The Duchess of Sussex: Family and Background

[TLLK]

You’d think Markles were the only people with a relative marry into a royal family the shameful/exploitive way they’ve paraded themselves in the media.

While the Markles are certainly not the only ones to have done this, it is typically distressing for the newlywed and his/her spouse so it does invite comment. IMO.

 

[O-H Anglophile]

While I don't think Meghan's father has shown the best judgement over the past few months, it is very easy for us not experiencing his life to judge what he should or should not have done.
And even though he was told not to talk to the press I'm not convinced he understands exactly why. I don't think he has a clue how different his daughter's life has become.

 

[Lady Reem]

While the Markles are certainly not the only ones to have done this, it is typically distressing for the newlywed and his/her spouse so it does invite comment. IMO.

I’m sorry but of all the ‘commoner’ men/women who’ve married into royalty here and on the continent, I have heard of none who had a bunch of relatives behave like the Markles. To have a dad, uncle, half-sister, half-brother, half-nephews constantly trash or sell you out to the media for money is disgusting. And shameful. There are those on social media who love to infantilize Snr & make up all sorts of excuses for him, I won’t be part of that.

If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, it’s a duck.

 

[Osipi]

We can analyze Tom Sr.'s intentions and motives until the cows come home (I've always wondered if them cows go clubbing or something) but the gist of it is that by doing that interview with Piers Morgan, Tom knew that his daughter had requested him not to speak to the press at all and he blatantly disregarded her wishes and went against her advice on how to handle things.

A child that doesn't listen to Mommy when she says not to touch that hot stove and does so anyways ends up being burned and remembers not to touch the stove again. Tom Sr. got burned and embarrassed by staged photographs and talking to TMZ. He didn't learn. He continued to willingly make that same mistake again (on the sly no less without giving Meghan a head's up).

Hopefully this will be the last we hear of the Markle side of the family as Harry and Meghan go forward into their new lives as The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. We'll probably get a blurb should they start a family but one thing is for sure, the Markle family will not have any kind of "inside" information whatsoever and will only know as much as we do which is what Meghan and Harry will want their public to know.

 

[Somebody]

Maybe Mr. Markle just didn't want to have anyone else read his thoughts. He was having heart problems so a few words at a wedding was probably not first on his mind at that point. Plus I am sure that there would have been some who would have thought Mr. Markle was just trying to gain a bit of "spotlight" if he did insist that Prince Charles read something he wrote. I think he did the proper thing in the situation. I am sure that Mr. Markle and his daughter did exactly what they wanted to do on that day and it was done.

I'm not sure how to reconcile not wanting anyone else to read your thoughts if you are going to give thise as a speech. He even was willing uo share then on tv, moreover, he was not incapacitated so could have sent it himself very easily. I would hope he had the speech ready ahead of time.

And I am not sure what either one wanted for that day. Meghan seems to have wanted some minor role for her father, her father didn't seem to care that much other than about being part of history. Sharing a few words with Meghan on her wedding day did not contribute to that objective so no priority?!

 

[Madame Verseau]

I'm not sure how true this is, but I wouldn't be surprised

BANNED: Meghan Markle’s dad barred from royal events after blindsiding TV interview | Canoe

Life may be too extreme but I can see BP freezing him out until Sr can prove he can keep his mouth shut. The BRF is not mad at Meghan, but you bet they can't trust Sr as far as they can throw him After what he did they will never trust him and if he does show up they will be civil but they will have their guard up . I wouldn't tell personal details to him either; it may find this way to the tabloids by way of Sam.

 

[Osipi]

I don't think anyone really has any idea of whether Thomas Markle, Sr. will be banned from events, ostracized or anything else as repercussions from his recent interview with GMB. It would be information contained within the palaces and the advisors to Meghan and Harry and the BRF and they're not about to talk to the press about it at all.

Today, there was an interview with Dickie Arbiter who has worked within the folds of the royal family. I haven't listened (read CCs) of this interview but only read the article discussing it. Dickie Arbiter isn't one to put words in the BRF's mouths or state anything but his own opinion so I believe this article and interview is a pretty legit one.

https://ca.style.yahoo.com/thomas-m...press-secretary-dickie-arbiter-095906909.html

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I wouldn't be surprised if he was banned from meeting the BRF and Meghan will keep her convos with him as impersonal as she can because he clearly can't be trusted. I just hope the BRF don't blame Meghan for bringing this with her; its unfortunate that she will have to go above and beyond to be perfect in the public eye or the media will lump her in with her relations.

 

[Cocoasneeze]

Meh, this is child's play compared to what baggage Harry brings into the relationship, and I'm certain Harry and the RF are aware of this. Meghan's relatives are acting this way only because she is with Harry. She's had to change her life around for this relationship to work. While it's unfortunate, and heartbreaking for Meghan, that Mr Markle backstabbed her, this hasn't affected the RF at all. Only Meghan (and Harry to an extent). It's her personal heartbreak, not a scandal in any way or form. And compared to the baggage other royals have brought with the to the RF, this is nothing.

 

[Denville]

I’m sorry but of all the ‘commoner’ men/women who’ve married into royalty here and on the continent, I have heard of none who had a bunch of relatives behave like the Markles. To have a dad, uncle, half-sister, half-brother, half-nephews constantly trash or sell you out to the media for money is disgusting. And shameful. There are those on social media who love to infantilize Snr & make up all sorts of excuses for him, I won’t be part of that.

If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, it’s a duck.

very true. There are certainly women who've married into RF's in Europe in latter years who would have been a very controversial choice earlier.. who are in fact still somewhat controversial. Women such as Letizia Ortiz, a divorcee, Maxima (controversial relatives), Mette Marrit, (son by anohter man) Mabel - I believe she had a friendship iwht a drug lord...
- but I can't think of any that had a whole famiy of relatives who constantly criticised the woman, their relative, talked to the press about her and generally acted appallingly. Meghan's family are a huge embarrassment. Its not just one or 2 relatives.. everyone has those.. its pretty much all of htem...

 

[Lady Reem]

very true. There are certainly women who've married into RF's in Europe in latter years who would have been a very controversial choice earlier.. such as Letizia Ortiz, a divorcee, Maxima (controversial relatives), Mette Marrit, (son by anohter man) Mabel - but I can't think of any that had a whole famiy of relatives who constantly criticised the woman, their relative, talked to the press about her and generally acted appallingly. Meghan's family are a huge embarrassment. Its not just one or 2 relatives.. everyone has those.. its pretty much all of htem...

The Markles are relentless aren’t they ...These people who have shown no loyalty but rampant exploitation & betrayal of Meghan, actually expect special treatment. And believe that somehow they deserve to be placed on a pedestal simply because someone they know married into royalty ? I mean these are people who in actual fact put themselves out there touting for media attention. And it’s been constant. What makes them think they ought to be treated any different to the hundreds/thousands of ‘in-laws’ to members of the BRF??

Their sense of entitlement is just staggering!

Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland on the other hand has been exemplary. A dignified woman with class who respects her daughter’s wishes and privacy. I think it’s brilliant how she continues to demonstrate what it means to be a loving parent who supports her daughter unwaveringly without the need to exploit Meghan’s husband by selling his private conversations on TV for financial gain. The royal family can rely on her to be discreet that’s for sure, unlike that other parent. It’s clear to me Doria’s always been Meghan’s anchor growing up.

 

[Denville]

Obivously her mother has been OK but the rest of the family have been a great embarrassment...

 

[MARG]

There is nothing that can or will be done about the Markles. I know Meghan said she loves her father but I don't believe any of her family have behaved the way she could have thought in her worst nightmares.

It is now clear that her father cannot be trusted with anything other than the weather, she will find it hard to even converse with him about the smallest thing for fear he will tell the media. Worse, I don't even believe that he said much if anything about Trump let alone Brexit,

For all intents and purposes, she only has her mother left to talk to in her family and that is both sad and lonely.

 

[Madame Verseau]

Well here's a little karma for Tom Sr. This is an article about Edward and Sophie and Sr is mentioned
Is Prince Edward and wife Sophie worried about Meghan Markle

The media, one way or another, will remind the public of Sr's pap stunt and cringe worthy GMB interview. He will never live it down. Sr has a Wikipedia page and these incidents are recorded for history. Doria has a Wikipedia page and it's mostly good. Sam and Tom Jr are lumped in to a Wikipedia page called the Family of Meghan Markle and their nasty behavior has been documented for all time.

 

[Lady Reem]

In-laws to royal family members who are discreet, keep a low profile and go about their daily lives. In-laws that who truly care about a royal relative are respectful of privacy and wouldn’t in a million years dream of exploiting their relative or disclose private information said in confidence. Those are the type of in-laws who are rewarded with invitations to royal events & gatherings. And deservedly so.

Dan Wootten takes the biscuit with this article.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowb...thomas-markle-good-morning-britain-interview/

 

[AlowVera]

Completely agree with you there Madame Verseau. He engaged in scams and financially profited from it. He keeps exploiting his links to Meghan. Publicly spewing her new husband’s private conversations and getting paid for it is pretty disgusting too.
I just don’t get it. He has a pension to live off, he owns a home in California. And he resides in a gated community of expats in Mexico living the life he wants.

https://www.her.ie/celeb/meghan-markle-devastated-dads-latest-interview-409578

I’d be pretty upset too if that happened to me. I guess for some people greed, fame, attention-seeking and ego boost are more of an incentive and supersedes any consideration for their child’s emotional wellbeing and privacy.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the Markle sellouts were the only people with a relative married into a royal family the shameful/exploitive way they’ve paraded themselves in the media.

The Sun has a current article "defending" Tom Sr. the author also works for ITV. So the Sun and GMB are all colluding together to get access.

The only way to deal with Tom Sr. is via third party from now on.

In-laws to royal family members who are discreet, keep a low profile and go about their daily lives. In-laws that who truly care about a royal relative are respectful of privacy and wouldn’t in a million years dream of exploiting their relative or disclose private information said in confidence. Those are the type of in-laws who are rewarded with invitations to royal events & gatherings. And deservedly so.

Dan Wootten takes the biscuit with this article.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowb...thomas-markle-good-morning-britain-interview/

He works for ITV. Of course they want their asset to get more inside information.

 

[Somebody]

very true. There are certainly women who've married into RF's in Europe in latter years who would have been a very controversial choice earlier.. who are in fact still somewhat controversial. Women such as Letizia Ortiz, a divorcee, Maxima (controversial relatives), Mette Marrit, (son by anohter man) Mabel - I believe she had a friendship iwht a drug lord...
- but I can't think of any that had a whole famiy of relatives who constantly criticised the woman, their relative, talked to the press about her and generally acted appallingly. Meghan's family are a huge embarrassment. Its not just one or 2 relatives.. everyone has those.. its pretty much all of htem...

A big difference is how these cases were treated. In Letizia's and Mette Marit's case family members (an aunt and father come to mind) have spoken to the media in unflattering ways (my niece is a republican for instance).

I'm not sure who Máxima's second controversial relative would be but her father was coachable did never speak out and understood that it was better not to attend his daughter's wedding because of his past. And Mabel was 'punished' for conceiling her friendships with influential men of dubious character as she didn't become a princess of the Netherlands and her groom and by extension her children had to give up succession rights. Nonetheless, not a single negative word has been uttered by either her or her family members in public.

So, Mrghan's family is somewhat comparable to Letizia's and Mette Marit although they had more things going against them personally which their families could highlight and abuse for media attention.

 

[Ista]

In-laws to royal family members who are discreet, keep a low profile and go about their daily lives. In-laws that who truly care about a royal relative are respectful of privacy and wouldn’t in a million years dream of exploiting their relative or disclose private information said in confidence. Those are the type of in-laws who are rewarded with invitations to royal events & gatherings. And deservedly so.

Dan Wootten takes the biscuit with this article.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowb...thomas-markle-good-morning-britain-interview/

What an inane and self-serving article. The good news is that H&M and KP are highly unlikely to pay any more attention to this nonsense than they did to the actual interview.

 

[AlowVera]

UK media needs to read the room. People are exhausted over the Markle family coverage.

 

[Denville]

As long as there is Meghan mania, I think that the Markles will get some attention....

 

[Madame Verseau]

UK media needs to read the room. People are exhausted over the Markle family coverage.

They certainly do need to read the room. Daily Mail is not running Samantha articles because people posted on the comment section to stop giving her a platform. DM powers that be probably realized they are going to lose readers (and money) by giving these Markles and Dooleys a platform so they stop. That's why the Dooleys were dropped by ITV for doing wedding commentary two days prior IMO.

The media knows Doria will not talk so its only option is Tom Sr. If the palaces decide to ban him there goes their access. They are running scared. So the talking heads and op-eds are meant to guilt Meghan and Harry into forgiving Sr and bring him into the fold so he can spill BRF secrets to them and get "exclusives". I think the royals are on to what the media is trying to do and not falling for it.

The thing is, now that Sr. gave the interview the media has carte blanche to go into his past. If any outlet (read TMZ) unearth anything that counters the kindly but misguided old man image Sr's media defenders will turn on him with a quickness, claiming he deceived them.

 

[Osipi]

Perhaps Tom Sr.'s GMB interview came along at just the right time. Full on the heels of the wedding he didn't attend amid the many problems surrounding the lead up to the wedding. The interview is done and over with and although the press and media are waiting with bated breath on what H&M and KP will do as far as "banning" or "ostracizing" Meghan's father, they'll turn blue and pass out before getting any information from the royal side.

The precedent has been set that Tom Sr. is not to be trusted with any kind of information and right off the bat, its an avenue that will be closed up and sealed to prevent further mishaps. Tom Sr. may be able to give the scoop on what the weather is like in the UK or what flowers are blooming in the garden but as far as any insight into the lives of Meghan and Harry, he won't be given a clue. He'll never have any credible information worth paying for ever again.

Tom Sr. might be spotted buying a Big Mac or a sombrero with bright colors at the local festival but it'll be more along the lines of what we see with some relatives being "spotted" shopping, eating, walking their dog or riding a bicycle. Nothing more really "scoop worthy" as it pertains to Harry and Meghan to be found.

Better it happened now than being a ticking time bomb waiting to go off in the future IMO.

 

[Missy-]

I'm not sure how true this is, but I wouldn't be surprised

BANNED: Meghan Markle’s dad barred from royal events after blindsiding TV interview | Canoe

Life may be too extreme but I can see BP freezing him out until Sr can prove he can keep his mouth shut. The BRF is not mad at Meghan, but you bet they can't trust Sr as far as they can throw him After what he did they will never trust him and if he does show up they will be civil but they will have their guard up . I wouldn't tell personal details to him either; it may find this way to the tabloids by way of Sam.

Again, nothing new. He wasn't going to show up at any royal events anyway, doesn't really seem he cares to. He certainly hasn't shown any motivation to travel much outside his comfort zone of Mexico/SW US. Non-story.

 

[Denville]

He can still talk about meghan, her childhood, family life her earlier days....

 

[Osipi]

While this is true that Tom Sr. could talk about the early days, its already been hashed out in the press so much that its not really going to garner much interest. Maybe on the occasion of a birth, comparable baby pictures would make the rounds but these kind of articles and pictures are just column fillers and not really "scoops". There just isn't going to be anything "scoopable" to really come out of the Markle side of the family in the years to come. They've burned that bridge already.

The more we talk about this, the more I realize that the Markle side of the family, including her own father, really don't know the person that Meghan is today enough to give any real kind of insight.

 

[Madame Verseau]

He can still talk about meghan, her childhood, family life her earlier days....

The childhood stories have already been told so there is nothing new. And if does open up it still exposes Sr to more scrutiny about his life. Here's Sr's Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Markle

Based on the year he was reported born (1945) he was of draft age to serve in the Vietnam War, but no record of military service. And for his two marriages, Sr married his first wife in 1964, making him roughly 21 and Sam was born the same year. Sr. married Doria and an exact date was given (Dec 23 1979) and Meghan was born Aug 4, 1981. The talkative Markles opened a Pandora's box on themselves with their money grab interviews to have tea spilled on them. All the press has to do is to put Meghan's name in the headlines to get viewers and clicks.

 

[Missy-]

There will always be interest in what Meghan's father has to say, never underestimate the media's ability to make up a story that people will want to read. All it takes is a subject like 'Meghan's Dad in Hospital' or 'Thomas Markle's Fatherly Advice to Daughter' and you bet there are going to be people wanting to read it.

Samantha's problem is she's obviously toxic and no one can sympathize with her, she is not a sympathetic character. Tom Markle to some extent is, he hasn't openly bashed Meghan or Harry and has been playing the bumbling but well-meaning father quite well so far.

No family member has had any access to Meghan's life except her mother for years and years, it doesn't stop the media from paying them for interviews and as long as those interviews generate ad dollars they will continue to run them.

 

[Lady Reem]

Completely agree with you there Madame Verseau. He engaged in scams and financially profited from it. He keeps exploiting his links to Meghan. Publicly spewing her new husband’s private conversations and getting paid for it is pretty disgusting too.
I just don’t get it. He has a pension to live off, he owns a home in California. And he resides in a gated community of expats in Mexico living the life he wants.

https://www.her.ie/celeb/meghan-markle-devastated-dads-latest-interview-409578

I’d be pretty upset too if that happened to me. I guess for some people greed, fame, attention-seeking and ego boost are more of an incentive and supersedes any consideration for their child’s emotional wellbeing and privacy.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the Markle sellouts were the only people with a relative married into a royal family the shameful/exploitive way they’ve paraded themselves in the media.

https://amp.thedailybeast.com/megha...10000-for-interview?__twitter_impression=true

I suspected as much a long while ago but the 2nd to the last paragraph of this article has me thinking...
This man already owns a home in Los Feliz (WeHo) Meghan herself doesn’t own a home so why should she get him a new one?! The demands are never going to end and she’ll inadvertently end up funding lavish lifestyles for the step sister etc. via Snr. Seems the media backers of that family have begun to circle the wagons, so to speak. I sincerely hope H&M don’t give in to pressure, BM or media bullying.

If anyone deserves a new home it’s Meghan’s loyal mum! That Pap stunt he pulled at her home was invasive and likely placed Doria at risk. She was photographed/filmed right at her front porch as the paps wanted to catch her reaction to her to gift stunt Snr pulled.

 

[Denville]

While this is true that Tom Sr. could talk about the early days, its already been hashed out in the press so much that its not really going to garner much interest. Maybe on the occasion of a birth, comparable baby pictures would make the rounds but these kind of articles and pictures are just column fillers and not really "scoops". There just isn't going to be anything "scoopable" to really come out of the Markle side of the family in the years to come. They've burned that bridge already.

The more we talk about this, the more I realize that the Markle side of the family, including her own father, really don't know the person that Meghan is today enough to give any real kind of insight.

we're not talking insight, we're just talking stoires about Meghan..

 

[Lady Reem]

There is nothing that can or will be done about the Markles. I know Meghan said she loves her father but I don't believe any of her family have behaved the way she could have thought in her worst nightmares.

It is now clear that her father cannot be trusted with anything other than the weather, she will find it hard to even converse with him about the smallest thing for fear he will tell the media. Worse, I don't even believe that he said much if anything about Trump let alone Brexit,

For all intents and purposes, she only has her mother left to talk to in her family and that is both sad and lonely.

Never trust the word of a scammer. I don’t actually believe Prince Harry discussed Trump or Brexit with someone he hadn’t even met face to face. There’s a reason a meeting between those two hasn’t yet taken place and Harry is too astute a person to let his guard down like that to discuss controversial topics with someone he barely knew.

That interview was well planned and very calculated IMO... Dressing it up saying a few nice things about the couple means little.