Thomas Markle on the Meghan-Harry Drama He Caused
Meghan Markle's father Thomas loves to chat with the media. Recall his regular conversations with TMZ in the lead-up to the Royal Wedding.
And today, a new one! Thomas Markle went on Good Morning Britain, the UK equivalent of the TODAY show, and spoke at length about everything: Donald Trump, what he said when Harry asked him for Meghan's hand in marriage, and what his conversation with the royal couple was like when they first spoke about his paparazzi photo staging scandal.
On, erm, not heeding Meghan and Harry's advice on dealing with the press:
He said since they started dating, Meghan and Harry had given him advice on dealing with the press. "For the most part, it was always ‘don’t speak to the press.’ The rest of the things were just be careful but they were very emphatic about not giving any information to the press or talking to them because it just encourages them more so nonetheless that’s what I tried to do."
And he's sorry for that staged paparazzi shoot:
Thomas explained why he worked with the paparazzi staged the photos; it was from a place of desperation: "This was a presentation to me to change my image because for the last year, photos of me were always derogatory. They’d take pictures of my hand grabbing a beer; they’d take pictures of me getting in my car, taking the garbage out, they’d take pictures of me buying a toilet, making a big deal out of it. They’d take all kinds of pictures of me, making me look negative. So I thought that’d be a nice way of improving my look. Well, obviously that all went to hell. And I feel bad about it. I apologize for it. And that’s all I can do. I can’t do much beyond that but that was a mistake. I didn’t do this for money. I did it to change my image. For one whole year, I was presented as a hermit hiding out in Mexico. I was looking to change my image. And obviously that was a mistake. It went wrong."
They were very understanding when they spoke with him about it: "I spoke to them both [in the aftermath] and I apologized. I realize it was a serious mistake but [it’s] hard to take it back. But here again it was to improve my look. ...It wasn’t [a difficult conversation to have with them both], it wasn’t. They were very forgiving. It wasn’t that difficult. Harry and Meghan were very forgiving about it."
On the health conditions that prevented him from walking Meghan down the aisle:
The plans were still for Thomas to walk Meghan down the aisle, too: "She [Meghan] said everything is ready for you. Harry said I’ve got one of my military trained [guards] to take care of you while you are here. It was all set up. It was fine. Everything was booked, everything was booked." Then his heart condition ultimately stopped him. After his first heart attack, "The hospital brought me in and said we can stabilize you. And after about a day and half in that hospital, I said I feel better and I want to go and I want to check out now because I want to go to the wedding. I had myself signed out and had to leave on my own against their wishes but I checked out. And I thought I was better; I felt really good. and at that time, then I drove to Los Angeles, took my ex-wife some flowers for Mother’s Day, carrying 60-pound flowers which wasn’t really so severe [as only] carrying five pounds and I felt fine until I went back home."
"Well, I talked to Harry and Meghan. We were still set up to go. We were going to go the next day or the day after. I got a call from a guy named Sarge, who was assigned by Harry, I think, and he said we’re going to take you tonight and at that time I started getting heart palpitations and at that time I started getting chest pains and at that time I said I have to cancel. And that was because I didn’t take care of the heart problem before. So I had to have a friend take me back to a hospital across the border in the States where I was told that my condition was very bad and they had to operate and I had a heart surgery. I told her [Meghan, that I couldn't go to the wedding] before I was going in for the surgery."
Their priority was on Thomas taking care of himself, he said. "They were disappointed, they both said and Meghan cried, I’m sure, she did cry, but they both said, ‘Take care of yourself. We’re worried about you.’ They said the important thing was that you get better."
How Meghan told him she was dating Harry:
Thomas also talked about his interactions with Harry and how he learned the two were dating. "The first phone calls [with Meghan] were, 'Daddy, I have a new boyfriend,’ and I said, 'That's really nice,' and then the next call was, 'He's British,' and I said, ‘Well, that's really nice,' and eventually the third time around was like, 'He's a prince,' and at that point she said, 'It's Harry,' and I said, 'Oh Harry. Okay.’ And she said, ’Of course, we'll have to call him 'H' so no one knows that we're talking about Harry. It’s H.’"
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: ‘Daddy, I have a new boyfriend’ - Thomas Markle talks about his daughter’s romance with Prince Harry #GMB pic.twitter.com/rzASEpEsKf
- Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 18, 2018
Thomas's first conversations with Harry ... and Harry's Trump views (!?)
Perhaps because he was live on a morning show or perhaps because he wanted to create a story, Thomas discussed his political conversations with Harry and Harry's stances on Brexit and Donald Trump.
He and Harry haven't met in person, he started. "We’ve had interesting conversations over the phone. He’s a smart guy. His politics are a little odd. We talked a few times about Donald Trump and Brexit and things like that, he’s an interesting guy. Our conversation [on Trump] was, I was complaining I didn’t like Donald Trump. He said, 'Give Donald Trump a chance.' I sort of disagreed with that, but I still like Harry. That was his politics, I have my politics. We had conversations about it. I would hope not now [a Donald Trump supporter] but at the time he might have been."
Regarding Brexit, "it was just a loose conversation of something we have to try. there was no real commitment to it. I think he was open to the experiment of [Brexit]."
Their first conversation became political: "He said, Hello Thomas. I said, Hi Harry. It became a conversation back and forth about politics. He was asking me how I was feeling that day. And I was telling him how unhappy I was with the President....We talked a little bit about how they met and how happy they were with each other. And that was pretty much it. I can’t give you a date, it was certainly a few months before they announced their engagement." Harry was "quite easy to talk to. He’s a comfortable person to talk to."
How Harry asked Thomas for Meghan's hand
Thomas didn't have any reservations about Meghan getting married again, he told the hosts when Piers Morgan asked if Thomas was concerned since Meghan was divorced before. "My daughter’s very intelligent. She knows how to choose who she wants to be with. She’s a smart girl. And she made a good pick, didn’t she?"
Their plans to get married were an ongoing conversation, Thomas said: "Actually, Meghan told me first [they were going to get married] and then a few times after that, Harry got on the phone with Meghan. They called me together and Harry asked for her hand over the phone and I said, ‘you’re a gentleman. Promise you’ll never raise your hand against my daughter and of course I give you my permission.’"
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