Dispute over Meghan’s claim she has contacted her estranged father after his leg amputation

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has said she has tried to contact her estranged father, Thomas Markle, who reportedly had his leg amputated this week. It is unclear if the attempt was successful.

A spokesperson for the duchess said in a statement on Saturday: “I can confirm she has reached out to her father.” On Sunday, the Daily Mail reported claims from Thomas Markle, 81, that he has not heard from Meghan, nor her representatives, following his surgery.

The Mail also claimed he had informed its reporter of his surgery before telling his son and live-in primary carer, Thomas Markle Jr, and daughter Samantha Markle. Meghan’s half-siblings were informed of their father’s surgery by the Daily Mail reporter, the tabloid alleged.

On Sunday, Samantha took to X, criticising the duchess and her alleged “PR bullshit”.

“‘Houston’ there’s been no contact,” Samantha wrote in between reposts of other people claiming Meghan lied about reaching out to Thomas. “Time to stop the PR b******* Medusa.”

Meghan has not publicly responded to Thomas nor Samantha’s claims. London’s The Telegraph reported that the duchess emailed her father on Friday after instructing aides to find out if reports of his surgery were factual.

The newspaper reported that Meghan’s email was sent to an address Thomas Markle claimed he hadn’t used for five years, and that the email did not bounce back, which signalled it was delivered.

According to the Mail on Sunday , Thomas Markle said from his hospital bed he was “confused” by reports Meghan had attempted to make contact, as he had not changed his phone number.

According to The Telegraph, the duchess’s aides have “made it clear” that if Thomas Markle were willing to share a different email address, Meghan’s email would be forwarded on.

Thomas Markle reportedly underwent a three-hour operation in a Philippine hospital on Wednesday after being rushed there on Tuesday from his home on the island of Cebu.

During the surgery, his left leg was amputated below the knee, after it had turned black as a result of a blood clot.

The relationship between the duchess and her father – who was married to Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, from 1979 to 1987 – broke down in the lead up to Meghan and Prince Harry’s wedding in 2018.

Notably, Thomas was found to have colluded with photographers, who paid him for paparazzi photos showing him getting ready for the royal wedding.

“That’s not what you do, that’s not parenting,” Ragland later said of the matter in the duke and duchess’s six-part Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, released in 2022.

Harry’s father, Charles, ultimately walked Meghan down the aisle at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, after Thomas pulled out of attending the event, citing health problems. Samantha Markle claimed her father had suffered two heart attacks, which prevented him from flying to London from Los Angeles.

In August 2018, three months after her wedding to the Duke of Sussex, Meghan wrote a five-page letter to her estranged father asking him to stop engaging with the media.

The Mail on Sunday published extracts of the letter in February 2019, prompting the duchess to sue the tabloid for copyright infringement and breach of privacy.

Meghan won the High Court case, and the matter was settled in December 2021 when the tabloid’s appeal was dismissed.

Thomas continued to speak to the media. In 2020, he sat down with British broadcaster Channel 5 for a 90-minute documentary, during which he criticised Meghan and Harry for stepping back from being full-time senior royals and leaving the United Kingdom.

“I think they’re both turning into lost souls at this point,” he said in Thomas Markle: My Life, calling their royal resignation “embarrassing”.

It’s unclear if Meghan and Thomas resumed a proper relationship after her wedding. It’s believed Thomas has not met Meghan and Harry’s children, six-year-old Prince Archie and four-year-old Princess Lilibet.

Meghan does have a relationship with Samantha’s daughter, Ashleigh Hail, whom the duchess considers more of a sister than a niece.

“I think she takes on a lot of roles for me. There’s a sister element, there’s something maternal. She’s my best friend, she’s kind of all the things,” Hail said of Meghan in the Harry & Meghan docuseries.

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