Why is Samantha Markle in a wheelchair? Meghan Markle's half-sister's battle with her body and family
Meghan Markle has been targetted in the media ever since she announced her marriage to Prince Harry and became the Duchess of Sussex. Sadly, some of her family have tossed brickbats at her. Half-sister Samantha Markle, an actress, model, and filmmaker, is among the people who tried to stir trouble in the paradise of her half-sister and her husband.
Recently, her husband, Mark Phillips was charged with domestic violence following an alleged attack on his wife. According to reports, the 62-year-old will face trial for the same in 2021 and the case is listed as in the pre-trial stage.
According to the vDaily Mail, police were called to Markle and Phillips' home in Lakeland, Florida, at 1am local time on December 14 after the couple rowed over her needing help to use the toilet. If reports are to be believed, 56-year-old Markle told cops that Phillips slapped her “on the right side of her face in the ear area” during a fight. Phillips fled the scene but was arrested later after police decided he was the “primary aggressor”.
As the news hit the internet, here's a glimpse of Samantha Markle's life, career graph and her relationship with Meghan Markle now.
Who is Samantha Markle?
Also known as Samantha Grant, the mum-of-three is a mental health counselor in Florida. Born in 1965, she was raised by Thomas and Roslyn Markle. In her early teens, she studied filmmaking at the Los Angeles Broadcasters and got a certificate in radio and television. She also got a Bachelor's degree in criminology and psychology from the University of New Mexico.
As per reports, she then earned her Master of Arts degree in mental health from Southern New Hampshire University and also attended New Mexico Highlands University to get her Master's degree in playwriting and screenwriting. Did you know she learned photography from her father for nearly 40 years? From working as an actor and print model to working as a part of production companies like Citadel, 92.3 KRST, and Guardian Promotions, she has been quite an independent career woman.
She is reported to be writing a tell-all autobiography titled ‘The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister’.
Samantha Markle slams Meghan Markle and calls her a narcissist after the pregnant Duchess said she ‘barely knew her’ in letter to their father https://t.co/vclsdZaMn6 pic.twitter.com/w0xECIzTRj
— Halif's blog (@halif_abati) February 11, 2019
How did she end up in a wheelchair?
An outspoken critic of Meghan, Samantha lives in Miami Beach. Previously, she also lived in the West Coast United States, New Mexico, and New Hampshire. Back in 2008, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and has been in a wheelchair since. In an interview, she confessed that she hadn't been invited to Meghan's first wedding due to her wheelchair condition. “It was an unspoken thing,” she said. “For a beach wedding in Jamaica, a wheelchair would have been in the way so I didn't make a big deal.”
An autoimmune condition, the disease leads the immune system to mistake an area of the body for a threat. Explaining why most people are wheelchair-bound, Everyday Health noted that a manual chair or a powered scooter becomes necessary to run errands. According to Nancy Lowenstein, an occupational therapist and clinical associate professor at the College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University in Massachusetts, it is only for certain activities, not for full-time use.
“You might get a scooter because fatigue is a big issue, and you know you can’t propel yourself in a manual chair very far,” she said, adding that a manual chair requires “strength and endurance to propel it yourself if you are going to be independent.”
Hey @BarrettWinger, you didn't believe me when I told you I commandeered Samantha Markle's motorized wheelchair prop and popped a wheelie in it. See, look! LOL!!
— MizFlagPin (@MizFlagPin) October 23, 2018
Put the pedal to the mettle and burn rubber, Psycho Sis! pic.twitter.com/DVoQqX0MvS
Why does Samantha have a rift with Meghan?
Samantha and Meghan Markle have been estranged since 2008. In 2016, she labeled Meghan a “social climber” and said she had a “soft spot for gingers”. Speaking to Good Morning Britain the day after the announcement was made, she changed her tune and said lovely words about her. She apologized to her saying, “I wanted to show in the book that she [is the] opposite.” She added, “I can only say to Meg, ‘Forgive me’.” Talking about if she will get an invitation to the royal wedding, she said, “I don’t know... I don’t know if she’s going to feel that my book is good. There’s a lot of misperception out there.”
What's more, she also told Daily Mirror that she spoke to Meghan three years back and claimed “Her last words were, ‘I love you, babe. I’m really glad we had this conversation. Keep in touch’. And she couldn’t – she got busy. I tried. But I think she just got really busy.”
What is Samantha's relationship with Meghan now?
In January 2018, Samantha slammed Meghan for wearing a £56,000 designer dress for her engagement photo. She said, “If you can spend $75,000 on a dress, you can spend $75,000 on your dad.” The relationship soured after the family was snubbed at her wedding. “Out of respect and humanitarianism, the Markles should be invited if 2,000 complete strangers are. Our uncle, brother, me, best friend of 30 years, nephews. Our issue is not a matter of closeness. Family is family,” she wrote in a tweet.
Most recently, Samantha called the former Duchess and Prince Harry “horribly cruel” for abandoning the royal family when the UK is in the grips of a coronavirus pandemic, saying, “Just the idea of abandoning both families during such a horrific time, without so much as a phone call is shocking. Considering he [Thomas Markle] went through two heart attacks without so much as a call, I guess this is status quo for her.”
Married to Mark Phillips, she is mother to three children, Noelle Rasmussen, Ashleigh Hale and Christopher Hale.