Meghan Markle’s father calls on Queen to end estrangement

Thomas Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex, has appealed to the Queen to intervene in his estrangement with his daughter in a controversial TV interview.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain today, the 74-year-old described Meghan Markle as “very controlling”, as he revealed that he texts her every day but has not received any contact from her.

“I’ve been ghosted,” Markle told host Piers Morgan. “I’m not sure why it’s happening. I love my daughter very much. I wish she would reach out, send me a text, anything. There has to be a place for me. I’m her father.”

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Asked about the role of the monarch, Markle said: “I would appreciate anything she can do, and I would think that she would want to resolve family problems.

“All families, royal or otherwise, are the same and they should all be together, certainly around the holidays.”

He also expressed hopes for a reconciliation after the birth of the couple’s first child next year. The Duchess is believed to be around five months pregnant.

Markle “has faced criticism for doing repeated interviews about his row with his daughter”, says the Daily Mirror. Writing on Twitter this morning, Morgan defended the choice to feature him on the programme, saying that he had not been paid to appear.

Kensington Palace has not made any comment on the interview, but the Daily Mail says: “There is little doubt that the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex have again been left humiliated by the continuing Markle family soap opera.”

The newlyweds have recently been at the centre of a flurry of tabloid speculation alleging a rift with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Mark Borkowski, head of Borkowski PR and the author of several books on public relations, told Canadian broadcaster CBC that palace officials will be keenly aware of the potential impact of widely reported rumours around alleged tensions in the family.

“There will become a point that if it carries on at this pace of so much negativity... that someone will have to take a view that we’ve got to do something - either a television moment or something to put this to rest,” he said.