Not holding back. Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, candidly confessed how ashamed he is of his daughter and her husband, Prince Harry, for choosing to step back from their royal positions.
“What they have decided to do is, to me, embarrassing,” Thomas, 75, said during an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday, January 27. “I think when they got married, they married into royalty and they knew what they were getting themselves into. That’s been Harry’s life, Meghan’s had a similar kind of life.”
Thomas continued, “I think they have hurt the queen. I think they have hurt the royals and it just doesn’t work to be going to another country to be serving England. It’s never going to work.”
The retired photographer noted that he was “a little embarrassed” for the couple, who wed in May 2018, and added that he was “feeling a little sorry” for the monarch. He also said he’s “having trouble buying” into claims that the media coverage of the 38-year-old Suits alum has been racist, noting that the United Kingdom is “far more liberal” than the United States.
“There’s never been a problem in terms of race with Meghan at her school or any place, and I haven’t noticed it in England at all,” he argued. “I don’t think she’s being bullied in any way, or any shape because of racism.”
Meghan and Harry, 35, declared that they would step down from their senior positions within the British royal family on January 8. With this news, the couple — who share 8-month-old son Archie — said they would also work to “become financially independent.”
Weeks after their announcement, Buckingham Palace — which is headed by Queen Elizabeth II — revealed in a January 18 statement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “will not use their HRH titles” and they will “repay Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage.” That same day, the monarch shared how “pleased” she was that her family has “found a constructive and supportive way” for her grandson and his family to move forward.
Meghan and Harry are currently residing in Canada with Archie. On January 22, a source told Us Weekly exclusively that the former actress is “so happy” to enter this next chapter with her family of three. Harry, meanwhile, likely won’t “miss being a royal,” Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, told Us on January 23. Like the late Princess of Wales, Harry’s “long-term ambition is to be known as a humanitarian.”
