The Duchess of Sussex’s father Thomas Markle Sr has expressed a desire to “fix” his relationship with his daughter.
Meghan Markle and Thomas Sr have a strained relationship, which came to a head after Thomas collaborated with paparazzi to stage several photo shoots before her wedding to Harry in 2018.
Thomas has now sat down for an interview with Australian news programme 7News Spotlight, which will be released on Sunday (30 April).
The trailer for the interview, which features previously unseen footage of Meghan, includes a voiceover describing Thomas’s “deathbed plea” to his daughter.
“How can I fix this?” he is shown slowly asking.
Last May, Thomas suffered a stroke, after which he said he was “lucky to be alive”.
He and Meghan have not spoken since her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. Prior to the nuptials, the duchess says she begged her father to “stop talking to any press” in a text message exchange.
In their Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan, the duchess spoke about learning her father wouldn’t be attending her wedding from a TMZ report.
“The unraveling happened that week when he wouldn’t pick up my call,” Meghan said. “And instead you’re talking to TMZ. And I’m finding out that you’re not coming to our wedding through a tabloid.”
Thomas has never met husband Harry nor the couple’s two children Prince Archie, who turns four next week, and Princess Lilibet, who turns two this June.
The Independent has contacted the Sussexes’ representative for comment.
Elsewhere in the interview with the Australian broadcaster, Meghan’s half-sister Samantha claims that Meghan and Harry have a “toxic relationship”.
The trailer sees clips of Harry and Meghan walking together at various points in their relationship shown alongside a voiceover from Samantha, who said: “They are really unhealthy for each other.”
The video then cuts to Samantha being interviewed, as she adds: “It’s a toxic relationship.”
Samantha also claims that Meghan would “still be a waitress if it wasn’t for” their father.
