Meghan Markle owes estranged dad 'nothing' even after stroke, says biographer

Royal biographer Omid Scobie blasted criticism directed at Meghan Markle for failing to get in touch with her estranged father after he suffered a major stroke. He said Thomas Markle Sr. "turned on his own daughter" so she "owes him nothing."

The "Finding Freedom" co-author cited the several TV interviews the former Hollywood lighting director did, in which he criticised the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. He also reminded the public about how the 77-year-old colluded with paparazzi and British tabloid papers to put down his own child.

"The staged photos, and the flurry of media interviews that followed, were a poor decision but, despite reports to the contrary, are not the reason why Meghan sticks to her decision to cease communication with her father," Scobie wrote for Yahoo News.

"Many tabloid reports these days conveniently forget that this is a man who, after providing a private letter from his daughter to the Mail on Sunday, later joined forces with the tabloid and a Kensington Palace aide to try and bring down the duchess in her court case about the illegal publication of it," he continued.

Scobie added, "He is also a man who, after Meghan admitted to having suicidal thoughts after relentless media attacks, told a journalist: 'Her lies are so obvious that I don't know why she makes them or why she says them.'"

The author said that "it's easy" to feel sympathy for Thomas Sr.'s plight of wanting to meet his grandchildren "if one doesn't know the full story." But Scobie questioned how much he actually cares about his grandchildren after he dismissed the Sussexes' claims that a senior royal expressed concern about Archie's skin colour.

It was reportedly also only last week that the former Hollywood lighting director called the timing of Lilibet's first birthday on June 4 "trashy" because it coincides with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Scobie also hit out at his "publicity-hungry offspring" Thomas Jr. and Samantha, who confirmed that Meghan Markle has not reached out to their father at all. He said the duchess will continue to meet her family's continued press interviews with silence, because she owes them nothing after "tireless and failed attempts to repair their relationship."