Meghan Markle's dad Thomas says she's 'let down' the Royal Family and 'isn't the girl I raised'
19 January 2020, 12:49 | Updated: 19 January 2020, 12:51
The Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father believes his daughter is 'throwing away every girl's dream for money'.
Meghan Markle's dad Thomas has slammed his daughter's decision to take a step back from her royal duties and said the Duchess is "not the girl I raised".
The former Suits star's estranged father, 75, accused her of "cheapening" the Royal Family and "throwing away every girl's dream for money".
The retired Hollywood lighting director hit back at Meghan and her husband Prince Harry's decision to move away from the monarchy, branding their decision as "embarrassing".
Opening up to Channel 5 in upcoming documentary Thomas Markle: My Story, the distressed dad-of-three explained he felt as though the couple were turning the Royal Family into "a Walmart with a crown".
Thomas told producers: "When they got married they took on an obligation, and the obligation is to be part of the Royals and to represent the Royals. And it would be foolish for them not to.
"This is one of the greatest long-living institutions ever. They are destroying it, they are cheapening it, making it shabby… they shouldn’t be doing this.
"With Meghan and Harry separating from the Royals… it’s disappointing because she actually got every girl’s dream.
"Every young girl wants to become a princess and she got that and now she’s tossing that away… it looks like she’s tossing that away for money."
Read more: A timeline of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's royal journey so far
The comments come after Buckingham Palace issued a statement detailing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's future.
The Queen explained that Meghan and Harry have ditched their 'HRH' titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family.
They are now expected to move away from public duties, including official military appointments, and will no longer receive any public funding for this.
Meghan and Harry will also pay back £2.4million of taxpayer's money taken from the Sovereign Grant to refurbish Frogmore Cottage, which they plan to keep as their UK home.
Read more: Where is Meghan Markle living in Canada and where will she and Prince Harry move to?
Despite Thomas's reaction to the shocking announcement, he has since admitted to relatives that he would love to put up a photo of himself with his daughter, his son-in-law and his grandson Archie in his home in Mexico.
Meghan's half-brother Tom Markle, 53, said: “If he can do that he will die a happy man.”
When asked about the couple's exit from the monarchy, Tom Junior added: “My dad said to me, ‘This is not the girl I raised.’
“He cannot believe what has happened. He is very disappointed in her actions.
“He thinks she’s let down the Royal Family."
He continued: “He’s still got a lot of pics of Meg on one big wall and Archie is up there also. What he wants though is a picture of all three of them or even the four of them up there together.
“If that happens he would die a happy man. I personally think there should be a picture of all of us on that wall.
“For months, years, he held out hope she would reach out but there’s too much turmoil now for that to ever happen."
“She would not be anywhere without him. He paid for her education, car, clothes, rent, bills, spending money at uni. A small fortune and that’s what put her on her way.
"It’s great that Meg goes to women’s centres and so on, that’s brilliant.
“But she does need to look out for her family, too.
“We’re just out here surviving as best we can. We don’t have millions in the bank like her and Harry.
“She’s pretending we don’t exist but it’s strange and selfish.”
