Meghan blames 'intrusive' UK tabloids for ruining very close relationship with dad Thomas Markle
Meghan Markle has claimed that her "very close relationship" with her father, Thomas Markle, deteriorated because of the influence of the United Kingdom's tabloid media. The allegations were made in court papers filed by the lawyers for the Duchess of Sussex, 38, in her lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, over a February 2019 article, which had reproduced parts of a handwritten note she had sent to her father in August 2018.
Meghan has not been in talking terms with her father since May 2018, when she tied the knot with Prince Harry. While the official explanation was that he was recovering from heart surgery, Thomas was reportedly not invited because he had posed for staged photos where he was preparing for the occasion that they were later sold to tabloids. In court papers seen by the Telegraph, Meghan seemed to confirm the rumors by stating that she and Thomas had "a very close father/daughter relationship throughout her childhood and remained close until he was targeted three years ago by intrusive UK tabloid media."
She also responded to an "imputation" that she "failed to provide any or any real financial support for her father" and included financial disclosures that showed she had made "voluntary financial contributions" to him since she got a job. Lawyers for the Duchess said questions about the financial support she provided to her father were "gratuitous and a further violation and intrusion of privacy of both the Claimant and her father" before going on to expand on their relationship.
They said it has "never been denied that the Claimant’s father supported her throughout her childhood and as a young adult" but seemed to suggest his contributions had been exaggerated. They said he did not "pay for all" tuition fees while she was in college and that there had been contributions from her mother, as well as a scholarship and a "work-study program whereby income she made from working on campus after class was applied directly to supplement and lower her tuition costs."
While Thomas took out a loan from Northwestern University for tuition costs, they said Meghan "began making voluntary financial contributions to her father" once she started working. "The Claimant’s father gave occasional financial support to the Claimant, just as she provided reciprocal financial support to him once she began earning," the court documents stated.
The documents addressed claims that Meghan had requested financial help from her father for her wedding to Trevor Engelson. It said Thomas made a "personal offer to contribute financially to her first wedding" but "no request for any such contribution was made by the Claimant - not for $20,000 or any other amount."
They also suggested that Thomas Markle could have paid his medical bills, after he was admitted for heart problems, with the fees he received for his media interview. "Medical documents within the Defendant’s possession, which were shared in the private reply from Mr. Markle to the Claimant, clearly state the medical costs covered by insurance (exceeding six figures) and the nominal co-payment Mr. Markle paid of roughly $2,500," they said. "Within the correspondence, Mr. Markle notes the significant payments he received for interviews and quotes provided to UK tabloids and commentators, which would appear to exceed and offset the excess medical cost of roughly $2,500."
Meghan is suing Associated Newspapers for undisclosed damages on the accusation that they breached her privacy, copyright or data protection. No date has yet been set for the trial, which is expected to go ahead in 2021 and might see the Duchess and her father come face-to-face for the first time in more than two years.