Meghan Markle may have won over the royals, but in the final weeks before her wedding to Prince Harry, it's her own family that seem determined on making things miserable for her by telling anyone who will listen she is not the woman she claims to be and has hurt the Markle family by ignoring them.
"There's a whole different side of her that has started to surface and it's ugly to see," said half-brother Thomas Markle.
With just one month to go before the May 19 nuptials at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, Meghan's half-siblings Samantha Grant, who now goes by Samantha Markle, and Thomas have not received invitations to the wedding and are now speaking out against their estranged sister, creating a nightmare for her. "She has been very careful about avoiding any kind of controversy and unwanted publicity," one source told me. "This has got to be very embarrassing. She just wants them to go away."
Half-sister Samantha, who has said she is writing a memoir about growing up with Meghan, has been a persistent thorn in the former actress' side giving numerous interviews to British tabloids and television shows and challenging her sister's version of events about their family life. At first, Samantha tried to say that her book, tentatively titled, The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister, was not going to bash Meghan and said she was happy for her sister. But now that she is definitely not included in the wedding, has become openly critical of Meghan—and Prince Harry.
Just yesterday, Samantha accused Harry of being a hypocrite by "allowing Meg to ignore the Markles." Her ill-timed tweet appeared the same day Meghan was appearing with the prince on behalf of the Royal Family at Commonwealth reception in London.
She wrote: "It's time to 'man up' @HRHHenryWindsor. 'Shout outs' about humanitarianism, don't work when you are allowing Meg to ignore the Markles. It is s [sic] contradiction. Someone must point out that the 'Emperor is not wearing any clothes.'" (The Twitter account Samantha tweeted at was not Prince Harry's.)
Ouch.
Thomas recently told a reporter Meghan was trying to be the next Princess Diana and "is giving the greatest performance of her life" adding, "Diana was genuine" and his half-sister "is acting like a phony. Once she got into Hollywood she turned into a different person. She's clearly forgotten her roots and her family."
He went on to say: "I'm confused and a little distraught because here is a person knowing the position she's in and knowing the scrutiny she's under and yet she has forgotten her flesh and blood… Maybe the normal American family she has is embarrassing to her because we're not producers and executive producers."
The only family member of Meghan's who is attending the wedding is her mother, Doria Ragland. It is unclear if Prince Harry has even met her father, Thomas Markle, who lives in Mexico. Reports have surfaced that Meghan wanted her mother to walk her down the aisle; other say her father will be there. My sources tell me Prince William will accompany her down the aisle. There is precedent for this. Prince Philip walked Queen Elizabeth's sister Princess Margaret down the aisle but that was because their father, King George VI, had died before Margaret's wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones.
"Aside from her mother," said my source. "Meghan is done with her family. She has moved on. The royals are her family now."
Samantha and Thomas Markle will have a presence the day of the wedding. Both are reportedly planning to be on-air correspondents for media outlets in the states and Britain. And for more amazing royals coverage, know the Secret Trick Royal Women Always Do When Exiting a Car.
Diane Clehane is a New York-based journalist and author of Imagining Diana and Diana: The Secrets of Her Style.
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