing Kensington palace did not try.
Several of his friends and family including his son commenting in the months before the wedding about how he would manage to shake of demons to get to the wedding or pull himself together.
We know she tried to get him to come to London early because he says himself he turned her down.
He had some sort of problem going on, disordered or addictive behavior or a mental health issue.
Getting someone like Thomas onto a plane was never as simple as just come on over.
And he has had money from his interviews. Why hasn’t he quietly and privately made a trip over and sent a private note asking her to see him?
I have kids. If there was an misunderstanding that was huge, I would be on a plane and privately reach out by letter, to say how sorry i was.
The guy has some sort of problem that has been keeping him away from everyone in his life except seedy people in mexico. Kensington palace could not have fixed this.
This is about money, pure and simple. The Markles talk and they get paid plus get the added bonus of being famous for their royal connection and dirty gossip. Call it the Kardashian effect – the nastier and more plastic the fabrications, the larger the bank account.
Another Daily Mail click bait/bait the Markles story: Meghan won’t talk to dad until he stops talking to the press. And he can contact Doria. The story is bait for a new screed because Meghan won’t knuckle under.
Bringing Thomas in early or managing him differently assumes that it was ever possible to bring him in in the first place.
Glimpses of his life in Mexico were there since December. His own friends and son said he would shake off demons or pull himself together to be at the wedding. Not one confident comment from anyone close to him.
It was plain as day there was some sort of mental health, behavior, or addictive problem that would make it difficult to bring him in at any point.
He says that Meghan called him weeks before the wedding and said please daddy just come. You don’t need to pack, everything will be done for you.
That’s a daughter who doesn’t have confidence that dad was competent enough to do much for himself. And she is begging him to let her fix the problems of even packing a suitcase for him.
Whatever the obstacle, according to Thomas, she offered to fix. He said no.
Harry could not go into Mexico and get him and help him get on the plane. But he offered to send help for the plane so he could go early. He said no thanks.
Nobody seemed worried about Doria getting herself there. I think Meghan tried to get him in early because she knew there were some issues that needed fixing for him to even be able to physically attend her wedding after the trip over.
The heart issue might be another contributing issue, but his heart story has too many dates and matching photographs in public to be fully true. Some or maybe all of what he says about his heart cannot be true.
This is not a palace blunder. Kensington palace is not staffed with the necessary mental health care providers needed to address whatever the problem(s) that keep this man from getting on a plane. Or attending a wedding.
I didn’t mention this before because addiction and mental health can be controversial and emotional.
But there was way more standing in Thomas’s way than the staff at Kensington.
I don’t dispute your overall narrative @Hershey. You make some good points. However you say “Nobody seemed worried about Doria getting herself there.” That seems to be true at least from what we know. (We don’t really know how her arrangements were handled though) Assuming it is true, I think there are a couple of reasons not to have worried about her. 1. Doria had already met Harry (at least once we know of), TM never had. So even if TM and Doria had similar temperaments (which they obviously don’t!) going to London for the wedding would seem much more overwhelming for him. If I’d been in his shoes under those circumstances, I might have felt overwhelmed too. 2. Doria appeared to fly to Toronto on a regular basis as there are pictures of her with Meghan and pictures with Harry at the IG last Sept. There are pictures online of TM with Meghan wearing her college graduation gown so it looks like he flew to Illinois back in the early 2000s when she graduated. But it’s also possible those photos were taken later on in CA. But even if TM flew to Evanston in 2003, he may not have flown alone. Regardless of what happened then, its possible TM hasn’t flown since and may not have ever flown internationally. If he hasn’t flown recently (and we don’t really know all the facts about his physical and mental health situation and how that might affect travel or how he thought it might), I can see why being told “just get on a plane and come” wouldn’t have worked.
@lizbeth
Yeah, I agree about Doria, she has herself together and there was no need for anyone to be concerned about her arriving, prepared to go to the wedding and be a nurturing mother of the bride.
Which is why the angst about getting Thomas over, disclosed by Thomas, is telling. Meghan was clearly worried about getting him physically onto the plane.
I suspect she had some sort of concern that prompted her plea to him come early. No way of knowing what, but it was obvious she wanted him in London rather than Mexico.
He has said he traveled widely to europe, so the flight itself probably not the issue. But a free weeks long stay in London, for a retiree, seems old to turn down.
I just wanted to show how this situation is complex. In normal circumstances, Kensington might be at fault. But this was a tricky problem.
What a sad situation. It’s obvious MM loves her dad even though she clearly recognizes his shortcomings. She tried to involve him while minimizing any shenanigans on his part but there’s only so much you can do and while it’s possible a different outcome could have been achieved there’s no way of knowing for sure. She’s clearly the aggrieved party here but it would be wise for her to remain open to respectful communication. She’s given him an olive branch suggesting he send a letter via Doria. That seems to be reasonable compromise. Hopefully he’ll take it.
No way is this an existential crisis for the monarchy. It’s just trashy and disappointing.
It’s just a very sad family that probably has been hard on all for a long time. Not a monarchy crisis.
I agree it sounds like she is handling this in the best possible way. And he gets a chance to make this right in private but without being rewarded for his bad behavior.
And if he goes public again, she can cut him off without having to feel guilty.
After watching the royals since Diana, I don’t that that it is a crisis for them, but definitely ammunition to be used in the future against Meghan if needed.. That is how they roll, even with insiders like Diana was. They are ruthless in keeping their power and position and don’t let that sweet old lady in the pretty bright colors fool you. She is ruthless.
Just days after it was reported that Camilla used her clout to prevent the building of a flat for her neighbor’s granny, a fawning story about how she would make an excellent Queen is published. That’s the modus operandi of Clarence House. If a negative story is reported about Charles or Camilla, and even Will or Kate, few days later a good story will appear either through sources or direct interview from friends praising them.
When Richard Kay wrote that scatching report about how stubborn Will is and how he tries to blackmail Charles into giving him more money using the kids, two days later, one columnist wrote how the Middletons are providing strength and the family bond that Will never had. It was a response from KP at Charles for after Kay’s article attacking Will.
Anytime any unsavory thing is reported about the senior royals, there is always push back either through fawning interviews from friends (eg Peny Juror) or OTT write-up from columnists. Just observe very closely. Whenever there is a bad report about any senior royal, the next day or few days later, expect to see an Over The Top positive story on the same person.
During the summer of Diana when Will and Harry praised their late mum and didn’t mention their dad, Peny Juror gave an interview the next day saying Charles had been an awesome dad and should be acknowledged. Few days after her comments, Will and Harry gave an interview praising their dad.
Ingrid Sewards piece about how the palace or the Queen won’t interfere in the Markles issue and it was up to Meghan to do whatever she wants makes me believe more and more that Harry and Meghan are not being given 100 percent attention behind the scenes as would have been done to Will and Kate if the tables were turned. I strongly feel she was echoing sentiments from senior aides in the palace because nothing has been reported to counter her argument.
I keep wondering why the same type of defence that is made for Will, Kate, Charles, Camilla is not done for Meghan and Harry. That’s what bothers me. It’s like issues that concern Harry and Meghan are not being taken very seriously by the palace. The palace is only using them as PR props, but they do nothing when the tabs continually tear them down. No one comes to their defense. There are no counter PR stories, interviews or articles anytime the Markles strike. The only weak punch line has been those stories from ‘Meghans friends’ and stories about how Meghan doesn’t trust her dad etc.
For a palace machinery with seasoned PR gurus, I expected more from them, but it seems Harry and Megan are not top priority.
Have seen that pattern too. This just a guess, but those back and forth stories a about relatatvely unimportant arguments. Or something that looks bad but will go away.
This problem could result in a permanent breach between a child and father. And maybe it should end with a breach.
But Meghan should have the chance to decide how to resolve it. The palace playing spin PR games, even on her behalf could cause even more damage.
If this were my father and I, i would not want anyone interfering. And maybe she will want information put out there. But this time I think the spin people are waiting. The stakes are much higher than usual.
This isn’t a negative story countered by a positive story situation. This is a completely negative situation, there is literally nothing Meghan and the royal press can do to turn this in to a positive.
Is not even bad press made up about Meghan. The press is sitting back letting the Markles do all the work. It’s coming straight from their mouths not sources. What kind of positive PR can overshadow that kind of story?
Stories like:
-Camilla stops the building of a flat for a granny vs Camilla will make a great Queen
-Will doesn’t let Charles see the kids vs The Middeltons are giving them support Will and Harry never had
-Will and Harry praise their mother and ignore their father vs suddenly praising their father
Are not the same as:
-Markles repeatably and directly attacking a senior member of the BRF
-The father of a member of the BRF repeatably and directly criticizing their child and son-in-law
-The father revealing behind the scenes information between him and the 6th in line to do throne.
WHAT KIND OF POSITVE PR IS SUPPOSES TO COUNTERACT THIS?????????
The palace and Meghan are ignoring the Markles to avoid fueling this negative story. There is no positive angles to this situation. It’s an ugly, horrible, and negative situation that will eventually become old news.
The future of the monarchy depends on William keeping good PR. That is why Kate is a good wife, in their view. She may be lazy, but she never has an opinion, good or bad. She is so hesitant when she speaks, and I think it is partly cause she doesnt want to have a moment like Meghan did over the abortion issue in Ireland. I can’t remember Kate ever wading into a social or political issue. She is safe.
Harry will never be king, barring some terrible catastrophe, so they seem to no longer waste time and effort on protecting him. If William gave up his position and took his kids out, too, you would see the palace PR jump into action so fast, heads would spin.
After reading some of the comments in the Daily Mail, I wanted to rip out my entire hard drive and plonk it in the washing machine.
The palace is letting Meghan handle her dad, and she is handling it, the best way for her.
Doria most likely changed her phone number.
Two years of marriage and Doria was out the door with two year old Meghan.
Some divorced couples try to get along for the sake of their children.
She is not a happy camper with the poor pitiful act of Thomas.
With the draw bridges pulled up at the Palaces, what will Thomas do now, oh! he’s going on vacation, did he leave an installment for next the Sun next week, oh! that was his last interview again, said it three times before, so who knows if this one will stick.
Some people bully and the more you move on quietly and with dignity with your life, they get offended. I’ve seen people like that-they just want to wound, get some attention, make you feel smaller/defeated. And you cannot get people like that on your side, at least not for long, because that is their nature. The only thing that surprises me and I hope it’s a positive sign is that despite all that the father is doing now, he was totally quiet before the wedding. So, wht changed??
He wanted to give a speech at the wedding. I think being told no because of his pap photo thing made him go rogue to get his voice out there.
Blocked all the sites that pays for this appalling family’s interviews. I absolutely do not get anyone who would still make excuses for this abhorrent family. They desperately need to talk to a psychiatrist not a “journalist.”
The issues are not the royals nor the duke & duchess of Sussex but the parasitic extended family & the biased media. They are as illogical and annoying as the D. bag “leader” of the U.S of A.
There is nothing to be fixed here. There’s nothing wrong with Megan and I don’t think there’s anything the Palace could do that would make him stop. He’s bullying his daughter because he thinks she doesn’t have support and he can embarrass her into doing what he wants. It’s clearly not working. If she’s cut him off she should to continue to live her life and never speak to him again. If she capitulates it will only get worse. I for one stopped paying attention to him after the foolishness he pulled regarding her wedding. That big heart attack he’s faking might just come for him soon -he’s not young….just sayin…..
I think this is a challenging situation because MM genuinely loves her dad and he loves her the only way he can. It is messy and unhealthy and tricky to navigate family relationships at the best of times but when it’s a Royal wedding the drama is off the charts. MM and her mother seem to have the poise, intellect and class to handle it. The Markles do not. The half sibs are a non-issue. Maybe they can throw money at them and shut them up, who knows? TM is a legitimate problem because despite all his numerous faults he loves his daughter and has been a part of her life up until now. I don’t think he’s self aware enough to realize his shortcomings and I have nothing but sympathy for MM in navigating this situation. It’s easy for outsiders to just write him off but it’s her dad. He provided for her and was involved in her childhood. It makes sense for her to want to maintain a relationship. It makes even more sense for her to feel she needs to protect and be loyal to her new family. It’s a tough situation for everyone. I hope they can find a compromise bc I don’t get the impression she wants to cut her dad out completely.
Spell check miss: peace of mind.
It is getting to the point where the BRF need to stage an intervention because feet on the ground tax-paying UK citizens are now very, very vocally critical about the BRF and their latest recruit. Since MM came along with all her baggage, there has been a huge upswing in people saying the monarchy should end with the Queen: anyone hiring unemployed ex-Royals????
It does seem ironic to me after the Heads Together work and keenness for people to speak up and “Start a conversation,” that Thomas Markle’s obvious hurt and attempts to speak out, even if inappropriately, are not being addressed by Meghan and other Royals.
I agree with Richard Kay and others that it was unwise for Harry not to have met his future father-in-law before the wedding and formed his own opinion.
The Firm should just offer a period of unlimited access to the whole family – think interviews with HMQ about her life, photos of George, ‘at home with Camilla’ etc. – in return for a media blackout on the Markles.
Job done.
Piers “I killed troops with my irresponsible actions” Morgan and his ilk would bite off their hands….
We may chose to either believe it or not, but from what I’ve read from royal reporters like Richard Kay, Palmer and others and Charles lackleys like Ingrid, I can infer that BP and CH are not involved in trying to handle this issue at all. It’s all left to KP. And Kay is simply echoing what senior aides from either BP or CH or both have whispered into his ears concerning KP and their level of competence in handling the situation.
You may be right @Pamm. I don’t really think action from any palace office will work now though. It is a private family matter. Also, if BP and CH do have a hands-off approach to this issue, isn’t that what both Will and Harry have demanded for years? That KP would handle their business with the senior palaces expected to butt out?
The main difference between Kate and Meghan is that Kate gets along with her family. Sure she may not be close to all of them but I get the sense that all of her extended family likes her and have not had the kinds of incidents that exist between the Markle family. The press probably knows that no one in her Kate’s family is going to sell her out.
The Markle family is full of angry people. The past has left deep resentment between all parties including Meghan. She I am sure despises her family as much as they do. The press picked up on this quick. I’ll say this again Meghan said her father and her were on good terms yet he had not even met Harry. Come on. That’s is a lie. If she were on good terms with her dad I’m sure with the kind of money they both have they could have flown to see him a weekend once they started talking marriage. He probably resents the way she spoke about their relationship just for the sake of the story. For the sake of appearing a certain way. If she had come out and told the royals the vitrol that exists in her family they may have tried to persuade Harry to not be involved with this family in any way. The Queen hates drama. She had enough drama with Diana and Sarah. This is why she likes Sofie a lot because there are no scandals.
The royals were unprepared for the unhinged madness of the Markle family because Meghan was not forthcoming about how messed up her family relations are.