Meghan's father and photographer in photo scam

Me too muffin. I wonder if there would have been this amount of indignation and bile if he was marrying a young virginal British aristocrat?

I think it was beneath the dignity of a national newspaper to stir up drama the week before a royal wedding

Well we live in this new modern world of media spies unfortunately and any news story is chased and publicised. The rules of engagement (no pun intended) have changed, for the worse.

Mr Markle was stupid to arrange mock situations and
agree to the sale of photos from them. His daughter is about to appear on the world stage when she marries a Prince. What on earth was he thinking?

It was a stupid move. No two ways about it, but I do feel sorry for him. I agree that Harry has to take some blame. They have had nearly two years in which to arrange an informal meeting. He is about to become his FIL by means of marriage in a vast Castle chapel yet he hasn't met him and ALL Harry's relatives are upper crust and stuffy protocol is the way they do relationships. Poor bloke...tea with the Queen when he doesn't even know Harry?

What an ordeal from a man who has valued his privacy and not exploited his family tie to Meghan (unlike his ghastly family.)

It is all very soap-opera-ish. But it will all be forgotten and M&H will be the world's darlings come Saturday evening.

They'll be let off the hook for shameful disregard for her father and the distress it's caused him, imo. It all could have been so different.

I feel sorry for him, he’s not going to be at the wedding now and it must be a big disappointment to him and Meghan.

I feel bad for her too because I don’t think her family have been told what’s expected of them. The Middletons never do anything to embarrass Kate.

Is it true Meghan’s mum is going on Oprah?? Meghan will be affronted

JenniferEccles Love it! Isn't your name a song by the Hollies?

Megan and Harry are above criticism !

Why will she be "affronted"*muffinthemoo*? She an actress she's made her living from TV and film....its a natural habitat to MM ...Oprah is a well respected woman of colour in an otherwise male white world where TV is concerned .The mother couldn't be on a better programme .Its no body's business anyway what she does.she doesn't have to kowtow to royalty ...America got rid of them a couple of hundred years ago didn't they ?

I love Oprah but does anyone really want their mum to go on international TV and talk about them??

trisher Thanks. Yes it is a Hollies song. Showing my age now!!

Well Oprah may well be be a highly respected television interviewer, but it is still incredibly tacky for the mother to agree to go on her show. You just don't DO that when your daughter is marrying into Royalty; surely that's obvious?

Now it is said the half sister persuaded the father to participate in the fake photos in an attempt to show him in a better light!

Well that failed spectacularly didn't it?

The whole family sound a complete nightmare. Only time will tell of course how the bride turns out, but the omens aren't good.

I'm confused.

On the one hand we have people saying the RF should not be treated as being different to everyone else and on the other hand the family of someone marrying into the RF being castigated because they should know better than to do whatever because they are marrying into the RF.

Not speaking about your daughter on tv is not kowtowing to royalty, it’s respecting your daughters privacy.

I am fed up with it, they are minor royals ,only two moves away from Beatrice . I heard it being called ‘the wedding of the century’ this morning , yuck.

Two 30 somethings, very much in love but coming from different 'sides of the track'. Totally different family backgrounds. This scenario is not unusual. I wish them a long and very happy marriage. Once Saturday is over they can concentrate on their relationship.

I think it's all very sad. Poor Meghan must be mortified by the behaviour of her step sister. It was she who arranged the photo shoot to try to show her father in a better light. Mr Markle values his privacy, and his daughter should have left things alone. The paparazzi are the people at fault here, for taking photos of him in the first place. He is just an ordinary man, going about his business. I don't get dressed up to go to the local shop, so why should he?
I take my hat off too him for deciding not to come to the wedding, but it is sad that he will not be able to walk his daughter down the aisle. It was one of my DF's proudest moments.
I agree with what others have said though, about the Royal Family and Royal protocol. Surely someone might have been sent out to brief the family on what to expect, and how to react to photographers and journalists.
I hope Prince Harry and Meghan have a wonderful day, and can put all the nonsense to one side.
I also wish them both health and happiness, and a long and happy, and fruitful marriage.

There is no royal protocol in a wedding , same service as in any town or village church in England . If blame must be laid at anyone’s feet , surely Harry , he knows how the press and paparazzi behave He could have met the father, warned him of the problems , at the engagement he said he had never met her father.

Uninterested in whether he comes or doesn’t, but was pleased to see someone up-thread talk of escorting her to the church rather than the twee ‘walk her up the aisle’. What self-respecting woman of 33 wants that said of her in the 21st century? Grates every time I hear it.

Sorry but I had to laugh at one post on a thread about him on Facebook . The person commenting said " That poor man he is so venerable " .

There is quite an unpleasant tone in some of these posts.

It is quite well known that if being besieged by the media, one answer is to 'sell yourself' to one particular paper. That gets the others off your back. I assume that is what Mr Markle was advised to do and the pictures I saw weren't embarrassing in any way.

It all sounds like normal family drama as emotions heat up in the last few weeks before a wedding. Good to see as it’s normal..

How many families planning weddings have had the discussion ‘’ He is NOT invited because.....’’....

It’s rubbish to talk of normal family dramas - this is the RF - they have an army of advisers, flunkies, spokespeople, security people, a huge PR machine.They have ( the RF) let down the Markles- Harry is a stupid self obsessed fuckwit who hasn’t got the sense he was born with ( not that that was much). After what happened with his mother, he should have had more care and consideration. Mr M is hardly upper east side is he- he’s done the best he can with no help from that crew so many will be fawning over on Saturday.

You can’t blame an entire family for the non action of one self obsessed member , he is nearly 34, needs to act like it

Well we have no way of knowing if Harry (or any other Royal or aide) approached Mr. Markle with a view to meeting him, either here or in the US.

Maybe several people tried to persuade him with no luck.

Regardless of all that, it still doesn't excuse what he did.

None of us know why Harry hasn't met Thomas Markle. It's no good us blaming Harry or anyone else. We simply do not know and what's more it is none of our business. I wish the couple a long and happy marriage. It is a huge pressure being part of the RF and being in the public eye all the time.

maryeliza54
I cannot see how it can be Prince Harry's fault that Mr. Markle chose to co operate with a newspaper over photographs of himself; I don't know why Meghan Markle chose not to introduce her fiance to her father, and I do not understand why your posts about the Royal Family have to be so unremittingly unpleasant and at times (as above), offensive.

As if the RF as an entity couldn’t have made Harry behave better - I think it’s accepted he hadn’t met him - if he had the RF would surely have said because it’s so odd not to have done

If the RF had behaved properly and supportively, the photos almost certainly wouldn’t have happened. The RF as an institution are pathetic and their behaviour over the years gives us nothing to be proud of at all

What’s unpleasant about saying Harry is not very bright - it’s true