Meghan Markle's father Thomas faked heart surgery to skip royal wedding following staged photos
One of the most interesting side episodes of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding was the suspense over whether the Suits actor's father would attend the royal wedding.
As we all know, the wedding happened without Thomas Markle walking his daughter down the aisles, and now it has been revealed by a source that the reason given for his absence at the wedding was made up.
As reported earlier, Thomas had missed the wedding citing a heart surgery, but the source said it was a false story circulated by him so as to generate sympathy for himself after the uproar over him having staged pictures to sell to a paparazzi.
A close friend of the Duchess told the Daily Mail that Thomas was never ill and that he had, in fact, faked an emergency operation in order to save his skin and garner sympathy, all the while also finding an excuse to not be able to make it to the royal wedding.
"The whole story about Meghan's father undergoing heart surgery was made up," the source said. "He had to come up with a good enough reason not to attend her wedding and avoid any further embarrassment after those staged photos went public."
The source added: "The poor health story was his way of generating some compassion from the public, and taking the attention off those staged photos which were a complete embarrassment to Meghan and the royal family."
She also added that Meghan was extremely disappointed with her father over the entire fiasco.
"Of course Meghan is upset with him. Her father missed her wedding. He missed walking her down the aisle all because of that ill-conceived publicity stunt." She added, "It was really just such poor judgment on his part. Now everyone's feeling sorry for him. They shouldn't. He brought this upon himself and if he were truly sick Meghan would have made an effort to visit him. Don't feel sorry for him. If anything, feel sorry for Meghan."
The new's about Meghan's father only comes a few days after he told his friends that he feels like he has "lost" his relationship with his daughter and now the Duchess of Sussex and cannot seem to understand why. The 73-year-old said, "I haven’t talked with Meghan and Harry in a long time. I think they’re shot of me now. I think that relationship is lost now."
Thomas was one of the few members of Meghan's family who was invited to the nuptials but has often spoken out how he is yet to meet Prince Harry or the rest of the royal family. It is also believed that Thomas is believed to be "heartbroken" about his "growing estrangement" from his daughter,and is concerned that they may never make things right.
According to a source, "Thomas is heartbroken. He is at a complete loss as to why he has been excluded." Last month, Thomas appeared on 'Good Morning Britain' in which he revealed that he had cried while watching Meghan marry Harry despite the fact that he missed walking her down the aisle, a tradition that most fathers would love to do for their daughters. Instead, Prince Charles was the one to walk Meghan down the aisle.
However, Thomas is not the only one upset with the Duchess of Sussex's wedding. The royal family friend, Nicky Haslam, who is also the son of one of Queen Victoria’s goddaughters, has been openly attacking the Duchess of Sussex’s family and even took a shot at Meghan’s elegant wedding dress. The only person he decided to spare was Meghan’s mother.
He said, “One person who wasn't common was her mother.”
While talking about Meghan’s family, he said, “They're frightfully common. It would have been awful if that huge lump [Meghan's father] had been there. The royals probably don't quite know how to deal with them.”
Of course, his comments didn’t stop just at Meghan’s family. He decided to compare her Givenchy bridal gown by British designer Clare Waight Keller to a piece of concrete. He even provided his expert fashion advice on how the dress could have been saved. He said, “I didn't very much like her dress — it didn't fit, among other things. It should have been made of thinner stuff, it seemed to be made of concrete.”
But Meghan does seem to be making some mistakes in the fashion department lately, given the ultimate fashion faux pas that she committed recently on one of her royal outings. The Duchess of Sussex, unfortunately, made a faux pas — her undergarments did not match up to the dress.
Many royal fans took to Twitter to share that she needed some help when it comes to choosing her undies: "She needs some support in the innerwear department," read a tweet. Meanwhile, others pointed out that her undergarment choice was an epic "fashion fail."
Tameka Jacobs, one of Meghan's co-stars on the TV show 'Deal or No Deal' in 2006, revealed that Meghan used to allegedly stuff her bra before her appearance. She also said that all the models including Markle would often laugh about how much stuffing was in their bra. "Meghan’s aspirations were to win an Oscar or be on Broadway, so if you’re in a mini dress, high heels, with your boobs taped together and pushed up when what you want to do is serious acting, then it’s tough," Jacobs added.
The night before her wedding to Prince Harry, Meghan was seen wearing a similar Roland Mouret dress, estimated at £1,350. Royal women are normally seen carrying delicate clutch bags, but Meghan chose to accessorize her outfit with a black Fendi tote, estimated to cost around £2,890. She completed her look with a pair of Birks Snowflake diamond and white gold earrings, estimated at £9,000.