Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, is fighting for his life in an intensive care unit in the Philippines after undergoing an emergency three-hour surgery, his family confirmed. The 81-year-old, who has long been estranged from Meghan, was rushed from his home to a nearby hospital before being transferred—sirens blaring—to a larger facility when doctors warned his condition was “in imminent danger.”
His son, Thomas Markle Jr, said he had to act fast. He recalled: “I took dad to a hospital close to our home and they did various scans and the doctors said his life was in imminent danger. They raced us by ambulance, with the sirens going, to a much bigger hospital. My dad has undergone emergency surgery. I would ask everyone around the world to keep him in their thoughts.”
Doctors are now preparing for a second procedure to remove a blood clot. Meanwhile, his daughter Samantha, 61, said the emotional strain of recent years has only worsened his fragility. She shared: “He is a strong man, but he has been through so much. I am praying that he is strong enough to survive this. My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke and an earthquake. I hope he can pull through this.”
Thomas has lived with declining health for years. Two heart attacks prevented him from walking Meghan down the aisle in 2018, prompting King Charles to step in—a gesture Thomas later described as “the most gracious and kind thing to do. I shall be forever in his debt.”
He has never met his son-in-law Prince Harry, nor grandchildren Archie and Lilibet. A major stroke in 2022 robbed him of his speech, which he gradually regained after months of therapy. But friends say he has grown noticeably frail.
Thomas and his son relocated to the Philippines earlier this year, a move Thomas described as an attempt to “escape” the constant reminders of his estrangement. He told The Mail on Sunday: “Every day there was some story or other about Meghan and Harry. It was a constant reminder that my daughter is no longer speaking to me. I still do not understand why she continues to ghost me. My only wish is to see my grandchildren before I die.”
Meghan, releasing her new Netflix holiday special With Love, Meghan this week—a programme centred on the importance of family—has so far remained silent. Her brother Tom said: “My only wish is that Meghan shows my father some compassion. He is literally fighting for his life.”
Much of the tension between Meghan and her father dates back to the paparazzi photo scandal ahead of her wedding. Thomas has repeatedly explained that he agreed to pose because “Meghan and Harry did nothing to prepare me for the attention I was getting,” adding that he believed better photographs would “show me in a better light.”
He also spoke with heartbreak about Prince Harry’s reaction at the time: “He and Meghan were angry with me and when I said I was in hospital and had nearly died from two heart attacks they didn’t even ask how I was. I reached out every way I could. I appealed to them publicly and I wrote private letters. They cut me dead. It broke my heart.”
Despite their rift, Thomas remains deeply proud of the daughter he raised from age 11 to 18. He worked for decades as an Emmy-winning Hollywood lighting director and paid for her private schooling and $250,000 university tuition. “I said I would pay for her education and I did,” he said. “I believed it was my duty as a father to give her the best start in life.”
Now, as he faces a long hospital stay and what his son calls a “gruelling recovery,” the family hopes Meghan will make contact. Tom added: “I would ask Meg, on a week when she has released a TV show talking about the power of love and family, to reach out to our dad. She needs to start showing the compassion she preaches about.”
