Finally, it all begins to make sense. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is not, after all, a woman with a heart of stone. Her uncompromising and complete estrangement from her father, Thomas Markle, suddenly seems totally reasonable. Whether or not the sordid allegations made about Mr Markle are true – and he vehemently denies them – their very existence would be enough to make any daughter shrink back from patching up an already deeply troubled relationship.
Meghan’s decision to keep her distance is vindicated. The revelation that she was shown a letter by the Metropolitan Police seven years ago containing what she has called “disturbing allegations“ about her father puts a completely different perspective on her behaviour since then. What mother, what parent, would want their children to be involved with a grandfather facing allegations of child sexual abuse? It may be that Thomas Markle will eventually be able to prove the allegations unfounded, but any parent would be entitled stand well back from contact in the meantime. Public sympathy must surely now shift towards Meghan.
She has endured vicious criticism on social media for her prolonged estrangement from her father. She fell out with him after he set up fake pictures of himself preparing for her wedding to Harry. And he continued to anger her by giving a stream of media interviews about her. Many journalists, and I include myself in this, questioned why a woman who talked so much about empathy and kindness should find it so hard to forgive her father. It seemed cold-hearted to refuse all contact and deny him access to the grandchildren he has never met, even after he became seriously ill and had a leg amputated. Well, now we have a clearer idea. And Meghan deserves our sympathy.
Her last reported interaction with her father was last year when he was in hospital in the Philippines after the amputation. We knew she had written a letter to him there – he was filmed receiving it — and the presumption by many was that she was showing her concern for his health. Reporting now suggests that it was something very different, a final severing of her relationship with him. It’s understood she told him that the authorities were aware of the claims made against him. She made it clear that he would never meet Archie and Lilibet, and that she would never contact him again.
This is an emotional burden she has been carrying for seven years. We can only imagine the turmoil she was going through when she was pregnant with Archie, her relationship with the Palace and her in-laws was severely strained — and now we know that a copy of the letter containing a number of claims against her father was shared with her. The police say they received it in January 2019 and then passed it on to the Sussexes.
Add to that the fact she was reportedly advised she couldn’t speak out about her father or explain her estrangement without risking legal action or prejudicing any court action, and the stress she was under is magnified still further.
Meghan is said to feel a measure of relief that the allegations are now being investigated and people can understand why she has cut her father out of her life.
She now deserves not only sympathy but an answer as to why the Met failed to pass on these allegations.