Meghan Markle has had a difficult relationship with her father, Thomas Markle Sr., ever since her courtship with Prince Harry began.
The Suits actress, 44, is the only child from the former General Hospital lighting director’s eight-year marriage to Doria Ragland — though he also shares a son, Thomas Markle Jr., and a daughter, Samantha Markle, with his first wife, Roslyn Loveless. (Markle and Loveless were married from 1964 to 1975.)
Keep scrolling to see more on Meghan and Thomas Sr.’s relationship:
What Happened Between Meghan Markle and Thomas Markle Sr.?
Trouble arose when Thomas Sr. was due to attend his daughter Meghan and Harry’s wedding at St. George’s Chapel on May 19, 2018. Markle was accused of staging a photo of himself trying on a suit near his home in Rosarito, Mexico, in exchange for money from a paparazzo.
Meghan’s half-sister Samantha admitted during a May 2018 appearance on British talk show Loose Women that she was responsible for setting up the photo opp, though she insisted her intentions were not monetary.
“I have to say I am entirely the culprit,” Samantha told the Loose Women hosts in 2018. “As we know, the media can take very unflattering photographs of people on their casual days and blow it way out of proportion. I said, you know, the world has no idea you’re getting in shape, doing healthy things. They don’t photograph you buying vegetables and PH water. They photograph you as unflattering ways as they can.”
She went on, “So I said, really you need to show the world that you’re getting in shape and doing great healthy things. So I suggested [the photo]. There’s a lot of scrutiny that it was money motivated, it was not. It was my suggestion that to benefit him and to benefit the royal family that everyone looked good and they depict you as you are – in shape and doing healthy things.”
How Did Thomas Markle Sr. React to the Paparazzi Photo?
Thomas Sr. admitted in a Mail on Sunday interview in May 2018 that he’d deceived Prince Harry during a phone call by claiming he was simply “being measured for a hoodie” when the paparazzi photo was taken.
“Harry told me that I should never go to the press. That it would end in tears. He said, ‘They will eat you alive.’ He was right,” Thomas Sr. confessed.
Thomas admitted that his future son-in-law was “absolutely right” in opposing staged photographs because of the way they would reflect on the royal family. According to Thomas Sr., his conversation with Prince Harry got so heated that he hung up on the royal.
“I’m not mad at Harry. I’m not mad at Meghan. I love them. I wish them well,” Thomas added. “But as for the rest of it, … I’m done.”
Thomas did not attend his daughter’s royal wedding because he underwent heart surgery days before the ceremony.
How Did Meghan Markle React to the Paparazzi Photo?
The Duchess of Sussex offered her own recollections of the controversy on her 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan.
“H[arry] and I called my dad. I said, ‘They’re saying you’re taking money from the tabloids to stage photos. Is this true?’ He says, ‘No,’” Meghan relayed. “And on that call, I’d said to him, ‘Look. If they can’t stop this story, then it’s going to come out tomorrow, so why don’t we send someone right now to your house to get you out of there now because if that’s the case, your house will be swarmed by media. We’ll get you out.’”
She went on, “He said, ‘No. I have things I need to do.’ And it felt really cagey. I was like, ‘It doesn’t make sense.’ And when we hung up, I looked at H[arry]. I was like, ‘I don’t know why but I don’t believe him.’”
In that same Netflix special, Prince Harry said he felt somewhat responsible for the disintegration of Meghan’s relationship with her father.
“She had a father before this,” the Duke of Sussex told Harry & Meghan viewers, referring to his wife’s life prior to living in the royal spotlight. “Now she doesn’t have a father. I shouldered that. Because if Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad. It’s amazing what people would do when offered a huge amount of money. Fifty thousand, a hundred thousand, to hand over photographs, to create a story. And thank God most of them said no.”
Have Meghan Markle and Thomas Markle Sr. Reconciled?
In the years since their estrangement, Thomas Sr. has expressed hope of reconciling with his daughter so that her and Harry’s children — Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet — can meet their cousins.
Thomas shared his disappointment that Archie and Lilibet are not close with their paternal cousins — Princes George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte— either since Meghan and Harry are also on the outs with Prince William and Kate Middleton. (Prince Harry reportedly mended fences with his father, King Charles III, during a U.K. visit in September 2025, but Us reported that same month that William still had “tension” with his brother.)
“The relationships between cousins is a special one. There’s a unique bond,” Thomas Jr. told the Daily Mail in June 2024. “I feel sad that Lilibet and Archie don’t have the chance to get to know their cousins and take part in things like Trooping the Colour, which is their birthright.”
Thomas Markle Sr. Experienced Health Issues Amid Estrangement From Meghan Markle
In December 2025, Thomas Jr. confirmed to the Daily Mail that his father was hospitalized in the Philippines in intensive care due to a recent health problem.
“I took dad to a hospital close to our home and they did various scans and the doctors said his life was in imminent danger,” Thomas Jr. confirmed on December 3. “They raced us by ambulance, with the sirens going, to a much bigger hospital in the center of the city.”
He continued, “My dad has undergone emergency surgery. I would ask everyone around the world to keep him in their thoughts.”
Thomas Sr. ultimately had his foot amputated, prompting contact from Meghan.
“I can confirm she has reached out to her father,” a rep for the Duchess of Sussex told Us later that month, without offering further details.
Thomas Sr. has had numerous health and personal struggles in recent years. He suffered a stroke in 2022 and was forced to deny reports that he’d been trapped in his home after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines in 2025.
Meghan Markle’s Dad Faces Child Sex Abuse Allegations
The Sun reported in October 2026 that an investigation was launched after Thomas Jr. turned over child sex abuse material he allegedly found in boxes at his dad’s house in the Philippines.
“When I found this material, I was horrified and I had no option but to report my dad,” he said in a statement. “I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now. I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.”
Thomas Sr. denied the allegations, telling the Daily Mail that he’s “shocked” and “hurt” by his son’s “lies.”
“I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of,” he said. “This is bulls***. It’s just a bunch of lies. It’s sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.”
Meghan also issued her own statement.
“I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” she said in a statement to Us. “In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.”
Meghan added that she wanted to “protect” her own children, Archie and Lilibet.
“I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them,” she continued. “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”
Meghan’s statement concluded, “Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”
Samantha, meanwhile, showed support for her dad and claimed Thomas Jr. wanted money.
“There is no merit in these disgusting allegations whatsoever and my brother is disgusting for making them up. He wants to destroy our dad. Shame on him,” she told the Daily Mail.
“My brother first came out with these lies a few weeks ago when the cash from my dad was cut off,” Samantha continued. “He has used dad as a cash cow for years and once the money stopped he made up the most outrageous lies he could to try and make money from the media.”
Samantha concluded, “There is no proof my dad downloaded any images. Those computers were out of his possession for two years. That leaves a lot of room for tampering. These are unsubstantiated allegations. Anyone could have been in contact with those computers over a couple of years. Dad was in a rehabilitation facility and did not have access to those computers.”
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