Thomas Markle said in a new interview that his daughter, Duchess Meghan, and her husband, Prince Harry, are “lost souls” as they prepare to step down as senior royals.
Talking to British TV network ITV for an upcoming documentary titled Thomas Markle: My Story, the 75-year-old said the couple’s decision to relinquish their roles and become financially independent is “embarrassing” and that they are “destroying” the British royal family.
“With Meghan and Harry separating from the royals, it’s disappointing to me because she actually got every girl’s dream,” Markle said in a clip posted by the Daily Mail on Saturday, January 18. “Every young girl wanted to become a princess and she got that and now she’s tossing that away … it looks like she’s tossing that away for money.”
Referring to Frogmore Cottage, the couple’s renovated home on the queen’s estate in Windsor, England, he continued, “Apparently $3 million and a 26-bedroom home isn’t enough for them … It’s kind of embarrassing to me.”
As Us Weekly previously reported, Buckingham Palace released a statement on Saturday revealing that the couple had come to an agreement with Queen Elizabeth II that will see them relinquishing their titles of His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness as “they are no longer working members of the Royal Family.”
The monarch said in a statement on Saturday that she is “pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family” to lead a “more independent life.”
The palace stated that Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, plan to pay back an estimated $3.1 million spent in Sovereign Grant funds that went towards renovating Frogmore Cottage. But, according to multiple reports, the couple will not be completely financially independent and will be given just under $3 million annually from Prince Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall estate.
Markle said in the 90-minute documentary that he thinks his daughter and son-in-law, who plan to split their time between the U.K. and North America, are “turning into lost souls at this point.”
“I don’t know what they’re looking for,” he continued. “I don’t think they know what they are looking for.”
“When they got married, they took on an obligation, and the obligation is to be part of the royals and to represent the royals. And it would be foolish for them not to,” Markle said in the Channel 5 documentary that is set to air soon in the U.K. “This is, like, one of the greatest, long-living institutions ever. They are destroying it, they’re cheapening it, they’re making it shabby. They’re turning it into a Walmart with a crown on it now. It’s something that’s ridiculous; they shouldn’t be doing this.”
Meghan and her father have been estranged since her May 2018 wedding, when he was involved in a paparazzi photo scandal. He has since spoken out about the former Suits actress in several interviews and criticized the royal family.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the retired lighting director is set to testify in a U.K. court case after Meghan sued the Mail on Sunday for publishing a private letter she wrote to him.
Markle admitted to ITV that he isn’t expecting to speak to his only daughter with ex-wife Doria Ragland anytime soon: “I can’t see her reaching out to me, especially now, and in light of what I’m saying now she probably won’t, or Harry for that matter.”
