The Queen and the rest of the royal family are not amused.
For Meghan's sake, they were willing to overlook Thomas Markle's shocking disclosure, revealed just one week before the wedding, that he worked with the paparazzi to stage those embarrassing photographs. Then, they maintained their collective stiff upper lips when they learned of his subsequent decision not to attend the nuptials and his announcement that he was to undergo heart surgery days before the wedding. Afterwards, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall,revealed to one television interviewer that the family "didn't know what was going to happen next" as the drama unfolded.
One palace insider told me Markle's announcement about his surgery in the days leading up to the wedding "greatly distressed the duchess," and forced Meghan to issue an unprecedented statement, confirming her father was indeed backing out. "But everyone was trying to be sympathetic and not do anything to spoil the day." Prince Charles memorably stepped in and walked his future daughter-in-law to the altar after the bride-to-be had made her way half-way up the aisle alone.
"At the time, the royals were deeply concerned about Meghan," said my palace source. "It appeared the pressure of the wedding was too much for Mr. Markle, and they understood that."
After the wedding, Markle told Piers Morgan that working with the paparazzi had been "a mistake" and he was sorry for missing the wedding and for the embarrassment he caused his daughter.
But Markle's recent actions and comments are becoming increasingly problematic and embarrassing to the royals. In his latest interview, Markle told The Sun on Sunday, "I had a heart attack, doesn't anybody care? I could actually die soon." Then added, "Does she want this to be the last thing we've said to each other?" He also claimed the phone he used to call Meghan is no longer working and Kensington Palace has not responded to his texts.
This is just the latest in a string of interviews Markle has given, during which he's made some surprisingly and deeply personal remarks about Meghan and Prince Harry including his revelation that Meghan cried when he told her he wasn't coming to the wedding and that he made Harry promise he "would never raise a hand to my daughter." He also claimed the prince told him Donald Trump "deserves a chance." (Some reports suggest that Markle has received payment for some of his interviews.)
In another interview, Markle took issue with Queen Elizabeth II's decision to have tea with Donald Trump before meeting him, telling TMZ, "If the Queen is willing to meet our arrogant, ignorant, and insensitive president, she has no excuse not to meet me. I'm nowhere near as bad."
That, it seems, depends on who you ask.
"He's a loose cannon whose comments have become increasingly hostile towards his daughter and the royal family," my source told me. "The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are extremely fond of Meghan and they want to protect her from all this, as does Prince Harry. And now he's attacking the Queen? They really want to find a way to get Mr. Markle to understand how hurtful his actions have been to all concerned. They want him to stop saying such outrageous things."
All of this comes on the heels of today's story on DailyMail.com where a source claims Markle made up his story about needing heart surgery. During his interview with ITV's Good Morning Britain, Markle said he was admitted to the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, just a few miles north of the Mexican border in Tijuana, where a stent was fitted for his surgery in May. DailyMail.com is now reporting that, when they reached out to the hospital for confirmation of his May 16th procedure, the facility reported "no such name" had ever checked into the hospital. Two days after his alleged heart surgery, Markle was photographed carrying two Happy Meals and a chocolate milkshake from McDonald's, and later getting dinner at KFC. The outlet quotes an unnamed source as saying the surgery never happened.
"If it's true that Mr. Markle made up the story about his surgery to gain sympathy," said my source. "It confirms the worst suspicions that this man is using his daughter for press attention and money. It certainly makes it extremely unlikely that the Queen or any of the royals would welcome him into their lives now."
The revelation that Markle may have fabricated the story about his health came to light on the same day as yet another embarrassing episode with another of one of Meghan's relatives made headlines. Earlier today, Meghan's older half-sister, Samantha Grant took to Twitter and unleashed her latest tirade against the Duchess, announcing she will blame her if their father dies. The wheelchair-bound actress, who is said to be working on a memoir about her life with her newly royal sister, used the occasion of Meghan and Harry's appearance at the Nelson Mandela centenary exhibition in London to tweet: "How about you pay tribute to your own father?! Enough is enough. Act like a humanitarian, act like a woman," she wrote. "If our father dies, it's on you Meg. @KensingtonRoyal" (Grant has since set her Twitter on private.)
While Meghan deleted all her social media accounts in January, months before the wedding, and may not have personally seen the attacks by her half-sister on Twitter, the royals' press office and social media specialists are most certainly well aware of this attack on the duchess (Grant tagged them in the tweet). I'm told are monitoring the situation closely.
"This is outrageous," said my source. "What do these people want? They claimed they want to be reunited with the duchess and rebuild their relationship. Given what has transpired since the wedding, that's never going to happen. Truth be told, she'd be better off if they'd all just go away for good."
And for more edge-of-your-seat royal drama, learn What the Queen Really Thinks about Meghan Markle.
Diane Clehane is a New York-based journalist and author of Imagining Diana and Diana: The Secrets of Her Style.
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