Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, has expressed hope of reconciling with his estranged daughter in the wake of his recent leg amputation.
“Of course I want to speak to [Meghan] but I am not sure if these are the right circumstances,” Thomas, 81, told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Saturday, December 6. “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. It might be nice to meet her husband too.”
Thomas said he was “confused” to hear that Meghan attempted to contact him. A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex confirmed to Us Weekly on Friday, December 5, that “she has reached out to her father” in the wake of his surgery.
Meghan’s rep subsequently clarified to the Daily Mail that she sent her father an email, though other members of his family told the publication that Thomas no longer uses the account that the duchess messaged.
Us Weekly has reached out to Meghan’s representative for clarification.
Thomas was hospitalized earlier this week in Cebu in the Philippines after a blood clot cut off circulation to his left leg and the limb turned black. Doctors ultimately had to remove Thomas’ leg as a life-saving measure.
In his latest interview, Thomas admitted that he was struggling to come to terms with the loss of his leg.
“They say you can feel a phantom limb when you lose a leg and I can feel it. I don’t know if I will be able to cope with this,” he explained. “I have always been a very independent man. I don’t like the idea of spending the rest of my life in a wheelchair.”
He went on, “I have been waking up in the middle of the night and worrying about it. I’m grateful to be alive. But living without a leg is a tough prospect. I’m worried.”
Thomas’ recovery is likely to take months, as he will need to be moved to a rehabilitation center once he’s out of intensive care. The duchess’ father will then have to learn to walk again.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in August 2024 in Bogota, Colombia. Diego Cuevas/Getty Images
“I’m grateful to still be alive,” he told the Daily Mail. “But I wanted to say a big thank you to the well-wishers and also to the fantastic medical staff. I really want to say ‘thank you’ to the people of the UK who have been so kind to me.”
He continued, “I’m an old man now but my life has been saved and I’m grateful for that. I have a long road ahead.”
His son, Thomas Markle Jr., broke the news on Friday that his father had undergone the life-changing medical procedure.
“My dad is being very brave. His foot turned blue and then black. It happened very quickly. I took him to a local hospital and they did some scans and an ultrasound and said the leg had to be amputated,” Thomas Jr., 59, told the Daily Mail. “There was no option. I was told the leg had to be removed and it was a case of life or death.”
His sister, Samantha Markle, expressed concern for her father’s future while speaking to the outlet, describing him as a “strong man” who has “been through so much.”
“I am praying that he is strong enough to survive this,” she said. “My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke and an earthquake. I hope he can pull through this.”
Thomas Sr. has been estranged from Meghan since before her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018. The two had a falling out when Thomas Sr. admitted to staging photos of a suit fitting — though Samantha, 61, later told U.K. talk show Loose Women that she was “entirely the culprit” in setting up the photo opp in order to show her father in a positive light.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday in May 2018, Thomas Sr. admitted he’d lied to Prince Harry about the paparazzi photo during a heated phone conversation where he allegedly hung up on the prince.
“Harry told me that I should never go to the press. That it would end in tears. He said, ‘They will eat you alive.’ He was right,” Thomas Sr. admitted.
Thomas Sr. ultimately missed Meghan and Harry’s wedding because he suffered two heart attacks. He had to learn to walk again after suffering a stroke in 2022 and, earlier this year, he was in the Philippines when a massive 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck. (Thomas Sr. told the Daily Mail that he moved to the Philippines to escape media coverage over his rift with the duchess.)
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