Meghan Markle's estranged father has made a public plea to reconcile with his daughter "before I die" after undergoing emergency leg amputation surgery. Thomas Markle, 81, told the Mail on Sunday he wants to meet his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, and "it might be nice to meet her husband too."
The Duchess of Sussex's spokesperson confirmed she "reached out" to her father following his hospitalization in the Philippines. But Thomas Markle said he received no contact and is "confused" by the reports.
The disputed email
The Mail on Sunday reported Meghan attempted to email her father at an address he had not used "for at least five years." A source close to the duchess told the paper: "We immediately informed the Mail that the duchess had, in fact, emailed her father – a detail we had deliberately chosen not to share in order to avoid further dragging this private matter into the public eye."
GB News reported Meghan sent the email at 11:53am Pacific Time on December 5. Her aides reportedly contacted the Daily Mail seeking updated contact information but received no response.
Thomas Markle said he has never changed his phone number and his phone showed no messages or voicemail from his daughter. Nurses on his hospital ward confirmed to the Daily Mail that no calls had been received from the Duchess or her staff.
Father's medical crisis and plea
Thomas Markle was admitted to intensive care after a three-hour emergency procedure. A surgeon told media outlets: "We had to remove the foot. There was a massive blood clot in his thigh and that had stopped circulation to his foot and lower leg. It was life-or-death surgery."
He is expected to remain hospitalized for at least another week or two before moving to a rehabilitation center to learn to walk again.
From his hospital bed, Thomas Markle told the Mail on Sunday: "I've always said I am open to reconciling with my daughter. I have never stopped loving her. I don't want to die estranged from Meghan. I want to meet my grandkids."
Years of estrangement
Meghan and her father have been estranged since her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. The rift began after Thomas Markle staged paparazzi photographs and subsequently missed the wedding due to a heart attack. King Charles walked Meghan down the aisle instead.
Thomas Markle has never met Prince Harry, six-year-old Archie, or four-year-old Lilibet. In 2023, he publicly said of Meghan: "She is not the person I knew as my daughter."
The Duchess previously won a High Court privacy and copyright case against Associated Newspapers Limited over articles that reproduced parts of a private handwritten letter she wrote to her father.
A source close to the duchess accused the Mail on Sunday of "puppeteering this desperately sad situation" and claimed the paper made "no attempt to contact the Duchess' team, prior to publication to verify the claims in their report."
The Mail on Sunday has been contacted for comment.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
