Meghan Markle's estranged brother says his family should to be treated 'like the Middletons'
The British royalty has been tight-lipped about the entire drama emanating from the disgruntlement of some members of Meghan Markle's family, ever since her wedding to Prince Harry. The silence has been magnified by the voluble opinions of many members of Meghan's family, and the latest to take a potshot at the royal family is her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr.
Markle Jr. has demanded that their family get the same treatment as the Middletons from ueen Elizabeth and company. To buttress his point, he pointed out that Kate Middleton’s uncle, Gary Goldsmith, has been welcomed into the family despite his four marriages and a conviction for domestic assault. “They have [brought outsiders in] before in the past, like with the Middletons,” said the 52-year-old. “I don’t see why our family is any different.”
Thomas Jr believes that Meghan's paternal side of the family has been shut down ever since she married Prince Harry. Speaking to Daily Mail, Thomas Jr said that if the royals had intervened in the matter, things would have settled down long back. “Kensington Palace could have got involved a long time ago – as soon as they announced their engagement,” he said. “They’ve dealt with this kind of stuff for a long time and why did they did [sic] it this way, that’s the big question. Why? They could have looked after my dad and he would have been happy.”
Thomas Jr further pointed out how Gary was sent to rehab after he confessed to knocking his wife, Julie-Ann Brown, to the ground after a drunken argument which was allegedly over his drug use. Despite making headlines, he was invited to Kate's wedding and he even attended Pippa Middleton's wedding.
"I think Uncle Gary and I would get along just fine. It would have been nice to at least get an invite to the wedding like he was," he said. "I don't need to be brought into all the events or whatever but it would have been nice to be brought into that."
Meghan has been estranged from her siblings for several years and stopped talking to her father, Thomas Markle, ever since her marriage. Thomas Jr. pointed out that when Kate married Prince William, her entire family, including Gary, were invited for the wedding.
“I think Meghan should have handled this differently,” he said. “I think Meghan should have handled this from the beginning and I think it got ignored and swept under the carpet for so long, it’s a shame where it’s ended up, especially between her and my father." Thomas Jr claimed that Meghan and his father were very close when Meghan was a child and he devoted “all of his spare time to her.” However, their relationship allegedly became strained after she began shooting 'Suits' in 2011.
“Before she went to ‘Suits,’ they were just in constant contact all the time and that’s all he would ever talk about,” claimed Thomas Jr. “He dedicated all his time to her. But when she couldn’t give him the time he needed or wanted to spend time with her, he got upset about that." Thomas Jr believes that Meghan stopped talking often when she got everything she wanted from her show. "She didn’t need him like she needed him before — she was getting everything she wanted from being a star and being on that show. He would have to reach out to her and I think their relationship became a lot more distant then and that hurt his feelings," he said.
Just days before Meghan and Harry's wedding, the former 'Suits' actress released a statement in which she said that her father will not be walking her down the aisle. He also stirred headlines when it was revealed he staged paparazzi photos that showed him preparing for the big day. Thomas Jr states that when he found out about his father's health he immediately decided to stand by his side. “When I found out about his health and his heart attack, that struck a nerve with me and I felt the urgency to get in contact with him,” he explained. “He changes his number a lot and I didn’t have his new number so I ended up going down there [to Mexico] to find him to make sure he was alright.
Thomas Jr believes that Meghan needs to support her father in the way that he supported her. "He’s had a rough life, the studios take a lot out of you and he didn’t look like he was in as good a shape as before so it did worry me. I don’t think he deserves that kind of treatment from her. I think she owes him emotionally as his daughter to support him the way he supported her," he said. He added that no father-daughter relationship should be like this.
“To see all this go on in the media, from their relationship being so close and so tight-knit all her life to come to this like she doesn’t want to deal with him for reasons I don’t know. No father-daughter relationship should be like this. I feel for him because of how strong their relationship was and what it’s become now. That’s got to hurt anybody. It’s not the Meghan I remember. The Meg I remember was very caring and she cared about everybody — that was important to her," he further added.
“Since Hollywood and being on that show — being a celebrity has changed her,” he said. “Maybe she feels she is above everybody, maybe even more now. But if she wasn’t with Prince Harry right now — even if she was still on ‘Suits’ right now — she would have stopped what she was doing to go and visit him and make sure he’s OK… But for now, I think just to be recognized as her family would be nice.”