Meghan Markleis unlikely to visit her fatherThomas Marklein the United States despite his recentleg amputationand return from the Philippines, a royal expert has claimed. He argued that the Duchess of Sussex feels 'ashamed' about their long-running estrangement.
Relations between Meghan and Thomas Markle have been strained since before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. The former lighting director, now 81, did not walk his daughter down the aisle at Windsor Castle after suffering heart problems and becoming embroiled in controversy overstaged paparazzi photographs. Since then, the pair have rarely spoken, and the family rift has largely unfolded through interviews, court papers and comments from people around them.
The latest claims come fromroyal biographer Hugo Vickers, who revisits the breakdown in his book Queen Elizabeth II. Speaking toGB Newson 9 May, Vickers suggested shame, rather than indifference, may explain Meghan's continuing distance from her father.
Vickers said it was a 'possibility' that Meghan, now 44, kept Harry and Thomas apart before the wedding because she was embarrassed by her father. He also offered a more sympathetic reading of Thomas, who has often been portrayed harshly in sections of the media.
'He was good to her when she was growing up. If you listen to what he says as opposed to how his words are reported, you will find a decent man who must feel extremely let down,' Vickers said.
In Queen Elizabeth II, Vickers also writes that Harry, 41, had never met his future father-in-law before the wedding day itself. According to the author, Thomas was already unsettled by that lack of contact before the staged-photo scandal erupted and he withdrew from the ceremony.
Nothing in Vickers' account has been confirmed by Meghan or Harry, and there has been no direct response from the Sussex camp to his claim that she feels 'ashamed'. Still, the remarks reflect a wider view among some royal commentators that Meghan now sees the subject of her father as both personally painful and publicly damaging.
Thomas Markle's health has worsened significantly in recent years. He suffered two heart attacks in 2018, around the time of the royal wedding, and later said they played a part in his decision not to travel to the UK. In December 2025,he underwent a leg amputation, prompting renewed questions over whether Meghan might try to contact him privately.
After the surgery, representatives for Meghan said she had reached out. The Duchess of Sussex, who lives in Montecito, California, with Harry and their two children, was said to have sent her father a personal letter.
'It has been exceedingly difficult for the Duchess to contact her father privately, despite her efforts over the past several days,' a spokesperson for her lifestyle brand As Ever said in a statement last year. 'With the support of reliable and trusted contacts, her correspondence is now safely in his hands.'
Source: International Business Times UK
