Meghan Markle is said to be battling to end her four-year rift with her estranged father after he was discharged today, from hospital five days after suffering a potentially deadly stroke after a fall.
It comes as:
– Sources claimed to the Sunday Mirror that Princes Harry and William are having weekly video calls to mend their feud before the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
– The Queen, 96, is planning to make a show of resilience that by making two appearances on the Buckingham Palace balcony on Thursday.
– It has been claimed Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, are likely to stop plans to film their appearances at the Jubilee for an upcoming documentary they are making as part of their multi-million deal with Netflix.
Retired Hollywood lighting director Thomas Markle, 77, fell severely ill in Mexico on Monday night and was rushed by emergency ambulance to hospital.
He was said to have lost the ability to talk after the incident, which came after he was reported to have suffered a separate health scare.
Markle suffered a serious fall days before he was rushed to hospital, forcing him to pull out of a planned trip to London for the Platinum Jubilee, The Sun on Sunday revealed.
He told his royal author friend Tom Bower, 75: “I’ve just fallen. Thankfully, some good people picked me up from the pavement.
“I’m going to head home.”
After being discharged on Sunday, he said: “I feel hugely grateful and know how lucky I am to be alive.
“I want to thank everyone, especially the wonderful doctors and nurses who saved my life. They are angels.
“I have been deeply moved by loving messages I’ve received from all over the world. People have been so kind.
“I can’t speak right now, but I am working hard and will thank people properly when I can.”
The severe stroke was caused by a blood clot on the right side of Thomas Markle’s brain.
An insider told the Sunday Mirror about how Meghan has apparently got in touch with her estranged father after his hospital discharge: “Despite their estrangement, Meghan is concerned.
“She wants to know if there is any way to contact her father privately, without other family knowing about it or having to get involved.”
Meghan is said to be worried that contacting her dad will mean having to speak to her half-siblings Thomas Jr, 55, and Samantha, who have repeatedly slated her in interviews.
The source said: “Meghan can’t contact her half-siblings because she believes they have their own agendas.
“If she can contact their dad, she wants it to be totally private. It won’t involve Netflix, it won’t involve any photographs and it must not involve any tip-offs to the paparazzi.”
The health scare comes after Thomas warned in a bitter High Court privacy case he was so unwell he could “die tomorrow”.
In a letter in the case launched by Meghan over a “personal and private” letter, he revealed he was “clinically obese” and suffered heart and lung issues – and was on blood-thinners that affect his breathing.
Meghan’s relationship with her dad crumbled after he posed for paparazzi pics before her 2018 wedding to Harry and he has never met the royal or either of the couple’s children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, who has her first birthday during the Platinum Jubilee weekend.
The Queen has inspected the troops herself every year of her reign – but this year she plans to appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony to take the salute as the guards return to barracks.
Prince Charles will stand in for the Queen, inspecting the troops on horseback.