Meghan Markle’s half-sister has accused the Duchess of Sussex of being manipulative and peddling lies following the release of her latest documentary with Prince Harry.
Samantha Markle ripped into the six-part Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan labelling it a ‘flopumentary’ that was ‘ridiculous’ and bordering on ‘comedy’.
‘It is so much rhetoric at this point, and so many lies have been thrown out there, debunked, and yet still there is this repeated need to push this narrative,’ she said on Channel Seven’s Sunrise on Friday.
Harry & Meghan contains a string of revelations and allegations about Harry’s mother Princess Diana, how the couple met, their first dates, ‘unconscious bias’ in the Royal Family and why the Sussexes ‘had to quit’ royal duties in March 2020.
Samantha addressed claims made in the documentary she was the reason her estranged daughter Ashleigh Hale, 37, was not invited to the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
+7
View gallery
Meghan Markle’s sister has accused the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry of peddling lies following the release of their latest documentary on Netflix
+7
View gallery
Samantha Markle ripped into the six-part Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan labelling it a ‘flopumentary’ that was ‘ridiculous’ and bordering on ‘comedy’
Ashleigh claimed in the documentary she was told by Meghan she could not attend because of her strained relationship with Samantha and ‘guidance’ from the palace.
‘I think I said I was hurt on some level, but I understood where it was coming from,’ she said.
‘To know that it was because of my biological mother that this relationship, that’s so important to me, was impacted in that way. I feel like because of her, it was taken away. It’s been hard.’
Samantha dismissed the rumours claiming the decision to not invite her daughter was ultimately up to Meghan.
‘It was really surprising to hear that there was a narrative spun that made Ashley feel like she was not invited because of something having to do with me,’ she said.
‘I heard from a royal insider who knows, that was up to up Meghan, so Meghan lied to my daughter which made my daughter feel begrudging of me.’
‘I can see how my daughter would have felt, torn between the two and then feeling perhaps like she could not go to the wedding because of me.
‘That is not true, that is a lie. I found out that the royals did not say that, Meghan said that. She then lied to my daughter and made my daughter feel like it was something wrong with me that prevented her from going to the wedding.’
+7
View gallery
Ashleigh claimed in the documentary she was told by Meghan she could not attend because of her strained relationship with Samantha and ‘guidance’ from the palace
+7
View gallery
As part of their $100million deal with Netflix, the privacy-conscious couple handed over a trove of pictures and video from their relationship
Samantha slammed comparisons made between Meghan and Princess Diana.
Prince Harry claimed in the documentary he ‘had to quit’ royal duties to protect Meghan as he compared the former Suits actress to his late mother.
The Duke of Sussex compared paparazzi following Diana to the online harassment faced by Meghan as he described her as ‘prey’ for social media ‘hunters’.
‘Diana was never noted as being a compulsive liar, Diana was never noted as destroying other people, ignoring people through heart attacks, strokes, pandemics,’ she said.
Both Ashleigh and Meghan opened up about their relationship in the series, with her father Thomas Markle connecting the two via email initially.
As part of their $100million deal with Netflix, the privacy-conscious couple have handed over a trove of pictures and video from their relationship.
These included snaps of Meghan with Ashleigh on a trip to New Orleans before she met Harry, as well as Meghan standing by Ashleigh’s side on her wedding day.
+7
View gallery
Samantha slammed comparisons made between Meghan and Princess Diana
+7
View gallery
Ashleigh, a business immigration attorney, claims that she was not allowed to attend Meghan’s wedding in 2018
The two women grew close after Meghan emailed her niece, with Ashleigh claiming there were ‘long emails’ back and forth several days a week.
Meghan said: ‘My dad said that Samantha had found her daughter and I remember saying, “oh if you have her email address, I want to email her”.
‘I think we both crave the same thing. I wanted a sister, and she was like a little sister.
‘Ash was put through quite a bit by the media just by association and I didn’t want her life to be plagued with all that drama.’
Ashleigh was brought up by her paternal grandparents from the age of two, and was adopted by them before reconnecting with her mother in 2007.
In another swipe against the royals, Ashleigh added: ‘Communication with Meg became less and less frequent… my impression was that her relationships were being managed on some level.
‘She took me to New Orleans, we walked around, we listened to some good live music, ate way too much food and had way too many drinks.
‘It was just the two of us which I think is really special. I think she takes on a lot of roles for me.
‘There is a sister element, there’s a maternal element, she’s my friend, she’s kind of all the things.’
News
Loose Women’s Olivia Attwood admits ITV co-stars are ‘naughty’ behind the scenes
The Loose Women are “naughty” and “silly” behind the scenes, says panellist Olivia Attwood who insists there is “no conflict” between the stars Loose Women is “naughty”…
Loose Women’s Denise Welch owns up to ‘infidelities’ in double standards debate
Loose Women star Denise Welch has always been open and honest when it comes to her past affairs – having met her current husband Lincoln Townley while…
Stacey Solomon begs fans to stop shaming her over Pickle Cottage garden feature
Loose Women panellist Stacey Solomon took to social media to share her latest DIY project, which bothered a number of her followers DIY icon Stacey Solomon shared a wholesome…
Loose Women studio erupts in shouting chaos over Prince Andrew settlement
The Duke of York has settled the US civil sexual assault case brought by Virginia Giuffre although he has continued to deny the allegations The Loose Women…
Loose Women’s Coleen Nolan vows to quit as she refuses to talk about controversial topic
As Kamala Harris is tipped to run for president against Donald Trump, Coleen Nolan hinted at a potential break from Loose Women as she admitted she was…
Loose Women’s Denise Welch fumes over rapist athlete competing in 2024 Olympic Games
Charlotte Dujardin has come under fire after footage showed her whipping a horse during a training session – but for Denise Welch, another Olympic athlete deserves just…
End of content
No more pages to load