Meghan Markle's dad opens up about the royal wedding in very honest interview

Ever since the news broke that Prince Harry was dating Suits actress Meghan Markle, her entire family has been plunged into the media spotlight.

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Her father, Thomas Markle, has perhaps felt this attention more than anyone else. In the weeks before the wedding it was reported that he had been working with a paparazzi photographer to stage photographs of himself, and in the run-up to the big day he suffered a heart attack. Two days before the royal wedding, Meghan Markle issued a statement to say he would not be attending.

Well, now he's opened up about what exactly took place. In a 30 minute interview with Good Morning Britain on Monday, Thomas spoke about a number of things — from his early conversations with Prince Harry to the way he felt watching his daughter walk down the aisle...

On his conversations with Prince Harry 

Thomas described Prince Harry, who he's only ever spoken to over the phone, as a "very nice man, a gentleman, and very likeable."

"We've yet to see each other face to face," said Thomas. We've had interesting conversations on the phone [...] He's a smart guy."

Thomas went on to say that they'd spoken about Donald Trump and Brexit in the past. 

"I was complaining I didn't like Donald Trump, he said, 'Give Donald Trump a chance'," continued Thomas. "I sort of disagreed with that, but I still like Harry. That was his politics, I have my politics, so..."

And did he think Prince Harry was a Trump supporter?

"I would hope not now," replied Thomas. "But at the time he might have been."

On his decision to work with the paparazzi

"This was a presentation to me to change my image, because for the last year photographs of me were always, like, derogatory," Thomas explained. "They would 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 and making a big deal out of it, they'd take all kinds of pictures of me making me look negative. 

"So I thought this'd be an nice way of improving my look. Well obviously that all went to hell and I feel bad about it, I apologised for it, and that's all I can do."

Thomas described the decision as a mistake, and said he'd spoken to both Meghan and Harry about it after the news broke.

"I spoke to them both and I apologised," he said. "Both Harry and Meghan were very forgiving about it."

On the wedding

Thomas explained that he was ultimately unable to attend the wedding due to his health. He told Meghan and Harry shortly before going in for heart surgery.

"They were disappointed but they both said — and Meghan cried, I'm sure, she did cry — and they both said take care of yourself, we're really worried about you," he explained. "They said the important thing was that I get better."

Thomas went on to say he was "honoured" that Prince Charles walked his daughter down the aisle.

"I can't think of a better replacement than someone like Prince Charles," he said. "He looked very handsome, and my daughter looked beautiful with him. I was jealous, I wish I'd been there, I wish it'd been me, but thank God he was there.

"[...] The unfortunate thing for me now is I'm a footnote in one of the greatest moments in history, rather than the dad walking her down the aisle. So that upsets me somewhat."

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