Queen Elizabeth was alarmed by the ‘damage’ Meghan Markle’s feud with her estranged father could cause to the royal family : Celebrities : Enstarz

Queen Elizabeth II was concerned that Meghan Markle’s fractured relationship with her estranged father would have a negative impact on the royal family, a royal expert has said.

The Duchess of Sussex has been estranged from her father, Thomas Markle Sr., ever since he was caught staging paparazzi photos in the run-up to her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018. According to Meghan, her father, who pulled out of his daughter’s nuptials just days before the extravagant ceremony, also lied to her about speaking to the press.

Richard Eden, editor of the Daily Mail Diary and panelist on Palace Confidential, reported, citing an anonymous royal source, that Queen Elizabeth, who died in September 2022, was “alarmed” by the feud between father and daughter.

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“Meghan’s public disagreements with her father raised alarm bells at the time,” the insider told the reporter. “Her Majesty realised the potential damage they could do to the Royal Family as a whole.”

“In hindsight, perhaps the Queen had an inkling of what was to come,” the source further claimed.

According to Eden, Queen Elizabeth tried to help Meghan repair her relationship with Thomas by suggesting she send him a letter.

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The former ‘Suits’ star confirmed in her and Prince Harry’s 2022 Netflix docuseries that she reached out to the Queen for advice when she was unable to reconcile with her father.

“Eventually, the Queen and the Prince of Wales (now King Charles) suggested that I write a letter to my father,” the Duchess of Sussex said in the document, “Harry & Meghan.”

However, the five-page handwritten letter Meghan wrote to her father Thomas further widened the rift between them after it landed in the pages of The Mail on Sunday in early 2019.

Meghan later filed a lawsuit against the British tabloid for invasion of privacy and copyright over the publication of the letter and won.

Thomas told the Mail that he had not originally intended to release the letter but was forced to do so because its contents had been incorrectly reported.

The retired Hollywood lighting director also said his daughter’s letter devastated him.

“I thought it would be an olive branch. Instead, it was a stab in the heart,” Thomas said.

Meghan wrote in her letter that she was devastated by her father’s actions and asked him to “stop lying” during interviews.

“If you love me, as you tell the press, please stop it. Please let us live in peace. Please stop lying, please stop creating so much pain, please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband,” she wrote.

Thomas, who turned 80 this week, said in an interview with the Daily Mail earlier this month that Meghan has not spoken to him since the wedding and that he has not met his son-in-law, Prince Harry, and grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Prince Harry described Meghan’s estrangement from her father in their docuseries as “incredibly sad.”

“She had a father before and now she doesn’t have a father,” the royal said. “And I’ve taken that on myself because if Meg wasn’t with me, her father would still be her father.”