I’VE learned Meghan has yet again cut all contact with her estranged father after his letter last year which suggested they should pose together for photographs.
Thomas Markle had written an otherwise heartfelt message, but the Duchess of Sussex decided she couldn’t continue speaking to her dad because of his media request.
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Meghan refused to reunite with her father after his media requestCredit: PA:Press Association
Meanwhile, his son Thomas Junior – Meghan’s half-brother – has revealed it is his father’s “life mission” to reunite with the royal.
Speaking from his home in Oregon, glassware-maker Thomas said: “My father is very hurt and very confused about what happened to the relationship with his daughter.
“And I think he is very frustrated now because he has a grandchild coming up with the favourite person that he worshipped.
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Mr Markle was scrutinized after he last posed for staged snaps before the royal weddingCredit: James Breeden - The Sun
“They had such a tight bond together and now he is worried about whether he will get to see his grandchild.
"It is a new addition to the family and that would be a perfect opportunity for the family to get back together. I do not think that he is going to stop until he gets what he wants.”
Thomas Jnr refutes claims that Meghan has been available to Thomas, and backs his dad.
“He just wants to hear from his daughter and have her back in her life.”
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Thomas Markle's son says the 74-year-old is eager to have a relationship with his daughter and grandchildCredit: The Mega Agency
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Meghan’s half-brother has revealed it is his father’s 'life mission' to reunite with the royalCredit: James Breeden - The Sun
Thomas Jnr also worries that the stress is impacting his father’s wellbeing following his heart scare.
He said: “He really needs to be careful, eat right and keep his stress level down and not let it get to him so much.
“And hopefully it will work out for the best.”
Markle gave his interview to Germany's Bunte magazine at his home in Oregon.
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Lorraine dance is a no g-Oti
STRICTLY Come Dancing female pro Oti Mabuse has been the breakout star of BBC1’s new talent show The Greatest Dancer which continues at 7.35pm tonight – and she has very good taste, too.
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Oti wants Lorraine Kelly to appear on the show
She was asked this week which celebrity she’d most like to book on Strictly and she replied: “Lorraine Kelly! I think she’d be amazing.”
Having spoken to my colleague Lorraine about this prospect, I can sadly break the news that it’s never going to happen.
talkRADIO
I’ll be back on Friday on talkRADIO for Drivetime between 4pm and 7pm.
Meghan is still behaving like a celeb who wants to have a say about how they're presented in the PressCredit: PA:Press Association
Without the knowledge of the conservative Kensington Palace press shop, the Duchess of Sussex endorsed five American pals to speak out anonymously on her behalf to A-list-friendly weekly mag People in an extraordinary cover feature.
It’s a move the similarly PR-minded Princess Diana would have whole-heartedly agreed with. But this reversal – from star to royal back to star again – is one the Duchess may well come to regret.
For the past two years, the message from her minders has been that Meghan expects to be treated like any other member of the Royal Family when it comes to her media coverage. No interviews. No briefing about her private life. No controversial opinions.
But the People piece runs counter to that strategy – and makes it clear that, like most celebrities, Meghan wants to have a say about how she’s presented in the Press.
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Similarly PR-minded Princess Diana would have whole-heartedly agreed with Meghan's decision to have five pals speak out anonymously on her behalfCredit: Getty - Contributor
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Thomas Markle has given numerous interviews but he has never publicly shared the deeply personal letter his daughter wrote him
Personally I think that’s a very positive thing. Why should royals be treated any differently to celebrities or politicians?
They are answerable to the public. Perhaps even more so than those two groups because there is no way to vote them out of office or reject them commercially by refusing to see their movie or stop watching their telly show.
However, going forward, Meghan will now have to accept she can’t have it both ways. She has now chosen to put out intimate details of her personal life into the media to win a PR war, largely with members of her own family.
While Thomas Markle has given numerous interviews, he has never publicly shared the deeply personal letter his daughter wrote him following their far-from-private feud.
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Recently the focus had very much been on Meghan's constant charity work while heavily pregnantCredit: Splash News
Now Meg, as her friends described her in People, has put the details out there herself, he presumably is much more likely to go public with it, thus keeping the whole messy sideshow going for at least another round.
No matter how unfair their criticism might have been, a royal using the media to brief against her own blood relatives is unsavoury. And the great irony of the entire situation is that it is Meghan’s intervention that has got us all talking about her family war again.
For the past few weeks, the focus had very much been on her constant charity work while heavily pregnant, which impressed me greatly. She’s certainly not workshy like her brother-in-law.
Now I await the pushback from the Markle clan. And that, I have no doubt, will not be worth the brief glow from one positive mag cover in America.
Wootton's Week
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