London - The Duchess of Sussex’s father has claimed she has cut him out of her life, adding: "Maybe it would be easier for Meghan if I died."
Thomas Markle has not spoken to his daughter for ten weeks and said the phone numbers he used to reach her had been disconnected.
In an explosive interview published on Sunday, he castigated the "cold" Royal Family and claimed Princess Diana would have "loathed" the way he was being treated.
He said: "I don’t care if Harry never speaks to me again, I’ll survive" – but also said it would be "tragic" if the couple had children and banned them from meeting their grandfather.
And he said of Meghan: "She’d be nothing without me. I made her the duchess she is today."
Speaking at his home in Rosarito, Mexico,Markle, 74, said: "I tell you, I’ve just about reached my limit with Meghan and the Royal Family. They want me to be silent, they want me to just go away. But I won’t be silenced. I refuse to stay quiet."
Markle was unable to walk Meghan down the aisle on her wedding day on May 19 because of his heart problems. He said in his interview with the Mail on Sunday: "I could die tomorrow. It wouldn’t be so bad. I have something of a Buddhist philosophy about death. Perhaps it would be easier for Meghan if I died. Everybody would be filled with sympathy for her.
"But I hope we reconcile. I’d hate to die without speaking to Meghan again." His relations with Meghan and the royals soured before her wedding after he staged paparazzi photos of himself. Later, he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that she was longing for a baby.
The retired Hollywood lighting director told the Mail on Sunday: "Meghan was apparently upset with me for saying that she and Harry will probably have a baby soon. But Meghan’s been saying that herself for the past six or seven years… Harry’s been saying it too. That’s fine. But the moment I say it, I’m persona non grata."
Markle went on: "What riles me is Meghan’s sense of superiority. Everything that Meghan is, I made her. And did I get any recognition for it? Any thanks? She doesn’t even speak to me now. How cold is that?"
He also complained that Meghan’s mother Doria – the only member of the Markle family to attend the wedding – got much of the praise, saying: "Oh, she’s a mummy’s girl now and Doria gets a lot of the credit."
Despite his harsh words, Markle longs for a reconciliation and plans to send his daughter a card for her 37th birthday on Saturday. He said: "If Meghan never speaks to me again, I don’t know how I can go on without my heart breaking."