Meghan Markle’s dad Thomas Markle has defended himself on British TV after the Duchess accused him of lying to her about his dealings with the tabloid press in the interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday evening.
In the interview with Oprah, Meghan accused her father of lying to her when she asked him if he had spoken to the press. Oprah asked if Thomas Markle had “betrayed” her, Meghan responded: “If we were going to use the word betrayal, it’s because when I asked him… [and he said] absolutely not.”
The 76-year-old Thomas spoke to UK presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain to defend himself. He said he had apologized to his daughter for lying about his dealings with the press “at least 100 times.”
He defended his actions in talking to the press by stating “because I haven’t heard from them I’ll do a story for the press, and if I haven’t heard from them in 30 days, then I’ll do another story for the press.”
He also claims that he’s had zero contact with either Harry or Meghan since he laid up on a hospital bed following a heart attack in 2018 when they spoke through texting.
Thomas Markle said Prince Harry was ‘snotty’ with him
Markle also said he hung up on Harry during a telephone call when the Prince told him, “if you had listened to me, this wouldn’t have happened to you.” Thomas said he found Harry to be “snotty.” Some folks have questioned how he “hung up” on Harry if they were texting.
He emphasized that he would stop talking to the press if Meghan contacted him. They currently live just 70 miles apart, and Thomas has never met grandson Archie. He has also not met Harry in person.
At one point in the interview, Thomas seemed to echo his daughter’s complaints against the press when he accused them of relentlessly stalking him, and even making up stories about him.
“Everybody knows I don’t drink, but I bought beers for the guys at the guard gate… and they were making me an alcoholic. They were calling me names. Talking about the way I dress.”
He says he began doing deals with members of the press who offered to make him “look good,” but that it hadn’t worked out.
Thomas Markle admitted to sharing a personal letter with the press
Markle also admitted to sharing a letter from his daughter with the press, which he said was an act of retaliation because “Meghan’s friends were telling stories about me, they were mostly lies.”
Meghan recently won a court case against a British tabloid that illegally shared the contents of the letter.
Thomas Markle spoke about how he’d like to meet his grandson Archie someday, and he added: “I’m available any time we can get together. I’d love to get together.”
When news emerged that Meghan was pregnant with a second child last month, Thomas had spoken out about his wish to see his grandkids.