Thomas Markle thinks his daughter Duchess Meghan is mothering Prince Harry

OHMYGOSSIP — Thomas Markle thinks his daughter Duchess Meghan is “mothering” Prince Harry. The 74-year-old retired lighting director hasn’t spoken to the 37-year-old former actress since before she married the flame-haired hunk at the beginning of May but, from what he’s seen online, he’s convinced she’s controlling his dress sense – even though the royal family have strict fashion rules in place – and his eating habits, dailymail.co.uk mediates.

He said: “Meghan is very maternal by nature. She loves to cook and she will mother Harry. He’s eating properly now, he’s dressing the way she wants him to. All men need that.”

Thomas also hinted that their marriage may not work out as the brunette beauty took the same approach when she was married to her first husband Trevor Engelson, whom she split from after two years in 2013 due to “irreconcilable differences”.

Meghan and Harry tied the knot at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, Windsor, on May 19 surrounded by their close relatives, fellow royals and their friends. Thomas was initially invited to the ceremony and to give Meghan away but he was forced to pull out of the big day at the last minute in order to have heart surgery. His decision not to attend the wedding came just days after he caused a stir when he staged paparazzi photos of him buying a suit ahead of the nuptials in Los Angeles.

However, despite locking horns with Harry, 33, over the pictures, Thomas was expecting the couple to visit him in the US after their honeymoon – particularly as he had just undergone extensive surgery on his heart – but his wish never came true. Since then, him and his daughter Samantha Markle – the half sister of Meghan – have been slamming the royal couple in public for distancing themselves from them.

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Thomas Wayne Markle Sr. (born July 18, 1944) is an American retired television lighting director and director of photography. He received a Chicago / Midwest Emmy Award for work on the television program Made in Chicago in 1975 and was a co-recipient of two Daytime Emmy Awards for work on the television soap opera General Hospital, in 1982 and 2011. He is the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, by his second wife, Doria Ragland.

Markle was born on July 18, 1944 and raised in Newport, Pennsylvania, the son of Doris May Rita (née Sanders; 1920–2011) and Gordon Arnold Markle (1918–1982). His mother was from New Hampshire. He has two brothers, Frederick and Michael Markle.

Markle worked as a lighting director at WTTW-TV Channel 11 in the 1970s. In 1975, he received a Chicago / Midwest Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for Individual Excellence: Non Performers for his lighting design work on the channel’s Made in Chicago program. He worked on the television series General Hospital and Married… with Children. becoming a director of photography.

In 1982, Markel was one of the 14 named co-recipients of a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Design Excellence for a Daytime Drama Series for work on General Hospital, and in 2011, he shared a Daytime Emmy Award with Vincent Steib for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Drama Series for work on General Hospital. He was also nominated (with various co-nominees) for Daytime Emmy Awards for work on General Hospital on seven other occasions.

He was nominated, along with two other co-nominees, for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1986 for Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Miniseries or a Special for the lighting design for the 58th Academy Awards.

Markle married student and secretary Roslyn Loveless in 1964; they had met the year before at an on-campus party at the University of Chicago. They have two children, Samantha (1964) and Thomas Markle Jr. (1966). Markle and Loveless divorced in 1975.

He married Doria Ragland at Paramahansa Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship Temple in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on December 23, 1979 by Brother Bhaktananda. The Markles had a daughter together in 1981, Rachel Meghan Markle (known by her middle name), who later became the Duchess of Sussex. Thomas and Doria Markle’s marriage ended in divorce in 1987 or 1988.

Markle won $750,000 in the California State Lottery in 1990, but he ultimately spent all the money and in 2016 filed for bankruptcy over a debt of $30,000. He lives in Rosarito, Mexico.

In 2018, he was the subject of considerable media speculation as to whether he would attend his daughter Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry, at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. He did not attend as he was recovering from heart surgery.

In May 2018, and a few days prior to the wedding, Markle became a subject of controversy after it was revealed that he had staged photographs for a paparazzi photographer in return for money. His elder daughter, Samantha, later claimed that it was her idea, and that her father’s motivation was not financial but “to show the world that [he’s] getting in shape and doing great healthy things.” Markle admitted that he initially had lied to Harry about the staged photos and later regretted his decision. In June 2018, he appeared on Good Morning Britain in which he discussed his personal relationship with Meghan and his son-in-law. In another interview with The Mail on Sunday in July 2018, Markle said that his daughter “[would] be nothing without me. I made her the Duchess she is today.” His continual paid interviews with the press have reportedly damaged his relationship with his daughter, with whom he claims he has not been in contact since the royal wedding.

Featured image: Thomas Markle (OHMYGOSSIP)
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