The father of Meghan Markle, the new Duchess of Sussex, is opening up about how he wished he could have walked her down the aisle, his first interactions with Prince Harry, and his daughter鈥檚 decision to get married for a second time.
In a 30-minute tell-all interview with ITV鈥檚 Good Morning Britain, Thomas Markle reflected on how he felt watching the ceremony from thousands of kilometres away due to his poor health.
鈥淭he unfortunate thing is, I am now a footnote in one of the greatest moments in history rather than the Dad walking her down the aisle,鈥� he told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Monday.
in a statement from Kensington Palace, citing his need to 鈥渇ocus on his health.鈥�
The 73-year-old double Emmy award-winning former lighting director is reported to have suffered a heart attack days before the wedding. Prince Charles was widely celebrated for walking Meghan Markle to the altar in his place.
The conversation turned to how Markle learned about his daughter鈥檚 connection to Royal Family. He spoke about how Meghan revealed the identity of her then-boyfriend over the phone, insisting they refer to Prince Harry as 鈥淗鈥� to conceal his identity.
鈥淭he first phone calls were 鈥楧addy I have a new boyfriend.鈥� And I said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 really nice.鈥� And then the next call was like, 鈥楬e鈥檚 British.鈥� And I was like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 really nice.鈥� And eventually the third time around was like, 鈥楬e鈥檚 a prince.鈥� At that point, she said 鈥業t鈥檚 Harry,鈥欌�� Markle recalled. 鈥淪he said, 鈥極f course we鈥檒l have to call him 鈥楬鈥� so no one knows that we are talking about Harry. It鈥檚 鈥楬.鈥欌��
Markle, who has yet to meet Prince Harry face-to-face, said their initial phone conversations were 鈥渧ery comfortable,鈥� even when delving into controversial subjects such as Brexit and U.S. President Donald Trump.
鈥淗e said, 鈥楬ello Thomas.鈥� I said, 鈥楬i Harry.鈥� It became a conversation back and forth, mostly about politics. He was asking me how I was feeling that day. I was telling him how unhappy I was with the president, with the idea of Trump,鈥� he said.
When asked by TV host Piers Morgan if he believed Prince Harry supported the U.S. president, Markle replied, 鈥淚 would hope not now, but at the time he might have been.鈥�
鈥淗e said, 鈥楪ive Donald Trump a chance.鈥� I sort of disagreed with that. I still like Harry. That was his politics. I have my politics,鈥� Markle said.
He added that Prince Harry sounded 鈥渙pen to the experiment鈥� of Brexit.
Markle appeared relaxed as he spoke about his daughter鈥檚 decision to get married for a second time.
鈥淢y daughter is very intelligent. She knows how to choose who she wants to be with. She鈥檚 a smart girl, and she made a good pick didn鈥檛 she?鈥� he said. 鈥淢y daughter has been a princess since the day she was born.鈥�
