The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has reportedly been making urgent personal calls to hospitals in the Philippines in a desperate attempt to contact her father, Thomas Markle, following his emergency leg amputation.
A Desperate Search for Contact
According to sources close to the Duchess, Meghan, 42, has been telephoning medical facilities herself after learning her 81-year-old father underwent surgery to amputate his left foot and lower leg. The drastic operation was required to remove a life-threatening blood clot that had turned the limb "blue and black." Her efforts to establish contact stem from identifying a hospital logo visible in photographs of her father in his hospital gown.
The father and daughter have been estranged since a very public falling out in the lead-up to her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. Consequently, Meghan does not possess a current phone number for her father. In a previous attempt to reach out after the surgery, she was forced to send an email to an address he had not used for five years, which subsequently went unseen.
Thomas Markle's Health Crisis
Thomas Markle underwent a gruelling three-hour operation on Wednesday and has been in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Cebu, in the south-central Philippines, since Tuesday. His son, Thomas Markle Jr., confirmed the severity of the situation to the Daily Mail, stating doctors presented amputation as the only option to save his father's life.
"I was told the leg had to be removed and it was a case of life or death," Thomas Jr. explained. He added that his father does not currently have access to his phone, leaving him completely out of contact with the outside world, including his daughter.
Ongoing Efforts and Unanswered Requests
With direct communication avenues blocked, Meghan has reportedly asked her public relations team to intervene. They have reached out to journalists from publications known to be in contact with Thomas Markle, requesting information on his address and whereabouts so that the Duchess can send a handwritten letter. These requests have so far gone unanswered.
A source close to the Duchess addressed the media reports, stating, "The Mail made no attempt to contact the Duchess’s team prior to publication to verify the claims in their report. Had they asked... we would simply have told them to ask Mr Markle to check his email." The aide clarified that if Thomas Markle were willing to share an active email address, Meghan's message would be forwarded to him immediately.
The situation highlights the profound personal strain caused by the longstanding rift within the Markle family, now unfolding against the backdrop of a serious medical emergency thousands of miles away.
