Meghan Markle has opened up about her relationship with her estranged father Thomas for the first time.
The Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in the US on Sunday night, with unaired clips from the primetime special airing on Monday’s CBS This Morning.
In the new clip, Meghan spoke about the the reports that Thomas had been working with the press in the lead-up to her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
The former actress recalled: “We called my dad, and I asked him, and he said, ‘No, absolutely not.’ I said, ‘You know, the Institution has never intervened for anything for us, but they can try to go in and kill this. But if they do this once, we’re not going to be able to use that same leverage to protect our kids one day.'”
“I said, ‘We won’t be able to protect our own kids one day,’ and I said, ‘I just need you to tell me. If you tell me the truth, we can help.’ And he wasn’t able to do that. And that for me has really resonated, especially now as a mother.”
"'I just need you to tell me. And if you tell me the truth, we can help.' And he wasn't able to do that." — Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on a conversation she had with her father regarding tabloids #OprahMeghanHarry pic.twitter.com/XhPwGM0Uvl
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 8, 2021
“Everyone has accountability. They hunted my mom down. You never heard her say a word. She’s remained in silent dignity for four years watching me go through this.”
Meghan also spoke about her relationship with her half-sister Samantha, who has written a “tell-all” book about her.
The former Suits star said: “I think it would be very hard to tell all when you don’t know me. This is a very different situation than my dad, right.”
“When you talk about betrayal, betrayal comes from someone that you have a relationship with. I don’t feel comfortable talking about people that I really don’t know.”
Meghan said she grew up as an “only child”, adding: “I wished I had siblings.”
“That’s why I’m so excited to be pregnant, so Archie has someone,” she said of her future daughter. “The last time I saw [Samantha] must have been at least 18, 19 years ago.”
