THOMAS Markle today revealed he HUNG UP on “snotty” Prince Harry when he called him about the royal wedding as he lay in hospital.
Meghan Markle‘s estranged father this morning hit back after she accused him of betraying her in her explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
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Speaking to Good Morning Britain, he said Harry phoned him when he was recovering after suffering a heart attack.
He said: “Harry had said to me ‘if you had listened to me, this wouldn’t have happened to you’.
“Me, laying in a hospital bed after having a procedure, I had a stent put here and put here and that was kind of snotty so I hung up on him.”
The 76-year-old, speaking from his home in Mexico, made another swipe at his son-in-law when he discussed Harry’s past.
He told Piers and Susanna: “We all make mistakes… but I’ve never played naked pool and I’ve never dressed up like Hitler.”
Thomas was referring to infamous nude pictures of Prince Harry taken in Las Vegas in 2012, as well as the time he was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform with a swastika armband in 2005.
In her interview with Oprah – watched by 11.3million Brits on ITV last night – the Duchess of Sussex opened up about her relationship with her dad.
She said she felt crushed when he lied to her about working with the media.
The pair haven’t spoken in four years – the last time being when Thomas told them he couldn’t fly to be at her wedding due to health reasons.
He added: “Like I said, this is actually the first time I’ve heard her speak in about four years.
“The last time we spoke, we actually texted, I was laying in hospital bed after a heart attack.
“I had to tell them that I couldn’t fly for the wedding – at that point we pretty much said goodbye.”
He added: “I’m very disappointed about it, I’ve apologised about this thing, at least 100 times.
“The bottom line is, I’ve never heard back from Meghan and Harry in any way shape or form. I would love to hear from them.”
Thomas went on to speak of his regret at staging paparazzi photographs ahead of her wedding.
Me, laying in a hospital bed after a having procedure, I had a stint put here and put here and that was kind of snotty so I hung up on him.”
Thomas Markle
He added: “I wish I hadn’t done the whole thing.
“But here’s the other side of the coin. No one took any time to protect any member of our family.
“And in spite of all that, I still apologised, I’m apologising today again. I also said we all make mistakes… but I’ve never played naked pool and I’ve never dressed up like Hitler.”
Asked about Meghan’s suicidal thoughts while she was pregnant, he said: “It really did upset me. It would have been easy for her to reach out to me.
“But the other thing is, I would think she could turn to her husband.”
He also said Harry and Meghan should have waited to air the interview “considering the age of the Queen and Prince Philip”.
Thomas added: “They went way over the top with it, these stories with Oprah, and should have waited.
“Considering the Queen’s age and Philip’s age, they certainly should have waited or tried to wait.”
He said Harry and Meghan are living “probably about 70 miles from me now”.
He added: “I’m available any time we can get together. I’d love to get together. I’d certainly like to see my grandson.”
It comes as…
Asked for his reaction to the claims made about the royal family, Mr Markle said: “I have great respect for the royals and I don’t think the British royal family are racist at all. I don’t think the British are racist.”
On the comment alleged to have been made by someone on how dark Harry and Meghan’s baby’s skin tone might be, he said he hoped it was “just a dumb question”.
He said: “This whole thing about colour and how dark the baby is was bulls***.
“I’m guessing and hoping it’s just a dumb question from somebody.
“It could just be that simple, it could be somebody asked a stupid question, rather than being a total racist.”
More of the jaw-dropping interview was released yesterday, with Meghan saying say she tried to “protect” her parents from the “media frenzy” sparked due to an “obsession about anything in my world”.
It was the first time Meghan has publicly discussed her dad, who she has not spoken to since before her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018.
Thomas, an ex-Hollywood lighting director, has spoken about her daughter’s relationship publicly and described their decision to walk away from the royals as embarrassing.
Their relationship soured in the run-up to their 2018 Windsor Castle wedding, when he admitted agreeing to stage pictures of himself.
Meghan was asked if it felt like a “betrayal” when she found out her dad was working with the Press, and replied: “I’m trying to decide if I’m comfortable even talking about that.
“It was… if we were going to use the word betrayal.”
Meghan added: “Because when I asked him, when we were told by the comms team, this is a story that was going to be coming out, which, by the way, the tabloids had apparently known for a month or so and decided to hold until the Sunday before our wedding because they wanted to create drama, which is also a really key point in all this.
“We called my dad and I asked him and he said, no, absolutely not.
“I said, you know, the institution has never intervened for anything for us, but they can try to go in and kill this story.
“But if they do this once, we’re not going to be able to use that same leverage to protect our own kids one day.”
Oprah then said: “He said no, absolutely not. He hadn’t been talking to them. So he basically lied to you.”
Meghan added: “Well, and so when I said we won’t be able to protect our own kids one day and I said, so I just need you to tell me.
“And if you tell me the truth, we can help. And he wasn’t able to do that. And that for me has really resonated, especially now as a mother.”
She added: “And also me saying just full stop, if we use this to protect you, (we) won’t be able to protect our own children one day.
“Well, I’m talking about your grandchildren.
“I look at Archie. I think about this child and I genuinely can’t imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child.
“I can’t imagine it. So it’s hard for me to reconcile that.”
It comes after the first part of the bombshell chat saw Meghan accuse an unnamed royal of racism – plunging the monarchy into crisis.
Appearing vulnerable at times, Meghan revealed that she contemplated taking her own life while pregnant.
She also claimed her son Archie wasn’t made a prince after “concerns and conversations” about “how dark” his skin would be when he was born.
Some of their claims left the talk-show host visibly stunned and she was heard gasping throughout the interview.
Thomas has never met his son-in-law Harry or his 22-month-old grandson.
