Meghan Markle's half brother Thomas Jr is seeking control of their dad’s legal and business affairs to allow him to rest and focus on his health.
Tom Jr has lodged a bid for Thomas Senior, 78, to be put under a “conservatorship” as he battles back from a stroke.
The move will let Tom Jr, 55, manage a court case in which the former Hollywood lighting engineer is suing British photographer Jeff Rayner over staged photos taken before Meghan’s 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
The pictures led to a breakdown in the relationship between Meghan, 41, and her dad.
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The conservatorship plan was revealed in documents filed in California about the Rayner case.
Tom Jr told the court he is “in the process” of obtaining the legal arrangement to step in for his dad.
A similar arrangement was put in place by the family of US pop queen Britney Spears when she suffered health problems. It led to the troubled singer’s life and finances being governed by relatives for more than a decade.
It is understood the plan for Thomas Snr is less far-reaching.
A well-placed source told the Sunday Mirror: “Tom Snr has had a series of health scares and his son wants to do the best for him by taking any stress away.
“Cases in America grind on for months or years so it will be a weight off Tom Snr’s mind. It will help him focus on his recovery.”
Rayner applied for a restraining order on Thomas Snr, who was quoted in a book saying he would consider killing the photographer – but it has since been denied that he said it.
In the Tom Bower book, Revenge: Meghan , Harry and the War Between The Windsors, he was claimed to have said: “I got screwed Rayner… I want to tear him down. If they tell me I’ve got terminal cancer, then I’ll kill him because I have nothing to lose.”
The pair are due in court in November when Thomas Snr will seek $1million, claiming the staged pictures caused him “worldwide embarrassment”.
Tom Jr already lives close to his father in Rosarito, Mexico, helping him to recover from his stroke.
Meghan has not spoken to their dad since he posed for the 2018 snaps. He later missed her wedding after a heart attack.
Thomas Snr has still never met son-in-law Harry – or his grandchildren Archie, three, and Lilibet, one.
Tom Jr declined to comment.
