Meghan Markle: Family and Background - November 2017-May 2018

[soapstar]

Originally Posted by FashionMaven

Let's pull on this thread a little - what if this tabloid guy who was with Tom Sr presented this like it was going to be a feature story in the newspaper or a magazine? Like an interview kind of thing?

What if he convinced Tom Sr that this was for a magazine spread? And the "staged pics" were done because that's what you do for magazine spreads?

And then the tabloid guy just sold them to the tabloids and then later "leaked" that it was "staged"?

I think that's a plausible theory - just as much as the ones that Tom Sr is the root of all evil and just like Sam/Tom Jr.

I don't think Thomas is that naive about Hollywood (he worked here for years). He would know that any legit newspapers/magazines would contact him first and then set up a photoshoot. They wouldn't send some random pap to take his photos.

I feel for Meghan. Although this is nothing like what her siblings have done to her, it is a betrayal and it has to hurt a little knowing that she went to bat for him and asked the media to respect his privacy, only to find out he was staging photos.

[ACO]

Tom Sr drove all the way to Doria's house to leave flowers and a card. She looked confused and a bit annoyed in the pictures. I don't think he means any harm but I agree that once all together a serious talk will definitely be had.

[Zaira]

Originally Posted by ACO

Tom Sr drove all the way to Doria's house to leave flowers and a card. She looked confused and a bit annoyed in the pictures. I don't think he means any harm but I agree that once all together a serious talk will definitely be had.

Those pics make me think this wasn't a one off...

[AlowVera]

Maybe Tom Sr. should just sit in the audience instead of walking her down the aisle. This reminds me of Jackie Kennedy's marriage to John Kennedy. Her father was too drunk to walk her down the aisle.

[FashionMaven]

Originally Posted by soapstar

I don't think Thomas is that naive about Hollywood (he worked here for years). He would know that any legit newspapers/magazines would contact him first and then set up a photoshoot. They wouldn't send some random pap to take his photos.

I'm suggesting that perhaps the pap LIED to him about who they were and what they were doing. I'm suggesting that is a possibility - we know how ruthless the paps can be.

Still extremely poor judgment.

And if this is as it appears and Tom Sr knowingly did this - then that's awful.

I feel for Meghan. Although this is nothing like what her siblings have done to her, it is a betrayal and it has to hurt a little knowing that she went to bat for him and asked the media to respect his privacy, only to find out he was staging photos.

I agree with you there. I think we all agree that this sucks for Meghan.

[AlowVera]

Originally Posted by Zaira

Those pics make me think this wasn't a one off...

He was telling a story with the photos and again The Sun was the paper that broke the story which makes me think they where all working together. The latest story was about his house falling into the ocean. In Morton's book the brother mentions that Tom Sr. will get a settlement.

I think in the future he needs to be put in some retirement home with a lump sum and an NDA.

[jacqui24]

Let’s get the facts straight here. DM’s report estimated that the paparazzi made £100,000, and they don’t know if Tom Sr received anything as they clearly stated. So for those that are screaming he made £100k here, let’s stick to the facts and not get the carriage ahead of the horse.

Now onto this matter of Tom Sr. participating in this. I think it showed extremely poor judgement. I wholeheartedly agree with Robert Jobson’s analysis on the matter. What we do know is that Tom Sr has not said much to the media about his daughter that’s not generic. And he has certainly not even shared details about his daughter or her wedding with even relatives as all of them stated he wasn’t invited. And I don’t believe all this meghan was coerced into having her father walk her down the aisle for several reasons. If she didn’t plan for her father to be part of the wedding, the announcement on the engagement would’ve simply been from her mother. Not both of her parents. No one will ask one of their parents to release a statement if they weren’t going to be invited to the wedding. Then there is the fact that Harry asked both of her parents for blessing rather than just Doria. I believe at this point, Harry is fully aware of the less than close relationship between Meghan and some relatives. And while Harry hasn’t met Tom Sr., he has spoken to him multiple times. As for Tom Sr., it’s clear that he’s had to walk a fine line here. And let’s not start the tabloid was reporting this and that. Clearly, BP nor KP is willing or able to force Meghan into inviting people she doesn’t want to as her Markle relatives are just simply not invited. That shows me that the Palace is letting Meghan make the decision regarding her own family.

Looking back to the situation since the engagement has been announced, the way it’s been handled is odd and I think it has to do with her father being able to fly under the radar until one of Meghan’s uncle and Tom Jr sold his location. They clearly were very prepared when it came to Doria and expected the press would show up on her doorstep as they’ve done before. Doria made plans ahead of time to be off from work, and they hired private security that had a letter from KP ready to hand to photographers. However, Tom wasn’t discovered until days later and the world media descended on a small town in Mexico. He wasn’t prepared for that, nor was Meghan or Harry or KP. I think they just figured the interest will burn out in a few days and everyone will move on to Just Meghan and Harry. And they probably told Tom to just ignore them and they will go away. But they obviously didn’t. And I’m trying to think from Tom Sr.’s perspective. If I’m being told by Meghan and KP that the interest will die down and they’ll go away if I don’t say anything, but it doesn’t happen after a few months. And I’ve got this other person on the other side that’s been pestering me for months and now tells me he’ll leave me alone if I pose for a few photos. Who would I believe? And clearly, he was left alone since March until recently when the announcement about him walking Meghan down the aisle came. And if I do think Tom has been the bigger story than Doria for the simple fact that there has been no question about if Doria will be at the wedding. The original story questioning Tom Sr.’s role started about if he would walk her down the aisle due to his reclusiveness and then it just snowballed from there.

Ultimately, the person this hurts the most is Meghan and it happens less than a week before the wedding. And ultimately she’s the one that’s hurt by this the most. As someone that has been a fan of hers from the first season of Suits, this breaks my heart for her. She has done nothing but behave impeccably in representing the BRF. But any sign of mistake would erase a lot of good work and effort. While people will say this isn’t her fault, but I imagine there will be a large portion of the public and UK press that will hold this against her for years to come. After the wedding, people will care about Tom Sr less and less as long as he doesn’t pull this again. However, Meghan will have to face the public and the press as a member of the BRF. This is the price. And I’m sure this is painful for her personally as well. It’s one thing when it’s Tom Jr and Samantha pulling their latest stunts. This has to be gut wrenching after she probably has been concerned for her father’s privacy. As for the wedding, I still think he’ll walk her down the aisle. You don’t bring family discord into the public. Whatever needs to be worked out needs to be done privately at this point. One bad offense isn’t going to erase what her father has meant to her and done for her over the years as she was growing up. This hurts, but everything passes.

I agree with those that said they will have to question if they can trust Tom from now on. I don’t necessarily agree that it would be if he’d sell stories about Meghan, but what I’ve learned about trust as in adulthood is that it’s ultimately if you can trust someone’s judgement. And that is a concern. He obviously made a very bad judgement here. But I’d heisitate to talk about any bad intention simply because he has shown he isn’t willing to go to the bat for Meghan when it comes to his relatives by telling them absolutely nothing. It’s tricky to navigate. My hope is that Tom Sr and Meghan would sit down and have a candid conversation about this and Tom learns that he needs to trust his daughter and what she tells him when it comes to dealing with the press. It might be hard and he’s just going to have to hang on tight. While this is unfortunate, I’d say this is a far cry from the stunts his older children has pulled. While he exercised barn judgement, they are just vindictive in going after Meghan.

I would also caution people that the paparazzi situation in US is very different from UK. The press gets a lot more leeway here in terms taking photos of well known people in their off time. The tabloids just aren’t as vicious here. And I can’t imagine the laws are tougher in Mexico.

As for those that says the Queen should change any plans regarding allowing Tom Sr to be at Windsor Castle. I’m just going to laugh this off. If HMQ can still receive Fergie aftershock was caught flatout selling access to a member of BRF, she’ll be ok when it comes to Tom Markle.

[FashionMaven]

Originally Posted by AlowVera

Maybe Tom Sr. should just sit in the audience instead of walking her down the aisle. This reminds me of Jackie Kennedy's marriage to John Kennedy. Her father was too drunk to walk her down the aisle.

Wouldn't that just call more attention to this? I mean - right now, this is just in the DM and a couple of other places. Most news outlets on the day of the wedding probably won't even speak of it. They'll consider it trash news.

But if suddenly Tom Sr is NOT walking Meghan down the aisle, it will force them to talk about why. That is what will call attention to what happened.

Trust me - it's better for everyone involved for them to just keep calm and carry on.

[Alliec76]

I just can't bring myself to get too worked up about these Tom Sr. pictures. They in no way compare to what the rest of her family has done.

It probably wasn't the best idea, but I don't know enough about the man to ascribe nepharius intent to his actions. I've seen more than enough from the rest of that group to see what type of people they are.

[Mirabel]

Originally Posted by Curryong

Higher-ups? William has his own embarrassing inlaws. And neither he nor Charles will blame Meghan because neither her father's stupid behaviour nor her half siblings' nastiness is her responsibility or fault.

WHAT embarrassing inlaws?
Except for Uncle Gary, the Middletons have conducted themselves with decorum and taste.

I feel for Meghan; she has a horrible money-grubbing family!
No wonder she wants to distance herself!

[Terri Terri]

I am going to call a spade a spade.... Everyone knows that I love Meghan and support her relationship with Prince Harry....but this was very poor judgement and a bad decision on Tom Snr's part! There is no way to excuse this!

A very serious discussion needs to happen with Meghan, Harry, Tom Snr and Doria with respect to the press. I would hate that Meghan would have to put her father into the 'circle of distrust'.

[Curbside]

Originally Posted by ACO

Tom Sr drove all the way to Doria's house to leave flowers and a card. She looked confused and a bit annoyed in the pictures. I don't think he means any harm but I agree that once all together a serious talk will definitely be had.

Where are those photos?

[jacqui24]

Originally Posted by FashionMaven

Wouldn't that just call more attention to this? I mean - right now, this is just in the DM and a couple of other places. Most news outlets on the day of the wedding probably won't even speak of it. They'll consider it trash news.

But if suddenly Tom Sr is NOT walking Meghan down the aisle, it will force them to talk about why. That is what will call attention to what happened.

Trust me - it's better for everyone involved for them to just keep calm and carry on.

I agree with this. I think the Queen Mother’s motto about never complain and never explain needs to be exercised here. Those hope to see her fail will pounce on this if plans change now. She didn’t nothing wrong. Hold your head up high and carry on would be my advice. So what if she has to swallow a little bit of pride here? There are plenty of times in everyone’s life that they would have to do this. Especially for those in the public eye. The ability to do that will serve her well over time.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Curbside

Where are those photos?

Here you go. Found this by chance.

https://www.insideedition.com/meghan...-wedding-43229

[Countessmeout]

Thanks for the photos, Osipi. I hadn't seen that article.

[FashionMaven]

Originally Posted by Terri Terri

I am going to call a spade a spade.... Everyone knows that I love Meghan and support her relationship with Prince Harry....but this was very poor judgement and a bad decision on Tom Snr's part! There is no way to excuse this!

A very serious discussion needs to happen with Meghan, Harry, Tom Snr and Doria with respect to the press. I would hate that Meghan would have to put her father into the 'circle of distrust'.

Whoa whoa whoa! Let's leave Doria out of this. She's behaved with nothing less than class and restraint this whole time. Naaah it's the Markle side of the family that needs to be talked to.

Doria has been just fine. She doesn't deserve to be lumped in with Sr or his kids from his first marriage.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Here you go. Found this by chance.

https://www.insideedition.com/meghan...-wedding-43229

I actually read the article and to me, it seems like the author had no clue about the relationship between Tom and Doria at all. It states that it was a nasty divorce which it wasn't. Meghan has confirmed that they remained as a family even after the divorce. Tom and Doria both spent Thanksgiving 2016 with Meghan. If you buy that this is a strained relationship between two divorced people, then I have a used and broken microwave I'll sell ya.

[FashionMaven]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Here you go. Found this by chance.

https://www.insideedition.com/meghan...-wedding-43229

I didn't see any pictures of Doria? She was briefly in the video in a clip from a long time back when the paparazzi tried to get close to her when she was driving - but there wasn't anything about her reacting to Tom Sr dropping off flowers?

I don't think she was there when he did that, btw.

[jacqui24]

Originally Posted by FashionMaven

Whoa whoa whoa! Let's leave Doria out of this. She's behaved with nothing less than class and restraint this whole time. Naaah it's the Markle side of the family that needs to be talked to.

Doria has been just fine. She doesn't deserve to be lumped in with Sr or his kids from his first marriage.

Anyways, I think the poster meant that as a family, they need to sit down and hash this out to get on the same page, not that Doria did anything other than behave in a respectful manner.

[Curbside]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Here you go. Found this by chance.

https://www.insideedition.com/meghan...-wedding-43229

Okay, that is just weird. Sounds like something my ex would do.