Meghan Markle's father wants to meet grandson Archie, says he's tired of being 'vilified' by the royal family
More than three months after Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born, the royal baby's grandfather, Thomas Markle, says that he is yet to meet him.
Although Thomas has mostly refrained from speaking out about his daughter's pregnancy and the birth of Duke and Duchess of Sussex's child in May, only giving brief interviews and statements, he is finally addressing the rift between him, Meghan and Prince Harry after being subjected to a "daily barrage" of lies reported about him in the media, Daily Mail reported.
He said that things between him and his daughter have gotten so bad that it was difficult for him to even get a birthday card to her last month when she turned 38. "I sent her a card via her financial adviser in LA but received no acknowledgment," he said. "I have no idea if she got it. I'd like to do a piece saying the ten things people don't know about me but there are way more than ten. What upsets me is when people who don't know me say negative things about me. Until you know me, what gives you that right?"
Thomas never received an official invitation to the royal wedding in May 2018. Meghan walked down the aisle with Prince Charles after Thomas had to cancel his trip following two heart attacks.
The grandfather says he'd love to see Archie but has only seen his photograph online. "I would like them to send me a picture of Archie so I can frame it and put it on my wall beside the one of Meghan. Isn't that what any grandfather would want? I'd love to know if he's got the famous Markle nose," he said.
"Sometimes, I get the feeling people think I don't love my daughter. I do love her very much. I would love nothing more than to put a picture of Archie in a frame and place it beside the one of Meghan," he added.
Thomas expressed his disappointment at having been shut out of Meghan's life, and over his daughter not having made any efforts to mend things between them. "
There was never any problem between Meghan and me until recently," he said. "I've stayed quiet because Meghan was pregnant with Archie but I'm speaking out now because they and their PR people are continuing to ghost me out of her life. Of course, I'm disappointed not to see Archie. I had hoped becoming a mother would mellow Meghan and she would reach out."
What made things worse for Thomas was the Duke and Duchess' celebrity friends painting a negative image of him. "People who don't know me make judgments," Thomas said. "My daughter's new A-list friends have no right to speak about me until they know me."
He said that staging photographs with the paparazzi days before Meghan and Harry's wedding was wrong and he had apologized a number of times for it. "I was approached by a photo agency which said it would be a way to improve my image because the press were (sic) making me look like a homeless guy," he said. "It was a huge mistake. I wanted to apologize to the Royal Family publicly but Meghan and Harry told me not to. So I texted Jason Knauf, who was Harry and Meghan's then-press secretary, and he asked me what I'd like to say. I said I wanted to apologize to the Queen and the Royal Family and that I meant no harm. That apology never came out. I don't know why."
However, Thomas said he was not holding his breath when it came to fixing his relationship with his daughter and, instead, was focused on salvaging his reputation in the public eye. "I'm sick of the lies. I'm sick of being vilified and shut out of their lives. I don't want anything from Meghan or Harry but I'm not going to shut up until the whole truth is out there. I will continue to contradict anything said about me that isn't true. I have to stand up for myself. I'm going to carry on speaking and I'm not going to shut up," he added.
"No father deserves this kind of abuse when he's been that good to his daughter. Ask anyone who knows us both, I've been very kind and generous to my daughter."