Why Meghan Markle’s father is refusing to be silenced

The father of Meghan Markle has vowed that he “won’t stop talking” to the press until the Royal Family acknowledges and speaks to him.

Former TV lighting director Thomas Markle says he is determined to reconnect with his estranged daughter, with whom he hasn’t spoken since her wedding to Prince Harry on 19 May. He did not attend, having undergone last-minute heart surgery.

Markle has given a number of interviews in recent weeks, most of them with US celebrity news site TMZ, and one with Good Morning Britain. He described private conversations that he had with his daughter and Prince Harry, and this week told The Sun that Meghan was “terrified” and wearing a “pained smile” in her new role as a royal.

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The newspaper said it was to be his “final interview” - but Markle has since spoken out again, with TMZ yesterday quoting him as saying: “I was silent for a full year and the press beat me up every day, saying I was a hermit hiding in Mexico, so I gave my story.

“Apparently, that interview put the Royal Family in their silence mode, so I gave another interview to break the silence. All they have to do is speak to me.

“Tomorrow is my birthday, 74 years old, and I’m enjoying the fact that I can make the entire Royal Family not speak and maybe I can get a laugh out of the Duchess.”

On Monday, a royal source told the Entertainment Tonight website that Meghan and Prince Harry were “frustrated” by her father’s decision to continue “taking payments for interviews”.

The Palace has not released an official statement about his comments.