Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle has been discharged from hospital after he had a stroke.
The 77-year-old has been forced to cancel his plans to fly to London for the jubilee where he had hoped to meet his grandchildren Lilibet and Archie for the first time, having become estranged from his daughter Meghan in recent years.
Now he faces what he calls an “uphill battle” to speak again after the stroke but reassured everyone he was “working hard” to be able to do so.
However, Mr Markle said he felt “grateful” and “lucky to be alive” following his stint in hospital in San Diego as he thanked the medical staff on Saturday night.
He said in a statement to the Mail On Sunday: ”I feel hugely grateful and know how lucky I am to be alive. I want to thank everyone, especially the wonderful doctors and nurses who saved my life. They are angels.
“I have been deeply moved by loving messages I’ve received from all over the world. People have been so kind. I can’t speak right now, but I am working hard and will thank people properly when I can.”
His 56-year-old son Tom Jr will care for him now the 77-year-old has come out of hospital.
The retired Hollywood lighting director also had a message for Her Majesty as he was unable to attend the four-day jubilee celebrations next weekend.
He wrote on a whiteboard: “I wanted to come to pay my respects to the Queen. I wish her a happy Jubilee and many more years.”
Previously, he had spoken of his excitement to attend the jubilee.
Speaking to GB News, he said: “I’m looking forward to it [flying over for the Jubilee]. I’m going to show my respect for the Queen and I’m going to make sure that the Queen understands that my entire family respects the Queen and the Royals.
“We admire them and we want them to know that’s how we feel about them and that’s how we feel about England.
“I would like to meet with Prince Charles and thank him for walking my daughter down the aisle, and also to meet and talk with him because I think we have a lot in common now. We’ve pretty much both been ghosted by our children.”
Mr Markle had to pull out of attending his daughter’s royal wedding to Prince Harry in 2018 when he had two heart attacks in the days leading up to the event.
