London - The Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father on Wednesday night defended his decision to speak out against his daughter in a documentary, saying: "Meghan owes me...it’s time to look after Daddy."
In the Channel 5 film, Thomas Markle, 75, detailed the breakdown of his relationship with the duchess and accused Prince Harry of acting like a "sensitive" 12-year-old.
He accused the couple of saying "trashy things" about him and said he believed his relationship with Meghan was now damaged beyond repair and she would not choose to see him again.
The American, who has not spoken to his daughter since before her 2018 marriage, has become an outspoken critic of the duke and duchess, accusing them of damaging the Royal Family by stepping back from their duties.
He defended his decision to speak out in the film and to be paid for the lengthy interview.
He said: "At this point, they owe me. The royals owe me. Harry owes me, Meghan owes me. What I’ve been through I should be rewarded for. My daughter told me that when I reach my senior years she’ll take care of me. I’m in my senior years now – it’s time to look after Daddy."
The retired Hollywood lighting director, who has never met the royal couple’s baby son Archie, described his relationship with his daughter as ‘complicated’.
He insisted: "To them I don’t exist and now Harry, whether he realises it or not, is part of my family and I’m part of his. We should be talking." He added: "He’s not 12 years old any more – he’s got no right to be this sensitive."
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— Channel 5 (@channel5_tv)
Mr Markle, who divorced Meghan’s mother Dora in the late 1980s, said the last time he spoke to his daughter was during an emotional series of phone calls days before her wedding.
He was due to walk Meghan up the aisle for her wedding in Windsor, but offered to pull out when it emerged that he had made a secret deal with a photographer.
He agreed to pose for photos which showed him preparing for the wedding shortly after Kensington Palace appealed for the media to respect his privacy. Mr Markle said his involvement in the deal would ‘haunt me for the rest of my life’, and detailed a phone call in which Harry reprimanded him over the decision.
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— Channel 5 (@channel5_tv)
He said he offered to apologise to the Queen and the Royal Family, but was told not to do so. Days later, he was taken to hospital for emergency heart surgery and was told by doctors he would not be able to fly to Britain for the wedding. Recalling the series of phone calls, he said Harry had told him off over the deal with the photographer.
He added: "Harry said to me, “If you had listened to me, this wouldn’t have happened to you”. I said to him, “It’s too bad I didn’t die because then you guys could pretend you were sad,” and then I hung up on them. I was done."
Mr Markle said he had spoken to the couple after his operation when he learned he would not be able to fly to Britain.
He said: "I’m sure Meghan cried and was very upset, and I’m sure Harry seemed upset."
He also told the programme he did not hold out much hope of a reconciliation, saying: "The last time they might see me is being lowered into the ground. I don’t think at this point they’re thrilled to see me or want to talk to me."
In the film, Thomas Markle: My Story, he said he was embarrassed and disappointed by Meghan and Harry’s decision to step back from their duties as senior royals.
The documentary used previously unseen photographs and home videos to chart Meghan’s early years, when she lived with her father between the ages of 11 and 18. In the past, Mr Markle has claimed that he paid for his daughter’s education.
He said he had sold Facebook shares to pay £15 000 (about R280 000) towards her first wedding to producer Trevor Engelson in 2011, but claimed she had given him no financial support since marrying Harry.
Mr Markle said he was ready to give evidence against the couple in a court case they launched after he gave one of Meghan’s letters to the Mail on Sunday. He told Channel 5 he wanted to set the record straight after Meghan’s friends had briefed a US magazine that the letter was a "loving" attempt at a reconciliation, when he believed it was an attack.
The duchess has alleged that the Mail on Sunday – the sister paper of the Daily Mail – breached her privacy, her data rights and her copyright when it published parts of the letter. The newspaper denies her claim.