Thomas Markle today denied criticism of his daughter for quitting as a royal is laced with racism as he blasted Meghan and Harry’s ‘preaching’ on the environment before insisting he has not given up hope of a reconciliation – and urging the Duke of Sussex to ‘man up’ and meet him. 

The Duchess of Sussex‘s estranged father has spoken to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on ITV 1’s Good Morning Britain in his first live TV interview since she left Britain for Canada, calling the decision ’embarrassing’ and ‘hurtful’ to the Queen.

The Sussexes have received stinging criticism for their bombshell choice to resign as senior royals after just 20 months of marriage – but Mr Markle is sure this is not because his daughter is mixed-race.

Speaking from California he said: ‘I’m having trouble buying that. There’s never been a problem with Meghan in terms of her race. I think England is far more liberal than the US, I don’t think she is being bullied in anyway, or any shape, because of racism’. 

He added: ‘I think they’ve hurt the Queen. I think they’ve hurt the royals – and it just doesn’t work to be going to another country and serving England. It’s never going to work. I‘m a little embarrassed and feeling very sorry for the Queen’.   

Piers Morgan then asked if the couple’s use of private jets when urging the world to tackle climate change was hypocritical, Mr Markle said: ‘I think it is, if you are preaching to do that then you should be responsible. Take a note from your brother [William] and take public transportation’. 

The 75-year-old today revealed he now plans to do a major interview every month in the hope his daughter will ‘reach out’ to him.

Meghan’s mother Doria, Thomas’ ex-wife, was his last hope but has failed to respond to his letters, he said, adding: ‘We have had no conversations, so obviously she [Doria] is avoiding me or has been told to’.

And when asked what he would say to Meghan if she was watching the show this morning he said: ‘I would tell her: ‘I love you, let’s sit down and work this out’,’ and his message for Harry would be: ‘Man up and fly down and see me and we will talk’.    

It is not yet known if Thomas was paid for the GMB interview, but he is understood to have secured £7,500 to appear on the show in 2018 and is said to have earned five-figures from a bombshell 90-minute documentary on Britain’s Channel 5 last week. 

Thomas Markle has again reached out to Harry and Meghan and said he wants to see them – and meet Archie for the first time – on British breakfast TV today

The Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father has spoken to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid (left) on ITV 1’s Good Morning Britain in his first live TV interview since she leave Britain for Canada, calling their decision ’embarrassing’

Thomas Markle: What he said in wide-ranging first interview with GMB since Megxit

His message to Harry

Man up and fly down and see me and we will talk.  

I think Harry should have come to me at the beginning, he asked for her hand over the phone. I think a Royal who has a plane whenever he wants it, he could have asked for her hand in person. I feel he can still reach out to me, they are making this a big drama for the world everyday, it’s a family problem and should be solved as a family problem.

On his regular media interviews 

After this interview if I don’t hear from someone in 30 days then I will try again. I don’t want to sit in silence in my living room for the rest of my life waiting for someone to get back to me

On alleged racism towards Meghan  

I’m having trouble buying that, there has never been a problem in terms of race with Meghan at her school or in any place and I haven’t noticed it in England at all, I think England is far more liberal than the US when it comes to races, I don’t think she is being bullied in anyway, or any shape, because of racism.

Criticism of Harry and Meghan’s private jets and long-haul flying

I think it is just, if you are preaching to do that then you should be also as responsible as to what you are preaching. Take a note from your brother and take public transportation, it makes more sense.

On Sussexes quitting as senior royals 

As far as what they’ve decided to do is embarrassing. I think when they got married they married into royalty and they knew what they were getting g themselves into. That is Harry’s life and Meghan had a similar life and I think they have hurt the Queen and the Royals and it just doesn’t work to be going to another country and serving England is never going to work, I’m a little embarrassed for them and feeling sorry for the Queen. 

On his health and being estranged from Meghan 

My health is mixed, I suffer a lot of stress because of what’s going on, every day there is a new thing happening and the press shows up at my door. I am still very disappointed in what’s going on. Of course I love my daughter and grandson and I’m sure I would love Harry if I met him. This decision is very confusing, I don’t think anyone understands.  I’m still very disappointed as to what happened I think it’s a misunderstanding which should be worked out between two families. I’m not sure exactly how to approach this, I’ll always hope that we can come together at some point. Right now with what’s going on the break from the royals is going to cause far more problems. What I’m saying now will also cause problems. I’m disappointed I haven’t seen my grandson and I really miss my daughter.

On seeing Meghan again, and meeting Harry and Archie for the first time

For me there is no other way to reach them. I will give an interview and wait for 30 days to get an answer back and that’s the only shot I have. I’ve spoken and sent letters to Doria to get to Meghan as well.

On watching the Royal wedding 

This was a few days after my [heart] procedure, I was very saddened that I couldn’t be there, I thought it was beautiful. I was honoured that Charles would walker her down the aisle and thankful but I wished it was me. I cried for a bit for that 

In another extraordinary TV interview, Mr Markle revealed:

Mr Markle has not spoken to his daughter since the eve of her wedding to Harry in May 2018, calling the couple’s decision to quit as senior royals the ‘dumbest thing’. 

He says his health has faltered since they became estranged and although he admits his media interviews will upset Meghan and Harry, he still hopes they will be reunited. 

He said: ‘I love my daughter, I’d love my grandson and I’m sure I’d love Harry if I met him.

‘I will always hope we can come together at some point – but the break from the royals is causing problems and what I’m saying will causing problems but I’m really disappointed at what is going on. I’m disappointed as a grandfather, that I’ve never met my grandson, and I miss my daughter’.

He added: ‘It’s silly it’s gone on for too long, I would like to make peace with Meghan and Harry. I am at their mercy, if they want to get in touch with me I’m sure it won’t be a problem’.

He said he is ’embarrassed’ by Harry and Meghan’s decision to  break ties with Harry’s family and flee the UK. 

Asked what he would say to people who are critical of him doing TV interviews, Mr Markle told Good Morning Britain: ‘I would tell them to try being in my position for a while and see what it’s like – have a family member ghost you and not speak to you, and see how you feel.

‘It’s something that stays with you 24/7 every day, and it never goes away.

‘It’s always on your mind. You wake up with it. You go to sleep with it. It’s very hard to deal with.’

Mr Markle said his message to the Duke of Sussex is: ‘Man up and fly down to see me. And we’ll talk.’

Asked what he would say to Meghan, he told Good Morning Britain: ‘I’d say I love you and let’s sit down and work this out. She was the closest thing to me for years and years and years, until she went off to college and even then.

‘This is ridiculous. We should get together.’

Asked about the possibility of meeting Meghan and Harry at court as part of her legal action against Associated Newspapers, owner of the Mail on Sunday, Mr Markle said: ‘If it comes to meeting them in a courtroom, that’s great. At least I’d finally get to see them.’

He went on to say he did not want a ‘battle’. 

Mr Markle said he still feels that Harry could reach out to him now, adding: “This shouldn’t keep going on. I mean they are putting this… making this a big drama for the world every day is kind of ridiculous.

“It’s a family problem. It should be solved as a family problem.”

Mr Markle has claimed the duchess sent him only occasional “modest” financial gifts after landing a role in the hit TV series Suits, even though he was still paying off her college debts.   

Thomas Markle is angry with his daughter who has cut off all contact with her father since he missed the 2018 royal wedding

Mr Markle also called the Sussexes’ decision to step back from their duties and move to Canada the ‘dumbest thing’ and says Harry is ‘whipped’ and his daughter ‘has turned into his mother’

Thomas Markle vows ‘everything will come out’ if he is forced into High Court witness box by daughter Meghan 

Thomas Markle has warned that ‘everything will come out’ if he faces daughter Meghan in court.

The Duchess of Sussex is suing the Mail on Sunday – the sister paper of the Daily Mail – for publishing a personal letter she sent to him in August 2018.

Mr Markle has already agreed to be a witness and pledged to expose what he said were ‘lies’ about him. ‘It will be emotional. I don’t know how we will both accept it,’ he said.

‘It would be the worst place to have to meet her and Harry, but it might come down to that because I will certainly testify against the things that have been said about me. The lies.’ Labelling Prince Harry ‘whipped’, he went on to tell the Sun his daughter ‘had turned into [Harry’s] mother’.

However, he did admit it would be very difficult to testify against Meghan, 38, and reiterated he still loved her.

Tensions between the pair have been very fraught since he posed for staged photos in the run-up to her wedding.

He was then unable to attend the service as he suffered a heart attack at home in Rosarito, Mexico days before the ceremony in May 2018.

Meghan sent him the letter in the months after the wedding and allegedly accused him of breaking her heart by colluding with the paparazzi. Mr Markle then leaked part of the letter to the Mail on Sunday.

Meghan has accused the newspaper of breaching her privacy, her data protection rights and her copyright when it published extracts.

Thomas Markle last night warned that ‘everything will come out’ if he faces daughter Meghan in court.

The Duchess of Sussex is suing a newspaper for publishing a personal letter she sent to him in August 2018.

Mr Markle has already agreed to be a witness and pledged to expose what he said were ‘lies’ about him.

‘It will be emotional. I don’t know how we will both accept it,’ he said.

‘It would be the worst place to have to meet her and Harry – but it might come down to that because I will certainly testify against the things that have been said about me. The lies.’  

Labelling Prince Harry ‘whipped’, he also told The Sun last night his daughter ‘has turned into his mother’.

The two have not spoken since the fall out before the Royal wedding in 2018, with Mr Markle yet to meet Prince Harry or grandson Archie.

He revealed he had gone to the Mail on Sunday – the sister paper of the Daily Mail – about the infamous letter in order to defend himself from attacks from Meghan’s friends in People magazine.

Meghan, 38, has accused the newspaper of breaching her privacy, her data protection rights and her copyright when it published extracts.

The 75-year-old has already given lawyers previously unseen text messages that reveal the breakdown of the relationship between father and daughter.

Mr Markle added: ‘I’m tired of being lied about and not being defended.  This is my fault so I have to stand up for myself. It is a responsibility thing.’  

In the letter, Meghan allegedly accused her father of breaking her heart ‘into a million pieces’ and causing her to ‘crumble inside’ by colluding with a paparazzi photographer. 

Thomas Markle has shared his family album with Channel 5 including this picture of him bonding with Newborn Meghan as she changed her nappy after her birth in August 1981

Thomas holds his daughter, who he described as his pride and joy, saying he couldn’t put her down when he was home from work

Meghan sits up on her parents’ bed in another a new family photo shown on the Channel 5 documentary last week

Meghan is cuddled by her mother Doria on a sunny Californian day when she is around a year old in a previously unseen photo

Mr Markle, Doria and their daughter as she started her career and within a few years of this photo she would be earning $40,000 per episode of Suits

Queen and Prince Philip are seen for the first time since grandson Harry left for Canada 

The Queen was pictured driving through the Sandringham Estate – two days after she was forced to cancel a visit to the WI in Norfolk 

Prince Philip, 98, was seen not wearing a seat belt as he drove through the Sandringham Estate with his daughter Princess Anne 

The Queen and Prince Philip have been seen for the first time since Harry departed to Canada after Her Majesty was forced to pull out of the annual Women’s Institute visit while she recovered from a cold.  

Prince Harry travelled from London Heathrow to Vancouver on a BA plane to join Meghan and Archie on Monday, as the couple begin their new life since stepping down as senior royals.  

Her Majesty, 93, was pictured driving through the Sandringham Estate while Prince Philip, 98, who was seen not wearing a seat belt, accompanied his daughter Princess Anne as she drove through the Norfolk estate.  

The Queen was unable to attend a WI meeting on Thursday, which she goes to every year at West Newton village hall as part of her winter stay at Sandringham, after catching a cold.

Mr Markle, however, said the Sussexes had done ‘exactly what they told me I shouldn’t be doing’ by stepping back.

He added: ‘They are cashing in on the Sussex name. They’ve gone commercial. They should be just called Harry and Meghan now. Leaving the Royal Family is the dumbest thing they could have done. I don’t think they thought this out. It’s almost an abdication.

‘The only thing I can say is there are people who say she was reaching out to me and saying she loved me. Well the word ‘love’ is not there at all, in relation to me.’ 

Earlier this month half-sister Samantha revealed her father was ‘deeply hurt’ by the letter, telling the BBC: ‘If he is called, he will come.’ 

However, Mr Markle revealed it won’t be easy to testify due to the love he still holds for Meghan, but admitted it was his responsibility.

He said: ‘If I saw her, I would say: ‘I’m sorry, I wish we could have sat down and worked this out’. I don’t like the idea of sides, of being in a battle with my daughter. I don’t like not being able to talk to her.

‘But in a way I would be thrilled to meet her, wherever she shows up. Although that (a court) is not the ideal place. I love my daughter. I think I have made that clear to everybody.

‘It hurts we couldn’t find a way to make up. All I want to do is tell the truth.’

Today’s GMB interview with Mr Markle comes just a few days after he appeared in a bombshell documentary charting the relationship with his daughter.

The 75-year-old shared extraordinary unseen photos and films of his Duchess daughter for the Channel 5 film where he spoke of their loving and close relationship

He also described his pride after the birth of his daughter in August 1981 as he opened up to Britain’s Channel 5 in a film, watched by 1.2million people last week – just days after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex started their new life in Canada. 

Mr Markle says Meghan‘s childhood years were ‘the happiest of my life’ as he shared dozens of pictures of her key moments including on the day she entered the world and as father and daughter bonded while he changed her nappies in the following days.

There are also a string of happy photos of Meghan with her mother Doria Ragland, including at family Christmas parties and summer picnics near their home in California, before she moved in with Thomas as a teenager after the couple’s divorce. 

Mr Markle has also shared rare home video footage of Meghan’s first school productions where he says a star was born, her high school graduation and leaving for college.

An emotional Mr Markle also said he was ‘jealous’ and cried as he saw the Prince of Wales walking his daughter down the aisle and justified making the film to defend himself and rebut the ‘trashy things’ said about him.