Queen & Charles 'Irritated' by Meghan's Refusal to Reconcile with Dad & Harry's Excuses for Her, Book Claims

According to a 2022 book, the Royal Family tried intervening after Duchess Meghan's rift with her father, Thomas Markle, became public news. However, her husband's excuses got under Charles' skin, leading to an outburst.

Duchess Meghan's father, Thomas Markle, was supposed to walk her down the aisle in 2018 when she married Prince Harry, but he failed to pitch. Days before their wedding, Meghan released a statement revealing her father wouldn't attend her special day.

The statement was to the point, with the Duchess of Sussex noting how she'd always cared for Thomas and hoped the media would give him space to focus on his health. However, according to The Telegraph, in private, Meghan wasn't handling the disappointment well.

The publications claimed his absence "reduced both Meghan and Harry to tears." Since her relationship with the Duke of Sussex became public news, Thomas has made it a point to speak publicly about his feelings towards his daughter.

Thomas said he'd had a heart attack when speaking to The Sun about why he failed to attend his daughter's wedding. He also shared concern that nobody seemed to care that he could pass on soon.

Meghan's father accused her of avoiding him and revealed that they hadn't spoken for "the longest time." One of the scandals Thomas faced on his way to London to attend his daughter's wedding included him staging photos with the paparazzi.

Speaking to "Good Morning Britain in March 2021 about the incident, the duchess's father admitted that he did the photoshoot because a journalist promised to "make me look better." He believed the ploy would work in his favor, but it didn't.

That same month and year, when Meghan was interviewed for CBS by Oprah Winfrey, she shared her disappointment about her father's involvement with the tabloids. Speaking to The Sun in 2018, months after his daughter's wedding, Thomas attacked the Royal Family.

He described them as "cult-like," matching them up to the Scientology belief system because of how secretive they were. Meghan's father said when the Royal Family heard someone say something they didn't like, they locked themselves up and didn't speak up.

The former television lighting director's rift with his daughter had the Royal Family on edge. The tensions led to intervention attempts by the Queen and her son, Prince Charles.

HOW THE QUEEN AND CHARLES URGED MEGHAN TO MAKE PEACE WITH HER FATHER

The drama between the Duchess of Sussex and her father spawned a 2022 biography by Tom Bower titled "Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors." In it, he claimed in July 2018 that the Sussexes stayed with Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla for a week.

The newlyweds stayed at the Queen Mother's former house in Caithness at the Castle of Mey. The book said the visit was used to inform the media about how Charles, Harry's father, had bonded with Meghan.

The pair were allegedly into furniture and history. However, Charles didn't express his "bewilderment" over Meghan's unclear wants and didn't understand her, but during their stay, he couldn't hide his "irritation."

The book said the Prince of Wales was annoyed with Meghan's father's continued television appearances and his criticism of the Royal Family. He eventually blew up and "berated" Harry saying:

“Can’t she just go and see him and make this stop?”

However, because Harry knew about Thomas' "fury" over being shut out by his daughter, the Duke of Sussex tried to explain to his father why his wife couldn't mend their relationship. Instead, he told Charles that Meghan wouldn't phone Thomas because of a phone issue.

Harry allegedly said his wife thought her father's phone wasn't with him and his email was "compromised," but the Prince of Wales didn't understand the explanations. The excuses irritated Charles and the Queen.

They found it difficult to believe the duchess couldn't resolve her differences with her father. The Queen allegedly joined Harry's father for a conference call with the Sussexes, with the pair urging Meghan to go to the US to reconcile with Thomas.

To the monarch's dismay, Meghan refused the suggestion allegedly stating: "It was completely unrealistic to think I could fly discreetly to Mexico, arrive unannounced at his doorstep (as I had no means of secure communication with my father)..."

She didn't want to go "to a location and residence I had never visited or known, in a small border town." Then "somehow hope to speak privately to my father without causing a frenzy of media attention and intrusion that could bring more embarrassment to the royal family.”

Neither side was pleased when the conference call concluded. Later on, Harry's wife confessed that she'd grown "especially sensitive" since marrying into her husband's family and wanted to please them.

On the other hand, the Duke of Sussex felt his wife needed to be protected and sympathized with her resenting the monarch's focus on hierarchy. While visiting Castle Mey, Meghan allegedly complained how "they" didn't "understand."

The people she was complaining about included Camilla, who was unsure about Harry's future. Not long after that, in January 2020, the Sussexes revealed that they were stepping back from the senior royal roles after reflecting and discussing internally for months.

THE ROYAL FAMILY FAILED TO PROTECT THE SUSSEXES

During their Winfrey tell-all interview, Meghan confessed that she had much to "grieve" about. She said, "I mean, I've lost my father. I lost a baby. I nearly lost my name," adding, "I mean, there’s the loss of identity. But I’m still standing."

The Duke of Sussex shared how he and his grandmother had a heart-to-heart, with the Queen...

The Duchess of Sussex shared her hopes that viewers would realize that there was another side to her and her husband's story besides what was said in the media. While her relationship with Thomas failed to improve, the one she tried to build with the Royal Family also suffered.

The duchess revealed to Winfrey that she soon learned that the Royal Family wouldn't protect her after marrying Harry; without giving examples, Meghan said her husband's family lied to protect other members but would tell the truth to protect her or Harry.

Although there were rifts between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family, there seemed to be hope for their relationship with the Queen. In April 2022, Harry told the "Today" show about his bond with his grandmother.

He revealed that he'd visited her in the UK from his new home in the US, and she was doing well. Harry and Meghan also met up with Charles during their short visit before traveling to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands.

The Duke of Sussex shared how he and his grandmother had a heart-to-heart, with the Queen exposing her "great sense of humor (sic)." Harry and his wife had tea with the monarch, and he ensured she was protected and surrounded by the "right people."