Inside Meghan Markle’s family nightmare: sued by her sister Samantha, attacked on YouTube by her father Thomas, and slammed on live TV by brother Thomas Jr., how much worse can things get?

Mar 18 , 2022

Learn more about the family feud between Meghan and the Markles. Photos: @guayaquilcaliente, @theninashow_royal, @ukfabfour/Instagram, AP

On March 7, an extraordinary interview with Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex about their time in the royal family aired, setting off a catalyst of historic events. The couple detailed what they claimed were incidents of racism, a lack of support and zero understanding from senior royal family members.

They explained why they turned their back on their royal duties, left the UK and made the US their new home. But the claims they made in the interview continue to haunt them, with Meghan Markle’s half-sister, Samantha, now opening a defamation suit against her movie star sibling. That announcement was followed by Meghan’s estranged father, Thomas, supporting Samantha’s claims, even going as far as to say he’d testify against Meghan.

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Samantha Markle’s lawsuit

Meghan Markle’s paternal half-sister. Samantha Markle. Photo: @kembricistan/Instagram

Samantha confirmed she had filed a libel lawsuit against her half-sister, accusing her of lying during her landmark interview with Winfrey a year ago. The Independent reports that Samantha claims Meghan’s statements about her were “false and malicious”. US Weekly reports the lawsuit disputes Meghan’s claims that she worked to pay her way through school, insisting that her father Thomas paid for her tuition at Northwestern University.

The lawsuit further adds that Samantha believes Meghan made the claims so her family “could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairy tale life story [she] concocted”.

Samantha and Meghan Markle. Photo: @samanthamarkle/Twitter

Newsweek reports the second part of the lawsuit revolves around briefing notes the duchess sent to her then communications secretary Jason Knauf in 2018. The notes were emailed ahead of a meeting between the aide and the authors of biography Finding Freedom and described Samantha as having three children by three different men. The message also seemed to insinuate Samantha had lost custody of her children.

The court documents state this is incorrect. Vanity Fair reports that Meghan admitted to court papers she knew Knauf was meeting with the authors of the book. She had previously denied any role on the book, but later said she had forgotten about Knauf’s involvement and how she had approved some statements he made about her and her family.

Meghan’s lawyer, Michael Kump, responded to Samantha’s lawsuit as being “baseless and absurd”. But the potential for more private messages to be revealed through the discovery process poses a real threat to the integrity of Meghan and her role in disseminating information about her half-sister. The lawsuit is claiming US$75,000 in damages.

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Meghan’s dad picks a side

Meghan’s dad, Thomas Markle, is willing to testify against his daughter. Photo: YouTube

Thomas has insisted he would be willing to testify against his daughter in court as part of the case being brought by Samantha Markle.

Thomas, who is 77 years old, has been estranged from Meghan since she married Harry. Samantha is his eldest child from his first marriage.

Meghan Markle and her father, Thomas Markle. Photo: @timelessmagg/Instagram

US Weekly reports the duchess’ father said he has “been trying for almost four years to get to see my daughter and her ginger husband in a courtroom face to face”.

In a YouTube channel with Thomas and photographer Karl Larsen Thomas, Thomas said Finding Freedom was “full of lies”. He said Samantha would win her defamation case.

He also hit out at Harry for not asking for Meghan’s hand in marriage in person, saying he did it over the phone. Thomas said, “I thought the royals had some kind of dignity. He was in Canada at the time so it would have been a short flight.”

Thomas also bashed Harry and Meghan for not protecting him when he was “discovered” by the press. He said that despite his pleas for help on how to deal with the media, Harry responded with “just don’t talk to anyone”. Thomas said he was hounded by the press for years and it “did a lot of damage”.

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Meghan’s brother also keeps lashing out

Thomas Markle Jr. also has plenty of opinions his half-sister. Photo: @therealthomasmarklejr/Instagram

Besides Samantha, the Duchess of Sussex has also been criticised by her older paternal half-brother, Thomas Wayne Markle Jr., who is does not shy away from ranting about his famous sister on television. Specifically, on the highly watched reality show Celebrity Big Brother Australia, he claimed that his sister was “shallow, cold-hearted and ruined” by having too much money.

Meghan’s brother, Thomas Markle Jr., blasted Meghan on Celebrity Big Brother Australia. Photo: @therealthomasmarklejr/Instagram

He also blasted Meghan over the way she treated her ex husband and slammed her relationship to Harry.

However, when he left the Big Brother house, he apparently realised all the fuss he had caused and wrote an open letter to apologise to the Sussexes for his harsh outbursts.

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Criticism over Prince Phillip snub

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle speak during the 2021 Global Citizen Live festival in New York. Photo: AFP

As Meghan deals with the public fallout from her family, the couple are facing backlash from across the ocean after they confirmed they would not attend Prince Philip’s memorial service to be held at Westminster Abbey in London on March 29.

The British media reports the UK home office has refused to give Harry elite police protection, which he was previously entitled to before he left his official duties as a senior member of the royal family. The protection is taxpayer-funded so after leaving his official duties, he was stripped of this privilege.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York in September 2021. Photo: Reuters

The move has resulted in massive backlash for the royal, with many questioning why he does not pay for his own security so he can pay respects to his grandfather.

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

Samantha Markle is suing the Duchess of Sussex for ‘false and malicious statements’ in the Oprah interview and the biography Finding Freedom
Meghan’s half-brother Thomas Jr. slammed her on reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother Australia while she and Prince Harry are being criticised for skipping Prince Phillip’s memorial