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MEG'S RIFT WITH DAD
Meghan Markle reveals fractured relationship with her ‘reclusive’ father in candid home video from her teenage years
MEGHAN Markle told of her fractured relationship with her father in a candid home video shot by her best friend.
The actress was filmed by Ninaki Priddy as they drove around Los Angeles chatting about an upcoming audition.
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But as they neared divorced dad Thomas’s home in the city the mood changed — and Prince Harry’s fiancée said: “We aren’t going to go there.”
Meghan confided in a pal about her difficult relationship with dad Thomas — saying: “We aren’t on the best of terms.”
The candid admission was caught on film as an 18-year-old Meghan and then best friend Ninaki Priddy filmed themselves driving around Los Angeles.
The footage, shot when Meghan was an aspiring actress, gives an extraordinary glimpse into the past of Prince Harry’s fiancee.
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18-year-old Meghan Markle reveals a rocky relationship with her dad Thomas in exclusive home movie
It captures her talking light-heartedly about her dreams and her crushes. But as they tour the city’s streets the mood becomes more serious as Meghan says: “We’re about four minutes from my dad’s house.
“From dad’s house you can see the Hollywood sign.
“But we aren’t going to go there because my dad and I aren’t on the best of terms. I’d like to stop and see if I have any mail, but let’s just say I doubt it.”
Reclusive Thomas, now 73, is a bankrupt former TV lighting director.
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Thomas split from Meghan’s mum Doria in 1988 — a decade before the video was shot — and now lives a nomadic life, driving between rented homes in LA and Mexico in an old Volvo.
He is said to be have been made more reclusive by the furore around Meghan’s engagement.
Ninaki, who shared the 40-minute film with The Sun, said: “It’s an insight into a world Meghan has been trying to protect.
“She tries to project a certain public persona. This is an unguarded version of herself, with her vulnerabilities and insecurities.”
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The video, shot in the summer of 1999, follows Meghan as she prepares for a Shakira music video audition.
It begins with Meghan filming in Ninaki’s LA apartment. She says: “This is Niki, we’ve known each other since we were two-years-old.”
Meghan zooms in on a photo of them hugging and says: “There’s Meg and Niki.”
The video continues with Meghan walking to her dark green Nissan and focuses on her number plate, which reads “Classy Girl.”
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Meghan says: “Yeah, the ex-boyfriend got that for me.” As they drive through LA Meghan says: “Oh I have an audition today! For a music video. We’ll see how that goes.”
Meghan displays her interest in expensive cars, jewellery and fashion as the pair negotiate LA’s streets.
She and Ninaki count “Beamers” and “Benz” cars and note the Prada, Cartier and Louis Vuitton stores.
As they go past jeweller Tiffany and Co, Meghan waves to the store and jokes to the camera: “Hint, hint”.
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The girls then film themselves singing along with the radio before pulling up at Meghan’s home.
Meghan explains her mum Doria is away in Mexico as the camera pans in on the number plate on her Volvo which reads: “MegNMee”.
Inside the house Meghan looks embarrassed as Ninaki films in her messy bedroom. Meghan, who was preparing to head off to Northwestern University in Chicago, says: “No, no, no, no! Ok, I’m getting ready to move so my room is just a mess.”
The girls move into the kitchen, where the camera scans photographs showing Meghan with her family.
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Meghan grabs some photos of herself to take to the audition and the pair head back to the car.
As they set off Meghan says of the audition: “They want me to dance wildly. Shakira! Let’s listen to that song again. I have to dance to this in front of five people watching me.”
Footage then cuts to after the audition and a weary Meghan says: “It went pretty well. We all danced like wild women and I was shaking my hair around and all sorts of stuff.”
She tells how she hopes to get £445 for two days work if she gets the part.
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Meghan adds: “I was really nervous I was going to fall out of my top. I was shaking around so much.”
She did not get the role.
The film continues with the girls visiting a mall to buy clothes then driving to Ninaki’s flat where Meghan puts on a fashion show.
As a video for the song Someday by 1990s band Sugar Ray comes on the TV, Meghan reveals she has a crush on singer Mark McGrath. She says: “Oh, he’s so hot.”
Ninaki says she thinks McGrath looks like a troll.
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Meghan adds: “You don’t think Mark McGrath is good looking? Wow! That’s the finest troll I’ve ever seen.”
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Looking back on the film 18-years on, Ninaki said: “It was two to three months after high school graduation. I don’t think she ever doubted she was going to be famous. She loved the spotlight.”
Ninaki, 36, and Meghan no longer speak. They fell out after Meghan moved to Toronto for TV show Suits and split with first husband TV producer Trevor Engelson in 2011.
Ninaki said: “I smile about the good times. We had some really great memories. But she has become a different person. She is unrecognisable to me. A manufactured, exaggerated version of herself.”
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