Inside Meghan Markle's Strained Relationship With Her Father and Siblings

If there's one thing that people know about Meghan Markle, other than her penchant for calling husband Prince Harry "H," it's that she has had a complicated relationship with her dad, Thomas Markle, over the years. By extension, she has also had a strained relationship with her brother and sister on her dad's side of the family. So, who are Meghan's siblings and what have they said about her over the years?

Even before Meghan and Harry got married in 2018, and she joined the Royal Family, she wasn't close to them. According to People, Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, and her dad, Thomas, divorced when she was 6. Doria raised Meghan as a single mother. As a result, she isn't close to the two older children that Thomas fathered before he met Doria.

Meghan doesn't have any siblings through her mother, but Thomas had two other children before Meghan was born, making them her half-siblings. In 2021, Meghan's half-sister, Samantha Markle, released the book The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister Part 1. In it, according to Us Weekly, Samantha wrote that, growing up, Meghan was given anything she asked for from their father. She also wrote that, after Meghan began dating Harry, she saw her change completely from the person she had grown up knowing.

In her book, Samantha also claimed that Meghan "rejected the idea" of the Royal Family helping their father after he suffered a heart attack. Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., hasn't been quite as vocal as their father and sister, but he did put out a video in 2023 that was directed toward Harry. It was in response to rumors about Harry wanting to reach out and meet his and Meghan's dad.

In the video, which is still on YouTube, Thomas Jr. says that he "saw it coming" in regards to rumors that Meghan and Harry's relationship was "on the rocks" at the time. He also says that if Harry really wants to meet his dad, he could reach out personally, but not with any Netflix producers. Since then, there has been no public announcement about Harry or Meghan connecting with her dad's side of the family in person.

There is a Thomas Jr. Instagram account that contains dozens of posts that make fun of Meghan or make claims about who she is. While that account is based in the Philippines, where Meghan's dad lives, there has been no confirmation that it is actually her brother's real Instagram account.

When Meghan and Harry got married in 2018, it was Harry's dad, King Charles III, who walked her down the aisle. Days before her wedding, Thomas had reportedly staged paparazzi photos of himself seemingly preparing for the wedding. He then, according to the Daily Mail, sold those images to tabloids. Later, per CNN, Meghan announced that her father wouldn't be attending due to health reasons, though there was rumored family drama stemming from the paparazzi photo incident.

Since then, Meghan and Harry relocated to the United States, but she has still not reconnected with her siblings. At least, not in any official or public capacity that the duchess or her brother or sister has revealed.