When it comes to Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their family feuds, it doesn’t get much bigger than the estranged relationship between the Duke of Sussex and the rest of the royals. However, let’s not forget that Markle has an equally strained situation with some of her own relatives. The rift between her and her dad became really apparent when he staged photos for the paparazzi ahead of her 2018 wedding, but one author claims things went wrong long before that.
In his royal fly-on-the-wall book Revenge, author Tom Bower delves into a big sticking point in the relationship between Meghan Markle and her father. Bower claims that as a lighting director in the entertainment industry, Thomas Markle tried to help his daughter get her foot in the door in Hollywood, distributing her headshots and taking her to the Emmy Awards when she was 17. However, the relationship allegedly soured not long after when she lost the role in a play. Bower writes (per the Daily Mail):
In spring 1999, the musical The Pyjama Game was the new school play. Meghan wanted the lead part but also wanted to go for a week to the school’s summer retreat. Gigi Perreau, the drama teacher, insisted that Meghan had to choose one or the other. Meghan went to the retreat.
Because Meghan Markle chose to attend the retreat, her drama teacher reportedly cast a different student in the leading role, which infuriated the actress, the author says. The book continues:
Outraged that the teacher denied her a part in the play, she urged her father not to do the lighting. He ignored her demand.
Tom Bower writes that according to Thomas Markle, Meghan was “furious,” screaming that he should “obey her wishes.” Markle presumably did go on to do the lighting for the school play, and it reportedly wasn’t long after that his daughter moved in with her mother Doria Ragland.
Thomas Markle made headlines in 2018 when it was discovered that he’d staged photos of himself preparing for his daughter’s wedding and sold them to the tabloids, reportedly making upwards of $100,000. The palace was displeased with this turn of events, to say the least, and responded by uninviting Meghan’s father to the wedding, where he had planned to walk his daughter down the aisle.
The Suits actress reportedly cut off contact with her father after that, and despite her and Prince Harry severing ties with the royal family in the years that followed, Meghan Markle still has allegedly not spoken to her father.
Over the past couple of years, Thomas Markle has continued to plead for his daughter to let him back in her life, and citing his failing health, he has begged her to let him meet his grandchildren.
Meghan Markle opened up about the struggles with her family in the docuseries Harry & Meghan (streaming with a Netflix subscription), which her half-sister Samantha dismissed as a “series of lies.”
It’s unfortunate to think about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle cutting off relationships with both of their families, and it’s especially wild to think that in the actress’ case, one of the inciting factors might have been her losing a role in a high school play.
In addition to Harry & Meghan, you can find the Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle series With Love, Meghan streaming on Netflix.
