*Meghan Markle‘s father Thomas Markle has been estranged from his daughter since days before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. Now he is speaking out about his hope of reconciling and meeting his grandkids.
In a new interview with the Australian TV show 60 Minutes, Thomas, 76, accuses Oprah Winfrey of exploiting Harry and Meghan with her bombshell interview in March. He also criticized Harry and Winfrey’s Apple TV+ series about mental health and says he found out about the birth of Meghan’s newborn baby girl “on the radio.” The child was named Lili after both Queen Elizabeth II and Harry’s late mother Princess Diana.
“Lily is a perfect name,” Thomas said, “and the other thing that makes me happy is now there’s a lot more Markle blood in the royal family. All I can say is I hope I get to eventually, sometime see these grandchildren of mine because I’m a pretty good grandpa.”
During her interview with Oprah, Meghan admitted that she felt suicidal as a member of the British royal family. She also said an unnamed family member expressed “concerns” over the skin color of their unborn son.
READ MORE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Welcome Baby Daughter – Her Name is Lilibet Diana
“The only person benefitting from this is Oprah Winfrey,” Markle said on 60 Minutes. Harry addressed his wife’s mental health struggles in the Apple TV+ series “The Me You Can’t See,” which Thomas calls a “setup.”
“I think she’s patting herself on the back and making a lot of money on this,” he said of Winfrey. “I think Harry’s being put into a position where he’s saying things he’ll never be able to take back…I’m not attacking Oprah but I really think Oprah’s taking advantage of Harry.”
After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spilled the tea with Oprah, Thomas drove to Oprah’s home in Montecito, Calif., and left with a security guard a letter requesting she grant him an interview.
“I left a letter for Oprah with my phone number and email and I said, ‘Give me a chance to tell my story,” he said on 60 Minutes. “I said, it’s not fair to tell [their] story without hearing my story. I got no response.”
While his daughter lives in the same neighborhood as Oprah, Thomas said he would never show up uninvited. “I’d never do that,” he said. “That makes me a stalker. I’m not a stalker.”
He also reiterated that he wants to repair his damaged relationship with Harry and Meghan, which soured after he sold them out to the UK tabloids.
“As always, I do love you and I wish we could sit down and talk about it. I’m not an ogre,” Thomas pleaded to his daughter on 60 Minutes.
“July 18th, I’ll be 77 years old. Most of the Markle men don’t make it much past 80. So there’s a good chance I might never seen my grandchildren. I’m not looking for pity. I’m just saying that’s a reality,” he added.
