'If you go to the press, it will end in tears': Thomas Markle says he hung up on 'rude' Prince Harry
Thomas Markle was not happy with the timing of Prince Harry's phone call with regard to the staged paparazzi photos. The father of Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle said that he was "upset" to receive such a call while he was recovering from a heart attack and called it "rude". Thomas says that he lied when Prince Harry asked him if the rumors about him staging the photos were true.
Even though Thomas and Harry have never met, they have had a couple of telephonic exchanges prior to Meghan's wedding. One of the many things that Harry had advised Thomas about was the press. "Harry told me that I should never go to the press. That it would end in tears. He said, 'They will eat you alive'. He was right," Thomas recalled.
Instead of taking Harry's advise, Thomas decided to do what he thought was right and got himself involved in the idea of staging photographs for a little money. After Harry came to know about the photos, he immediately called Thomas to set the record straight. Thomas alleges that Prince Harry said, "If you had listened to me, this would never have happened," reported Daily Mail. Thomas says that he told Harry "Maybe it would be better for you guys if I was dead… then you could pretend to be sad," before hanging up the call.
Thomas believes that Prince Harry had all the right to be angry and he does not hold it against him. However, the thing that upset him the most was when Meghan told him that he won't be able to deliver a speech at their wedding which took place on May 19. Thomas noted that "it hurt" to hear his daughter say that. "I’m not mad at Harry. I’m not mad at Meghan. I love them. I wish them well. But, as for the rest of it, f*** it. I’m done," he said.
Thomas was also hurt that he did not get the same treatment as Meghan's mother Doria Ragland. Two representatives from the British consulate in Los Angeles arrived at Doria's home to present her with an official scroll bearing the Queen's formal announcement while the same treatment was not given to Thomas. The letter read, "My Lords, I declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between My Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan Markle."
"I would have liked the engagement announcement too," Thomas told the outlet. At the same time, he wasn't even given one of the 600 wedding invitations that were sent out. "I never got a wedding invitation.
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," he said. "I asked Meghan to send invitations to all my family. I told her they wouldn't be able to come because they would never be able to afford the flight but that it would be a nice gesture on her part. Of course, that didn't happen."
Thomas further added that he was planning on telling the story of how Meghan told her about Harry but it changed when she said that there was "no room for his speech" at the wedding. "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,' she said. 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. But it was a speech that I was never going to be allowed to give. That hurt."