Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, has spoken out regarding his decision to skip the royal wedding, as well as his thoughts on Prince Harry and his daughter’s relationship, in a rare interview.
Markle Sr told Good Morning Britain of the first time the Duchess of Sussex told him she had a new boyfriend, before finally disclosing that the boyfriend was British and that he was Prince Harry.
“Meghan told me first and then a few times after that Harry got on the phone with Meghan, they got on the phone together, and Harry asked for her hand on the phone,” the 73-year-old said on Good Morning Britain today.
“The first phone calls were ‘Dad, I have a new boyfriend’,” he said. “She said ‘he’s British’ and I said ‘that’s really nice’, and eventually the third time around was like ‘he’s a Prince.’”
“At that point, she said ‘it’s Harry’ and I said ‘oh, Harry okay!’” he added.
Thomas Markle also informed Piers Morgan that his daughter instructed him to refer to Prince Harry only as ‘H’ in order to maintain their relationship a secret until it was made public.
The Mexico-based retiree, who characterized his son-in-law as a “great” and “interesting guy,” said Harry had “made a great pick” in his child, whom he described as a “princess since the day she was born.”
Markle even told the tale of how Harry approached him and pleaded for permission to marry his daughter.
“Harry asked for her hand on the phone and I said: ‘You are a gentleman, promise me you will never raise your hand against my daughter and of course I will grant you my permission’,” he told host Piers Morgan.
Markle Sr said he was forced to notify his daughter he wouldn’t be willing to attend her wedding after knowing of his health issues, much to the couple’s dismay.
‘They were disappointed. Meghan cried, I’m sure, and they both said “Take care of yourself, we are really worried about you”,’ he revealed.
‘I absolutely wanted to walk my daughter down the aisle.’
The proud father said he was envious of Prince Charles’ chance to escort Meghan down the aisle, but expressed gratitude that the Prince of Wales stepped in at the last minute.
He told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that he “wished” he would have been the one to walk Meghan into St George’s Chapel on May 19, and that he cried when he saw Prince Charles enter.
The former lighting director, who now resides in Mexico, had to cancel the royal wedding with just a few days to spare due to a cardiac surgery.
‘I accept full responsibility,’ Mr Markle said when asked about his role in staging paparazzi pictures just days before the wedding. ‘I can say I’m sorry for those things for the rest of my life, but I’m paying for those things for the rest of my life.
‘But as long as they’re happy and have a great life and have some beautiful children and do good things in the world, I’m can’t ask for more.’
‘I feel bad about it, I apologise for it and that’s all I can do. That was a mistake,’ Markle Sr said, adding that he didn’t pose for photographs for money, but rather to better his profile.
He also shared details on his first chat with his new royal son-in-law: “He said ‘hello Thomas’ and I said ‘hi Harry’ and it became a conversation back and forth mostly about politics he was asking me how I was feeling that day and I said how unhappy I was with the president Donald Trump, and that’s how it began.
“We talked a little about how they met and how happy they were with each other.
“He’s quite easy to talk to, he’s quite a comfortable person to talk to. I wasn’t nervous.
“10,000 miles apart it’s hard to be nervous talking to someone on the phone.”
