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Thomas Markle’s message to Prince Harry: Man up and meet me

Thomas Markle has asked the Duke of Sussex to “man up” and meet him, as he spoke about how much he misses his daughter Meghan.

The Duchess of Sussex’s father, who has said he is willing to testify against Meghan as part of her legal action against three newspapers, said people should think about what it feels like to have a family member “ghost” them before judging him.

Mr Markle described the breakdown of his relationship with Meghan as “ridiculous”, and called for a reunion.

Duke and Duchess of Sussex statement
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in February 2018 (Andrew Milligan/PA)

In an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Mr Markle said he is “really disappointed” he has not seen his grandson Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, adding: “And I really miss my daughter.”

He said his message to Harry is: “Man up and fly down to see me. And we’ll talk.”

Asked what he would say to Meghan, he told the programme: “I’d say: ‘I love you’, and: ‘Let’s sit down and work this out.’ She was the closest thing to me for years and years and years, until she went off to college and even then.

“This is ridiculous. We should get together.”

Mr Markle is the main witness for Associated Newspapers, owner of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, in its response to Meghan’s legal action over an article featuring parts of a handwritten letter to her father.

The duchess’s defence is seeking damages from the publisher for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.

In court documents, the publisher argues an article in US People was sanctioned by the duchess and its effect “was to suggest that Mr Markle has made false claims about his dealings with his daughter and that he was entirely at fault in not attending the royal wedding and for the estrangement between himself and the claimant”.

“I’ll see Meghan in court,” Mr Markle said to The Sun.

“I wish it hadn’t come to this, but I will certainly testify against the things that have been said about me.

“When me and Meghan end up in a courtroom together, it will be quite stunning for everybody.”

Asked about the possibility of meeting Meghan and Harry at court as part of the legal action, Mr Markle told Good Morning Britain: “If it comes to meeting them in a courtroom, that’s great. At least I’d finally get to see them.”

He went on to say he did not want a “battle”.

Legal documents submitted to the High Court shed light on the relationship between Meghan and her father, with Mr Markle claiming he contributed tens of thousands to her education, paying private school fees, university tuition costs and her student loan even after her career as an actress took off.

Asked about how he is trying to contact his daughter, he said: “For me, there is no other way to reach them. I pretty much will give an interview and wait for 30 days for some kind of answer back.

“If I don’t get one back then I’ll try another interview.”

Asked what he would say to people who are critical of him doing TV interviews, Mr Markle said: “I would tell them to try being in my position for a while and see what it’s like – have a family member ghost you and not speak to you, and see how you feel.

“It’s something that stays with you 24/7 every day, and it never goes away.

“It’s always on your mind. You wake up with it. You go to sleep with it. It’s very hard to deal with.”

Speaking about the couple’s decision to step back as senior members of the royal family, Mr Markle said it is “never going to work”, adding: “I think they’ve hurt the Queen. I think they’ve hurt the royals.”

He said: “I’m a little embarrassed for them, and feeling very sorry for the Queen.”

Mr Markle said he thinks Harry should have travelled to see him to ask for Meghan’s hand in marriage.

“I actually think Harry should have come to me at the beginning. He asked for her hand over the phone, and I actually think that in hindsight now I think that a royal, who has a plane at any time he wants it, could have come down to Mexico and asked for her hand in person to me,” he said.

Mr Markle said he still feels that Harry could reach out to him now, adding: “This shouldn’t keep going on. I mean they are putting this… making this a big drama for the world every day is kind of ridiculous.

“It’s a family problem. It should be solved as a family problem.”

Mr Markle has claimed the duchess sent him only occasional “modest” financial gifts after landing a role in the hit TV series Suits, even though he was still paying off her college debts.

An extract from a responding letter from Meghan, published by the Mail on Sunday and on MailOnline in February last year, read: “Your actions have broken my heart into a million pieces – not simply because you have manufactured such unnecessary and unwarranted pain, but by making the choice to not tell the truth as you are puppeteered in this. Something I will never understand.”

Her lawyers claim that, had the letter been published in full, it would have “undermined the defendant’s intended negative characterisation” of her.

They also say the “true sentiment” of the letter was Meghan’s concern about her father’s welfare and his exploitation by tabloid newspapers which he should stop talking to.

The publisher’s lawyers have accused the duchess of being more worried about the “unflattering” effect of the publication of letter extracts written to her estranged father than any breach of her data protection rights.

The relationship between Meghan and her father broke down completely in the week of her wedding in May 2018, a few months before the letter – thought to be the last communication between the pair – was sent.

Harry and Meghan are dropping their HRH styles and stepping down from royal duties in search of freedom away from the monarchy, and will raise Archie mostly in Canada.