Meghan Markle's father discusses his split from Doria Ragland

When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters.Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer.Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights.You can unsubscribe at any time.

Doria has managed to stay out of the spotlight, despite her daughter hitting headlines around the world, as Meghan pointed out in her interview with Oprah Winfrey. By contrast, Meghan’s half-sister Samantha ‒ her father Thomas Markle’s daughter from his first marriage ‒ has written a “tell all” book about the Duchess. In her interview with Oprah, the Duchess of Sussex recalled how both her mother Doria and father Thomas were “hunted” down and contacted by the press.

She also described how her father had lied to her about working with the media to stage paparazzi shots directly before her wedding.

She compared his actions with that of her mother Doria, who has never spoken to the media about Meghan.

She said: “Everyone has accountability. Look, they’ve hunted my mum down and you’ve never heard her say a word.

“She’s remained in silent dignity for four years watching me go through this.”

When asked about Samantha and her “tell-all” book, she said: “I think it would be very hard to ‘tell all’ when you don’t know me.

“I mean, this is a very different situation than my dad, when you talk about betrayal, betrayal comes from someone you have a relationship with.

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about people that I really don’t know but I grew up as an only child, which everyone who grew up around me knows.

“And I wished I had siblings, I would have loved to have siblings ‒ that’s why I’m so excited to be pregnant, so Archie has someone.

“I mean the last time I saw her must have been 18-19 years ago and before that 10 years before that.”

While Meghan and Samantha share the same father, they have a 17 year age gap, meaning Meghan was still a baby when Samantha moved out of the house.

However, Meghan’s mother will likely remember what it was like being her step-mother for a few years, especially given the cruel nickname she reportedly gave her: “the maid”.

According to the book ‘Meghan: A Hollywood Princess’, Doria came into Samantha’s life when she was a teenager and their relationship was not exactly plain sailing.

Samantha’s mother Roslyn reportedly told royal biographer Andrew Morton that her daughter was “not a particularly tolerant young woman”.

What’s more, her brother Thomas Markle Jnr reportedly said she would dismiss Doria’s presence in the house when her friends were around.

She even apparently referred to her as “the maid”, although Samantha’s best friend disputed this.

She told Mr Morton that she does not recall her using that language, and if she did she ascribes it to her “sour Chicago sense of humour”.

Meanwhile, Thomas Markle Jnr apparently did not pay much attention to Doria as he was too busy hanging out with his own friends at the time.

Whatever his children thought of her, however, Doria seemed to have a good influence on Thomas Snr.

DON’T MISS
Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview branded ‘score-settling’ [EXPERT]
Meghan ‘idolised Diana’ despite saying she knew little of Royal Family [REVEALED]
Princess Diana felt ‘ashamed’ she couldn’t cope with pressure of role [VIDEO]

Mr Morton wrote: “He was more relaxed, frequently taking time off work, cheery and light-hearted. In short, he was happy.”

This was significant when it is considered that Thomas Snr was naturally an extremely hard worker who could spend 80-90 hours per week at work.

At the time, he was the lighting director on ABC’s drama General Hospital, for which he was nominated for numerous awards.

It was on the set of this TV show that he first met Doria, who was training as a make-up artist.

Despite being 12 years her senior, they soon got together.

Despite Samantha’s attitude, Doria brought a “sense of family” to the house.

Meghan Markle in 'desperate times' claims Samantha Markle

Mr Morton wrote: “When she arrived, everyone was used to going their own way.

“Tom Snr worked every hour of the day and night, [Samantha] was out clubbing with her friends, while Tom Jnr was smoking weed with his own crowd.

“She brought them together as a family. Doria was seen as the hippie peacemaker.”

This was cemented when she took Thomas Jnr to the animal shelter and let him choose a new family dog, which they called Beau.

Sadly, their union was not to last and they actually split up when Megan was still very young.

She split her time between their houses, but as she got older spent more time at her father Thomas’ house.

However, these days, Meghan and her father are not on speaking terms.

On Samantha, Meghan told Oprah: “She changed her last name back to Markle ‒ I think she was in her fifties at the time ‒ only when I started dating Harry.

“So I think that says enough.”

Meghan: A Hollywood Princess was written by Andrew Morton and published by Michael O’Mara in 2018. It is available here.

Oprah With Meghan and Harry is on ITV at 9pm on Monday March 8. You can watch the full interview afterwards on the ITV hub.

Source: Read Full Article