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Duchess Meghan’s Dad Thomas Markle Says She Told Him He Couldn’t Make a Speech at Royal Wedding

Thomas Markle
Meghan Markle on July 13, 2018 in London. Thomas Markle on May 10th, 2018. Karwai Tang/WireImag; Rachpoot/Mega Agency

Duchess Meghan‘s father, Thomas Markle, said in an interview on Sunday, August 12, that she told him he couldn’t give a speech at her wedding to Prince Harry in May.

Related: Meghan Markle’s Family: Everything We Know About the Royal In-Laws

The retired lighting engineer, 74, told the Mail on Sunday that he was hurt when the former Suits actress, 37, turned down his offer to speak at her reception.

Markle said that he was speaking to his future son-in-law on the phone when he said that he would “like to make a little speech,” prompting Harry, 33, to respond, “You will have to talk to Meghan.”

When Markle did talk to his daughter about it, she told him there was “no room” for his speech.

“I was going to recount the funny story about how she broke the news to me about dating Harry: ‘Daddy, I’ve met a man … Daddy, he’s English … Daddy, he’s a prince,'” Markle told the Mail. “I thought it was a cute story. Like any father, I wanted to say a few words. I was going to thank the royal family for welcoming my beautiful daughter into their family. But it was a speech that I was never going to be allowed to give. That hurt.”

Related: Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan’s Wedding Timeline

As previously reported, Markle didn’t attend his daughter’s wedding at Windsor Castle in London after suffering a heart attack in the wake of a photo scandal that made headlines when he posed for staged photos that showed him being fitted for a suit for the wedding.

As previously reported, he had an emotional phone call with Harry about the incident that ended with him hanging up on the prince.

Meghan’s father, who lives in Mexico, told the newspaper that he also never received an official invitation to the wedding.

“I never got a wedding invitation,” he said. “At first I thought, ‘That’s OK, because I’m part of the wedding,’ but I would have loved to have had an invitation to put in a frame.”

Related: Duchess Meghan Through the Years

Markle, who has continued to speak out about Meghan and has dissed the royal family, previously told the Mail that he hasn’t spoken to his duchess daughter since the day after the wedding. But he insists he wishes the newlyweds the best, saying that Meghan will be a loving and caring wife to Harry.

“She was the same with Trevor [Engelson, her first husband]. Meghan is very maternal by nature,” he said. “She loves to cook and she will mother Harry. He’s eating properly now, he’s dressing the way she wants him to. All men need that.”

As Us Weekly reported last month, Meghan is upset over her father constantly speaking to the press and a source close to the duchess told Us that her relationship with her father may be irreparable.

Related: 10 Photos of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Wedding That Make Us Believe in Love

“Meghan is so upset over Thomas,” the source said. “She doesn’t even know how to communicate with her dad without knowing he won’t exploit her. She lives in fear that he’ll leak their communication. If he’s spoken this much already, why wouldn’t he leak their conversation?”

“She would like to speak to him, but there is no trust there anymore,” the source added. “And it doesn’t seem like it could ever be rebuilt. The damage is done.”

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