The Duchess of Sussex has reportedly initiated contact with her estranged father, Thomas Markle, following the news that he underwent emergency surgery resulting in a leg amputation. This development marks a potential thaw in a rift that has lasted for seven years.
A Lifesaving Surgery and a Tentative Outreach
A spokesperson for Meghan confirmed the move, stating simply: "I can confirm she has reached out to her father." The contact is understood to have occurred very recently, though no further details about the nature or success of the communication have been disclosed. This comes after Thomas Markle Jr., Meghan's half-brother, publicly expressed hope that the Duchess would show "compassion" to their father, who he said was "literally fighting for his life."
The 80-year-old former television lighting director was admitted to intensive care in the Philippines last Wednesday after a three-hour emergency procedure. It was later reported that he required an amputation below the knee after his foot turned black. Mr Markle, who moved from Mexico to the Philippines, has never met his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
A Fractured Relationship Spanning Seven Years
The estrangement between father and daughter began in the lead-up to Meghan's 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. Thomas Markle pulled out of walking her down the aisle after being caught staging paparazzi photographs, and subsequently suffered a heart attack. The then-Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, stepped in to escort Meghan.
In the years since, Mr Markle has given numerous media interviews, criticising his daughter and claiming he had been "shunned," while also pleading for a reconciliation and a chance to see his grandchildren. In 2023, he remarked, "She is not the person I knew as my daughter." The conflict escalated legally when Meghan won a High Court privacy claim against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) for publishing parts of a private letter she wrote to him.
Past Tributes and a Complicated Legacy
The current distance contrasts sharply with the affectionate portrait Meghan once painted of her father. On her former lifestyle blog, The Tig, she described herself as a "daddy's girl" and praised his sacrifices for her career. She shared poignant childhood memories, including how he creatively solved a lack of diverse Barbie dolls by customising a set to create a mixed-race family for her.
She also recalled his advice when she struggled with ethnic identity forms at school: "My dad said words that will stay with me forever: 'Draw your own box.'" Professionally, Mr Markle worked on shows like Married… With Children and General Hospital, winning two Emmy awards, though he filed for bankruptcy in 2016.
The news of Meghan's outreach broke on the same day her Netflix Christmas special, With Love, Meghan, premiered to largely negative reviews. Notably, Prince Harry has never met Thomas Markle in person, and the Duke himself has experienced well-documented estrangements within his own family, briefly reuniting with his father for a private meeting in September after 19 months apart.
