How Thomas Markle Used Tom Bower's Book Against Meghan

Preparations for Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan

(Image credit: WPA Pool)

published 27 July 22

Meghan Markle and her father Thomas no longer have a relationship (at least that we know of), in large part because of Thomas' collaboration with the tabloids around the time of his daughter's wedding.

Both parties want people to think that they were the hurt one in this scenario, and their stories contradict each other to an extent. While we don't know what exactly is true and what isn't, Meghan has at least been more discreet in the media, while Thomas has made a habit of saying things publicly that might hurt his daughter.

For royal commentator Roya Nikkhah, pushing his side of the story is exactly what Thomas has done again via Tom Bower's bombshell biography Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors (opens in new tab).

"He's clearly spoken at great length to Thomas Markle, and you get much more of an understanding from Thomas Markle's point of view of Meghan's upbringing, the time she spent with her father," Nikkhah said on Royal Beat (via Express).

"Because of course the relationship that is now portrayed as very close is the one between Meghan and her mother, whereas actually for great periods of her childhood and her teenage years, she was living with her father, and Doria wasn't around so much.

"So I think Thomas has used the book as a sort of platform to try and reestablish his side of the narrative."

In Revenge, Thomas paints himself as a loving father who would have done anything for Meghan. "It was love at first sight," he recalled saying when she was born.

Bower writes, "During Meghan’s first weeks her father redecorated the family bathroom in their comfortable three-storey house in Woodward Hills with angels and fairies. 'The look on his face was priceless,' recalled Tom Junior, his son from a previous marriage. Watching Thomas hold Meghan, Tom Junior could see his father was smitten: 'My dad was more in love with her than anyone else in the world and that included Doria. She became his whole life, his little princess.'"

It was, according to Bower and Thomas Markle, only after Meghan met Harry that things soured between the father and daughter.

Iris Goldsztajn

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.