Meghan Markle Talks About Estranged Dad in Tell-All: ‘I’ve Lost My Father’

In addition to answering questions about her relationship with the royal family, Meghan Markle also addressed her falling out with her estranged father, Thomas Markle, during her and Prince Harry’s tell-all CBS interview on Sunday, March 7.

The 39-year-old Suits alum, who is pregnant with baby No. 2, talked about the “very clear directive” she had been given “from the moment the world knew Harry and I were dating to always say ‘No comment.’ That’s my friends, my mom and dad.”

But the plan to not talk to the press went horribly wrong days before the couple’s 2018 wedding when Meghan’s father, 76, was caught up in a paparazzi photo scandal. Thomas subsequently didn’t attend the nuptials or walk his daughter down the aisle amid the scandal and alleged health issues. After skipping the wedding, he repeatedly slammed the royal family in the press, comparing his daughter’s in-laws to a “cult.” Meghan and her father no longer speak.

As Harry and Meghan look forward to welcoming a baby girl in the summer after a miscarriage last year, the Duchess of Sussex candidly looked back on the turmoil of the last few years.

“I grieve a lot,” she said on Sunday. “I mean, I’ve lost my father. I lost a baby. I nearly lost my name. I mean, there’s the loss of identity. But I’m still standing, and my hope for people in the takeaway from this is to know that there’s another side.”