Harry has shared private details about the issues within his family. Photo / Netflix
Harry has shared private details about the issues within his family. Photo / Netflix
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has opened up for the first time about the distress call she sent to the late Queen amid the very public breakdown of her relationship with her father.
In early 2019, Thomas Markle Snr leaked a private “olive branch” letter from his daughter to the media, escalating the drama between the pair which had been sparked by his staging of paparazzi photos in the lead-up to her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
Markle then spoke to numerous publications about his fractured relationship with Meghan – prompting her to finally plead with the Queen for advice.
Addressing the “painful” situation in depth for the first time in the bombshell Netflix docu-series, Harry & Meghan, the Duchess explained that it all became “very embarrassing” for the royal family.
“It was a problem that needed to be solved and they wanted me to make it stop,” she said.
“I reached out to Her Majesty and was like, ‘This is what’s going on, what do you want me to do? I want to make this … like, whatever advice you have’.”
However, she said, it was “ultimately” decided by the Queen and then-Prince Charles that she should write a letter – which, as we now know, set off a chain of events that culminated in Harry and Meghan successfully suing the Mail on Sunday for invading her privacy by publishing the private letter.
Harry and Meghan claimed that while it was agreed that they should “take legal action”, after “weeks and weeks”, still “nothing” was done. Photo / Getty Images
“I went to great lengths to get that letter to my dad discreetly,” Meghan revealed in the Netflix documentary.
“Because I can’t put that letter in the mail with the return address being Kensington Palace and send it to Tom Markle and assume it’s going to get there.
“So I sent it to my business manager in LA … and then I get the picture of the signature confirmation that it’s been delivered. And it’s not his signature. I know my Dad’s handwriting, that’s not my Dad’s handwriting. It just says ‘Thomas’.”
She added: “It was horrendous.”
After the letter was published in 2019, Harry and Meghan revealed, they sat down for crisis meetings with the lawyer for the institution and senior members of the Palace.
“It was in those meetings that I reminded them that I wrote that letter at the guidance of senior members of the family,” Meghan said.
Harry and Meghan then claimed that while it was agreed they should “take legal action”, after “weeks and weeks”, still “nothing” was done.
It was at that point, Harry explained: “We took separate legal advice.”
While Harry and Meghan’s docu-series has attracted a wave of criticism for its content, it’s proven a ratings hit for Netflix.
The Duchess of Sussex, formerly Meghan Markle. Photo / Netflix
In less than a week, Harry & Meghan had already broken the streaming giant’s record for the biggest documentary debut, with 81.55 million hours of viewing.
The show has also appeared in Netflix’s top 10 categories in 85 countries – and, unsurprisingly, hit number one in Britain.
Tonight’s new revelations came after the first three episodes of Harry & Meghan aired last Thursday, exposing a number of new details about the early days of the couple’s relationship.
