Meghan Markle's Father Debunks What The Duchess Said About Her Childhood
Meghan Markle's strained relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, is no secret. The twosome have been estranged for several years now, with things really boiling over around 2018 when she tied the knot with Prince Harry in London — without Thomas in attendance.
What's happened between the two since can be described as nothing short of public mud slinging, with Thomas in particular seemingly speaking to any outlet he can to get his story out there. Appearing on "Good Morning Britain" in March, Thomas clarified, "When they say that I'm taking advantage of the press, basically what I do is, I do a story for the press. If I don't hear from them in 30 days, then I do another story for the press."
As for when he'll stop airing out their dirty laundry? Thomas explained, "When they decide to talk to me, I'll stop talking to the press."
It's thought the two haven't spoken since around the time of Harry and Meghan's wedding, with Us Weekly claiming in 2018 that their last conversation actually took place the day after the two tied the knot. A source also claimed at the time that the Duchess of Sussex, who has since welcomed two children Thomas has not met, was "frustrated" with him continually speaking to the press.
Well, now, Thomas is speaking out once again, this time to discredit claims his daughter made about her childhood.
Thomas Markle undermines his daughter
Thomas Markle hit back at Meghan Markle in December, slamming claims she made in a letter to U.S. congress claiming her family struggled financially.
Meghan has been vocally supporting the need for paid parental leave in the U.S., and claimed in her letter — which is dated October 20 and can be read via Paid Leave For All — that she "grew up on the $4.99 salad bar at Sizzler." She added she knew her parents had to work hard to afford for them to be able to eat out, as they didn't do it very often, calling it "something special" that made her feel "lucky."
But Thomas has a different account of their times dining out and hit back at the claims to The Sun. "She's never, ever, ever had to worry about anything like that in her life. We'd do the best restaurants in town and we'd do Sizzler because it was convenient. We never had to rub our pennies together and just have the salad bar," he responded. "She had the salad bar — but she had a meal as well." Thomas also slammed Meghan's repeated use of her royal title, calling it "totally wrong."
This is far from the first time Thomas has accused his daughter of stretching the truth. In August, he suggested Meghan lied when she claimed during her and Harry's infamous sit down with Oprah Winfrey that they were married secretly before their public ceremony (via The Sun).