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Meghan’s dad ‘disappointed’ not to see Archie
Thomas Markle has spoken out again, giving an interview to the Daily Mail expressing his sorrow and anger at being cut out of his daughter’s life.
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Markle, speaking from his home just beyond the California border in Rosarito, Mexico, said that he has not received a call or text from Meghan since she gave birth, and that he has also not been sent a picture of his grandson.
“Of course I’m disappointed not to see Archie,” Markle said, adding that he was “sick of being vilified and shut out of their (Meghan, Harry and Archie’s) lives... I always hoped that I would be as close to Meghan‘s child as I was to her.”
He also claims Meghan, Harry, and their press representatives are trying to “ghost” him out of her life. He also asserts that he loves her very much, despite what others may think, especially Meghan and Harry’s “A-list friends...who don‘t know me.”
Family breakdowns are rarely joyful, but add in a super-charged celebrity (I think we can safely say that Meghan is the most famous woman on the planet right now) and money, and things can get nasty fast.
Sadly, for both father and daughter, this interview shows exactly why Meghan has little choice but not to trust him.
After bemoaning the circumstances of their estrangement, Markle goes on to attack Meghan (and Harry) in every way.
He calls her a hypocrite for taking a private jet, says that her hypocrisy over this issue mirrors her treatment of him (“You can’t portray yourself as being charitable and bringing people together and then ghost your own father and your entire family,”) calls Meghan a liar for saying she paid her own way through university (he says he paid) and then for good measure reveals the contents of a private letter to Meghan’s mother which could be read as threatening to tip off reporters about that fact.
In it, he wrote: “Meghan is saying she wants nothing to do with me and she worked her way through college all by herself. I haven’t said anything about it, but I’m sure reporters are checking at Northwestern to see who paid her way through school. She cannot change history.”
Why hasn’t Meghan sent her father a picture of the baby? Because she thinks he’d probably sell it to the media, that’s why.
However, the Mail adds at the end of their article that Markle “neither asked for nor received any payment for this story.”
Moving plans
Harry and Meghan are said to be in “victim mode” following a summer of relentless criticism, and are apparently speeding up plans to move to America, where Meghan’s mum lives, and traveling by private jet doesn’t raise an eyebrow.
Longstanding rumors that Meghan and Harry have a secret plan to quit the U.K. and move to Hollywood have been given a bump today by the Daily Mail, which reports that they have shown “little interest” in accepting an offer from Prince Charles of a country estate with excellent shooting in Herefordshire.
A source tells the Mail: “In the 1980s, it was decided baby Harry would one day have a family and want to build an estate. Charles has discussed Herefordshire, thinking he’d love it. Perhaps back then they were expecting Harry would marry a Sloaney nursery teacher who would love nothing more than running an estate. Fast forward to 2019, and that dream seems deeply old-fashioned, not to mention unrealistic.”
What now for Prince Andrew?
Surely the weirdest sight of the week was Prince Andrew blithely resuming royal duties with an appearance at the Dartmouth Royal Regatta in Devon. However it’s hard to imagine things ever being really the same for Andrew ever again.
As The Sunday Times quotes a friend of the Queen saying: “You’ve got a serious crime linked to the kind of behavior towards women that people feel particularly strongly about at the moment. Andrew’s association with [Epstein] is deeply damaging and he needs to deal with it.”
In loving memory
Saturday marked the 22nd anniversary of Princes Diana’s death, and Harry is expected to take both Meghan and baby Archie to pay homage to her memory at her grave today, located far from prying eyes on a private island in a lake at her family estate, Althorp.
Us Weekly said that Harry and William will gather to reflect on their mother’s death and her legacy, and hope the anniversary will help bring them closer together after the strains of the previous year.
“They talk about the little things about Diana that made them laugh, the ski trips and outings to Thorpe Park. The effort she went to on their birthdays—all of it.
“They always discuss Diana’s charity work and brainstorm ways they can continue her legacy,” the source added, “Helping others and being a role model to those less fortunate is at the top of their priority list.”
Us Weekly also claims that Harry keeps a photo of his mother in Archie's room at Frogmore Cottage as a small way of honoring her legacy.
Get ready for the cute pictures
Princess Charlotte is due to start school on Thursday of this week.
The young royal will be accompanied to Thomas's Battersea by William and Kate (who missed George’s first day as she was suffering from morning sickness) on her first day, Kensington Palace has confirmed, with a short photo-call at the west London school gates (take note, Meghan and Harry). Also on hand; big brother Prince George, who will be digging in for his third year.
Earlier this year, the headmaster at Thomas’s, Simon O’Malley, said: “We are delighted that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have decided that Princess Charlotte will join her elder brother, Prince George, at Thomas’s Battersea. We greatly look forward to welcoming her and all of our new pupils to the school in September.”
This week in royal history
On September 6, 1997, the funeral of Princess Diana took place. The images from that day remain as piercing as they are surreal: William and Harry, so young, following their mother’s coffin on foot; the wreath on top of the coffin with the word “Mummy” on it; the Queen bowing to Diana’s coffin, and the flowers upon flowers that showered down on the funeral cortège as it made its way through and out of London.
Inside and outside Westminster Abbey applause rang out for Earl Spencer’s audacious, passionate “blood family” speech addressed to William and Harry, and Elton John sang “Candle in the Wind/Goodbye England's Rose.” Her sons keep her memory and inspiration vividly alive today.
Royal fashion watch
Scandal and intrigue may be besetting the royal family from all sides, but the Queen and Kate Middleton still dressed and smiled as per for the cameras when they went to church last week during the royals' summer sojourn at Balmoral.
And while the Queen may never complain, never explain, she also knows the value of bright colors to send their own business-as-usual message. Here, as What Kate Wore revealed, hot pink does the trick.
Unanswered questions
Concerning Prince Andrew, Epstein-watchers are still waiting for a full set of answers to many questions—and they may require a tape measure for those chubby fingers.
