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

[PetticoatLane]

I am concerned that this entire mess will leave an enormous shadow on this event and means continued intense tabloid attention on Meghan's family is now inevitable even well beyond the wedding itself. It is the gift that gives on giving as far as they're concerned.

I must admit, all this has made me appreciate the Middletons so much more. They too have been attacked, belittled, hounded and slandered but Michael and Carole in particular have truly behaved impeccably.

[PtahHotep]

Originally Posted by jacqui24

I don't think the Dooleys thought for one minute that Meghan wouldn't mind. They saw an opportunity, and they took it. I don't think Meghan's thoughts or what she would think is in their mind much. They are trying to move themselves up in their lives. And there might be some blood relations, but I don't think Meghan is anything other than a stranger to them.

Yes, very true. Sorry for the lost gig, though. LOL.

[Lady Reem]

Originally Posted by Osipi

That would easily be done by getting a restraining order. Doria has no obligation whatsoever to do anything about Tom Sr. They're divorced and have been divorced for 30 years and have no obligation to each other whatsoever outside of being joint parents to Meghan.

I can only imagine how Meghan really feels knowing this man tried to involve her mum in his shameful scam.

Hopefully she’s unaware.

[Lady Reem]

Originally Posted by PetticoatLane

I am concerned that this entire mess will leave an enormous shadow on this event and means continued intense tabloid attention on Meghan's family is now inevitable even well beyond the wedding itself. It is the gift that gives on giving as far as they're concerned.

I must admit, all this has made me appreciate the Middletons so much more. They too have been attacked, belittled, hounded and slandered but Michael and Carole in particular have truly behaved impeccably.

Doria has endured sustained attacks, lies & smears tainted with the racism angle. Notwithstanding she continues to maintain her dignity and isn’t a sell out exploiting her daughter, or links with newspaper editors or proprietors etc. Because she’s dignified and has integrity. I truly admire her.

I’m sure all the media fuss will die down somewhat after the wedding and H&M will continue to ignore the “noise” if it doesn’t. Most people have already figured out that two nasty over 50’s born to Sr from a different marriage & woman to Meghan’s dear mum are nothing but bitter twisted nasty *****. The royals and the Midds have had their own family issues...

[Sunnystar]

Originally Posted by Osipi

I wish the press would quit referring to Tracy Dooley as Meghan's sister-in-law. She hasn't been remotely connected to Meghan in over 20 years and is actually the second ex-wife of her half brother, Tom Markle, Jr. They were supposedly divorced in 2001 when Meghan was still quite young.

2001 would have put Meghan in her late teens. I hardly call that "quite young". How long were Jr and Dooley married? The fact that Meghan hasn't remained in contact with her over the last 10-15 years is a far stronger indicator of the strength of the relationship.

[princess gertrude]

Originally Posted by PetticoatLane

I must admit, all this has made me appreciate the Middletons so much more. They too have been attacked, belittled, hounded and slandered but Michael and Carole in particular have truly behaved impeccably.

I could not agree with you more. I've always thought the Middletons were not given enough credit during the time Kate and William were engaged and during the wedding for conducting themselves impeccably. So yes, this makes me appreciate them even more. Let me say that Doria has been the model of decorum during this whole relationship.

[Osipi]

There is one person that I think will probably be breathing a huge sigh of relief as all this drama unfolds with the estranged Markle family and that would be Sarah, Duchess of York. All this media circus right now is going to make any media circus surrounding her attending her daughter Eugenie's wedding seem like a tempest in a teapot and very, very tame.

[O-H Anglophile]

Originally Posted by Osipi

That would easily be done by getting a restraining order. Doria has no obligation whatsoever to do anything about Tom Sr. They're divorced and have been divorced for 30 years and have no obligation to each other whatsoever outside of being joint parents to Meghan.

Leaving your ex-wife and mother of your daughter a card and pot of flowers (just before Mother's Day) is not something that would be serious enough or threatening to grant a restraining order over.

[Winnie]

Originally Posted by bekalc

But they probably wouldn’t be wedding commentators if invited which is why they should have been invited would have also given Dad someone to talk too. Family is family.

I disagree. People don't get invited to weddings just because they are related. They get invited because the bride, groom or person paying for the wedding wants them there. Period. I eliminated all caustic relatives from mine and I didn't care who fussed. 15 years later I was praised for my actions as these same people have ruined most celebrations they attended. Some were my own nephews. I will always be proud of my wedding day because it was what I wanted and not what someone else who had no right to even give an opinion wanted and almost insisted me to do which included my own drunk sister.

[Lady Reem]

Originally Posted by O-H Anglophile

Leaving your ex-wife and mother of your daughter a card and pot of flowers (just before Mother's Day) is not something that would be serious enough or threatening to grant a restraining order over.

Violating someone’s personal space/home for the purposes of a pap/media scam does. Then again I suppose we all have different standards/morals...

I’m done.

[PtahHotep]

Originally Posted by Winnie

I disagree. People don't get invited to weddings just because they are related. They get invited because the bride, groom or person paying for the wedding wants them there. Period. I eliminated all caustic relatives from mine and I didn't care who fussed. 15 years later I was praised for my actions as these same people have ruined most celebrations they attended. Some were my own nephews. I will always be proud of my wedding day because it was what I wanted and not what someone else who had no right to even give an opinion wanted and almost insisted me to do which included my own drunk sister.

Drunk sisters are the best, aren't they? (Irony there).

One of my best friends had a sister lie that, and from close personal experience, I know exactly what you need and why they do not need to be in certain occasions. LOL. Back to the main discussion, please. Couldn't resist the comment for a moment.

Hello, there, BTW!!!

[ladongas]

I’m wondering if perhaps Sr. has issues which prevented his being able to meet with Harry over the last year. Perhaps H&M had hoped that things would be sorted by the time the wedding neared. People over a certain age find it nearly impossible to make major changes in their lives, however.

[PtahHotep]

Originally Posted by ladongas

I’m wondering if perhaps Sr. has issues which prevented his being able to meet with Harry over the last year. Perhaps H&M had hoped that things would be sorted by the time the wedding neared. People over a certain age find it nearly impossible to make major changes in their lives, however.

That sort of describes Senior to a tee, IMO. Stubborn and proud.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Originally Posted by PetticoatLane

I am concerned that this entire mess will leave an enormous shadow on this event and means continued intense tabloid attention on Meghan's family is now inevitable even well beyond the wedding itself. It is the gift that gives on giving as far as they're concerned.

I must admit, all this has made me appreciate the Middletons so much more. They too have been attacked, belittled, hounded and slandered but Michael and Carole in particular have truly behaved impeccably.

I agree, I never believed that after the wedding it would end. It will just mean they will be around for the entire marriage. The Markle's make me embarrassed to be American.

[loonytick]

I worry for Tom Sr., despite what a big set of mistakes he's made. And they're big, don't get me wrong! But I can't shake the fact that he behaved so well for almost a year and a half before crumbling. And when he finally did, the photos he posed for seemed sadly sweet to me, at least in comparison to Sam and Tom, Jr. Every pose looked like a profoundly clumsy attempt at saying "see, I really am going to this wedding! You say all sorts of things about Meg and I not being close, but I'm interested in her, honest!"

I suspect that whoever his contact at TMZ is has been working him for a very long time and managed to convince him he or she is a true friend. Shoot, I'm almost wondering if the TMZ reporter was allowed to camp out in the waiting room of the hospital. Sam surely has been pushing and pushing for him to validate her approach by taking it himself.

We truly don't know what/if help has been offered from KP but I have a hard time thinking they haven't tried to work with him, if only to protect their own interests. But clearly he hasn't leaned into whatever advice they had to give. Maybe they took the wrong tack with him--too much reliance on "call us if you need us," perhaps, while all the while TMZ and Sam were nonstop whispering in his ear.

Overall I can't help but see him as someone who tried to not give into the pressure of the paps and the tabloids and the awful eldest daughter but eventually just wasn't strong enough to keep saying no. He should have been. He's let Meghan down in a really profound way. I don't mean to let him off the hook! But let's put it this way: if he were my father the disappointment I'd have in him would be more of a pitying, sad kind than an angry kind.

[PtahHotep]

Originally Posted by loonytick

I worry for Tom Sr., despite what a big set of mistakes he's made. And they're big, don't get me wrong! But I can't shake the fact that he behaved so well for almost a year and a half before crumbling. And when he finally did, the photos he posed for seemed sadly sweet to me, at least in comparison to Sam and Tom, Jr. Every pose looked like a profoundly clumsy attempt at saying "see, I really am going to this wedding! You say all sorts of things about Meg and I not being close, but I'm interested in her, honest!"

I suspect that whoever his contact at TMZ is has been working him for a very long time and managed to convince him he or she is a true friend. Shoot, I'm almost wondering if the TMZ reporter was allowed to camp out in the waiting room of the hospital. Sam surely has been pushing and pushing for him to validate her approach by taking it himself.

We truly don't know what/if help has been offered from KP but I have a hard time thinking they haven't tried to work with him, if only to protect their own interests. But clearly he hasn't leaned into whatever advice they had to give. Maybe they took the wrong tack with him--too much reliance on "call us if you need us," perhaps, while all the while TMZ and Sam were nonstop whispering in his ear.

Overall I can't help but see him as someone who tried to not give into the pressure of the paps and the tabloids and the awful eldest daughter but eventually just wasn't strong enough to keep saying no. He should have been. He's let Meghan down in a really profound way. I don't mean to let him off the hook! But let's put it this way: if he were my father the disappointment I'd have in him would be more of a pitying, sad kind than an angry kind.

I tend to agree with you. The biggest tragedy to me here is that this was a good man who was too weak to stand up under the pressure and the lure of money.

BTW, I put this out yesterday but was not "vetted" yet but now I can.

https://pagesix.com/2018/05/15/papar...arkles-father/

Meghan Markle‘s father was told unflattering photos of him drinking and entering a fleabag hotel taken by a paparazzi agency would be quashed if he cooperated with the agency and posed for a new set of photos, sources said.
“The poor guy was set up,” a source told The Post of Thomas Markle.
Coleman-Rayner News Picture Agency had been stalking the princess-to-be’s dad at his home in Mexico for months, said the source.
After getting some unflattering photos of him buying beer and checking into a cheap hotel room in California, the source said Coleman-Rayner approached him last month and offered him a deal.
“They told him if he posed, they wouldn’t put out the other pictures. They told him they’d make him look good,” said the source. “They also gave him a few bucks for his trouble.”

Since this is a tabloid, we need to be careful in accepting this. But IF true-----
1) He should have gone to KP or even the police. Why didn't he?
2) Was he that out of it due to the immense stress and his condition?
3) Maybe he just felt he did not want to involve Meghan in this---given she was preoccupied with the wedding preparations?

Whatever it was, I still think he does love his daughter and never intended to maliciously hurt her or Doria. Unlike the terrible twosome of Samantha and Junior.

Sad overall. Still hopes he recovers fully.

[Ista]

Originally Posted by PetticoatLane

I am concerned that this entire mess will leave an enormous shadow on this event and means continued intense tabloid attention on Meghan's family is now inevitable even well beyond the wedding itself. It is the gift that gives on giving as far as they're concerned.

I must admit, all this has made me appreciate the Middletons so much more. They too have been attacked, belittled, hounded and slandered but Michael and Carole in particular have truly behaved impeccably.

I think that the shadow seemed much larger and darker than it really was for a while because until the last couple of days, Harry and Meghan were out of the press lens as they prepared for the wedding. That and silence from KP allowed the weirdness from the Markle clan to assume much larger proportions. I'm hoping that now with the countdown to the wedding underway, there will be a little more balance.

Having said that, I'm under no illusions that the loony brigade is going to disappear--as I recall, there was still plenty of bad press for the Middletons even after George was born (how dare Carole spend so much time with her grandson! The Queen is furious!!!), then it finally died down.

But Meghan and Harry are going to have many more opportunities to refocus the news cycle on their real work: their charities, and their work for the Queen, whatever that is, and wherever that takes them. I see today as the point at which the reset button was pressed, and I believe and hope that as time passes, the Markles will become less and less of a story. At this point, what more do they really have to say?

Anyway, one can hope.

[French Toast]

Originally Posted by O-H Anglophile

No one important in this story--he is an actor and "professional wrestler." Just something silly I imagine.
I don't know if Meghan has ever even met him.

Oh ok. Thank you for responding Gawin and O-H Anglophile.

[Teeda]

And now it is reported that police can find no record of a car accident where Samantha supposedly broke her ankle. Hmmm...

[csw]

A helpful diagram to keep track of how the Markles are related:

https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/...inf_640-nc.jpg

It's part of the BBC Royal Wedding section.