I think it’s fairly obvious it was more like the final straw. People from her past (even the ex BFF) have spoken about their very hot and cold relationship. We even have Meghan on video right before college confirming it.
True. And, frankly, after Meghan spent a year under near constant attack (with occasional bouts of gaslighting - "but I love my sister!") from Samantha, while her father tacitly condoned the attacks, it's understandable that the relationship with Thomas would be a bit frosty going into the engagement announcement.
Given that there were credible reports that Thomas refused to stop talking to Samantha *about Meghan* during that time, yes, there are huge red flags that would cause a cautious person to decide that a visit from Harry was very ill-advised.
I have to say, when I saw the article and Thomas' claim that he had to speak out because he was seeing daily negative stories about himself.. well, it seemed like the living embodiment of that Twitter meme....
nobody:
absolutely no-one:
Thomas Markle: You all need to stop saying mean things about me!
Seriously, who was even talking about him?