Exclusive | Meghan Markle says holidays are all about family
Meghan Markle has no plans to travel to the Philippines to see her seriously ill father — although she could easily get there by private jet, according to multiple sources.
On the heels of extolling the joy of celebrating family in her glossy holiday special on Netflix, the Duchess of Sussex has spent the week fighting off claims from her family that she has not contacted Thomas Markle, from whom she’s been estranged since 2018.
Meanwhile, Page Six has learned that Markle and Prince Harry will join friends for a luxe New Year’s vacation out of the country. They’ll spend Christmas at home in Montecito, California, alongside their kids, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, as well as Markle’s mom, Doria Ragland.
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Meghan Markle and dad Thomas Markle were extremely close when she was growing up in LA. Channel 5
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Thomas Markle dotes over his baby daughter —who was born Rachel Meghan Markle. Thomas Markle: My Story
On December 3, the very same day that “With Love, Meghan: A Holiday Celebration” premiered, the duchess’ 81-year-old father was rushed into surgery in the Philippines, where he lives, for an emergency leg amputation after it was discovered he had a dangerous blood clot.
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While Markle’s spokesperson quickly insisted she had “reached out” to her dad, Thomas claimed he had received nothing from his long-lost daughter — telling the Daily Mail, “I don’t want to die estranged from Meghan. I want to meet my grandkids. It might be nice to meet her husband too.”
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Thomas Markle left Mexico and moved to the Philippines, with his son Thomas Markle Jr. as his caretaker, earlier this year. LionsShareNews / BACKGRID
The Sussex rep had since told Page Six that Markle finally managed to get a letter to her father.
“It has been exceedingly difficult for the duchess to contact her father privately, despite her efforts over the past several days,” said the rep. “With the support of reliable and trusted contacts, her correspondence is now safely in his hands.”
Other sources who know Markle note that she could make the15-hour trip from Los Angeles to the Philippines, where her father is currently recovering at the University of Cebu Medical Centre.
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Markle has not seen her father since their fallout in 2018, just before her wedding to Prince Harry. News Licensing / MEGA
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Although Meghan Markle said she had to fend for herself financially, her dad said he paid for “every penny” of her education, including her degree at NorthWestern University. News Licensing / MEGA
“If she knows where he is, why wouldn’t she go to him?” one source in the know said, noting Markle could have borrowed a private jet from one of her high-powered pals. “She rarely flies commercial.”
Indeed, as previously reported, Markle and husband Prince Harry have flown in a lavish 12-seater Cessna jet paid for by Sir Elton John and were guests on a private plane chartered for their trip to Vancouver back in February 2024, as a source told us, “They certainly don’t like to spend their own money.”
Another person familiar with the family added: “Meghan had her father’s number and room and hospital name very early on … she won’t even call him.”
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Markle remains close to her mom, Doria Ragland, seen here with Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Phillip and Prince Harry, as Markle holds baby Prince Archie. EPA
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Doria Ragland — seen with Meghan Markle the day before her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018 — will be joining her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren for Christmas before the family jet off to celebrate New Year ‘s Evewith pals. AP
A Markle insider confirmed to Page Six, however, she has no plans to see her dad.
The two have been estranged since May 2018, shortly before she married Harry.
Thomas, a former lighting director on the ’80s sitcom “Married … with children,” fell out with his daughter and her then-fiancé after staging paparazzi photos shortly before the royal wedding.
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Markle and Harry share a kiss on “With Love, Meghan: A Holiday Celebration.” Netflix
Having found himself thrust into the glare of the global spotlight, Thomas told Good Morning Britain back in 2018, “They [the press] were making me an alcoholic, calling me names, talking about the way I dress. So, I, yes, I went for this deal where this man was going to make me look better. Maybe I got sucked into it, but I believed him, and I thought it was going to work. It didn’t work.
“I wish I hadn’t done the whole thing,” Thomas added.
He was supposed to walk former “Suits” actress down the aisle but has said he suffered a heart attack the week before the wedding, leading to Harry’s father, King Charles, standing in for him. Markle later told Oprah Winfrey in her and Harry’s bombshell 2021 interview that Thomas had lied to her about working with the paparazzi.
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Markle’s holiday special, where she extolled the virtue of a family holiday, came out the week her estranged father was rushed to hospital. AP
In 2019, the duchess sued Britain’s the Mail on Sunday for publishing extracts of a private letter she wrote to her father begging him to stop talking to the media. Prince Harry later claimed that the stress of this situation led to his wife to suffer a miscarriage.
Markle won her case for breach of privacy and copyright infringement, a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal in late 2021.
And the source in the know admitted that, for Markle, any attempt to contact her father — as well as her older half-sister Samantha and half-brother Thomas Jr., both of whom have been outspoken about their disdain — would likely end in tears.
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Markle is seen with daughter, Princess Lilibet, at a food kitchen before Thanksgiving. @meghan/Instagram
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Markle and Harry also took Prince Archie (left) to bake cookies. @meghan/Instagram
“I don’t know why even risked sending this latest letter, especially with the situation with the last letter,” said the source. “The family could share it or they could paraphrase it to be worse than it is, and then she’s f–ked.”
Amid all of this, the Sussexes also will spend yet another Christmas apart from the royal family, who will be united at King Charles’ Norfolk home, Sandringham, for the holidays.
Although Harry, 41, finally saw his father in September after more than 18 months of radio silence, the couple did not get an invite to Sandringham, sources confirmed to Page Six.
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The Sussexes — seen with King Charles, Prince William and Kate Middleton over Christmas 2018 — have not been invited to join their royal relatives at Sandringham for Christmas despite hopes for a reconciliation. AFP via Getty Images
Harry has said he wanted to reconcile with his dad, adding, “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
Charles, 77, has been fighting cancer for more than a year, but on Friday he revealed that, while not in remission, he was on the right track to recovery.
“Today I am able to share with you the good news that, thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to ‘doctors’ orders,’ my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year,” the king said in speech for the UK’s Channel 4 to promote the Stand up to Cancer organization and promote early cancer diagnosis.
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Markle beamed at King Charles as she joined the royal family for Christmas in 2017. Getty Images
The speech was unprecedented as the monarch rarely talks about their health.
So can Harry and Meghan finally mend fences with their fathers and extended family?
Said the source in the know: “The ball is in both Harry and Meghan’s court.”
