Meghan Markle was 'daddy's girl' before she married Harry, says family friend: ‘Thomas was so proud’
Meghan Markle was quite the "daddy's girl" in her pre-teen and high school years, with father Thomas Markle frequently chaperoning her around for her daily activities.
Meghan, who along with her husband, stepped down as senior members of the royal family last month, is no longer on talking terms with her father, with the relationship going south ever since she married the British royal in 2018.
Speaking to Fox News, a close family friend of Meghan's, who wished to remain anonymous, said that during the 'Suits' actress' formative years in the 1990s, her father played a vital role in her orbit. Although her parents got divorced when she was in junior high, at Immaculate Heart in Los Angeles, California, she lived under the same roof as her dad and their relationship was nothing but loving and supportive on both sides.
"Meghan was a very happy, determined girl," the family friend said of Meghan as a young teen. "She was very close with her dad."
She said that many of the people who had watched the former Duchess of Sussex grow up were sad to see the father-daughter bond fall apart since Thomas was always perceived by other parents at Meghan's school as a consistent parent who picked up and dropped her off at various locations.
"Her dad was primarily taking care of her after Meghan's parents divorced," the family insider said. "He would always come by and pick her up at friends' houses, bring Meghan with him to the lighting studios he worked at, soap operas, commercials, you name it."
Her father's occupation as a lighting director also paved the way for Meghan's love for the entertainment industry before she ultimately decided to become an actress. However, the pair's relationship drastically changed after Meghan got married to a British royal prince. They grew even more distant after he suffered a heart attack and missed her and Prince Harry's royal wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
What followed was Meghan claiming she supported herself through college with no help from her father, Thomas disputing that and then releasing private letters from Meghan to the British media which became the crux of a lawsuit filed by the Sussexes against the newspaper last year. He also claimed that the palace had purposefully not let him meet his grandson, Archie.
Following 'Megxit,' Thomas told Us Weekly he was "disappointed" in his daughter and Harry.
"The only time Thomas was upset with anything Meghan did was when she went off to study college in Chicago," said the family friend. "But of course, that was just because he was going to miss her. It was hard for him to watch her go, but he was so proud."