As Thomas Markle celebrates his 80th birthday, it’s a milestone coloured with mixed emotions.
The retired lighting director has not spoken to his youngest daughter, Meghan Markle, since 2018, despite allegedly making multiple attempts to reach out.
Their relationship became strained when he posed for paparazzi photos before her wedding to Prince Harry.
Markle also suffered two heart attacks just before the ceremony, preventing him from walking his daughter down the aisle.
Since then, Meghan and Harry have not communicated with Thomas, and he has never had the opportunity to meet his son-in-law – or grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
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‘I’ve had a good life and I am proud of what I’ve accomplished, but everything has been overshadowed by what has happened in the last six years,’ he told Mail Online earlier this year.
‘I’ve never been one for birthdays, but I know the one person I most want to hear from, Meghan, won’t be in touch.’
Thomas has a cliffside home in Rosarito, Mexico, 250 miles from the Sussexes’ 16-bathroom mansion in Montecito.
His living room is proudly brimming with memories of Meghan, including her graduation photos from the Little Red Schoolhouse kindergarten and Immaculate Heart High School.
There is also a photograph of the father and daughter attending the Emmy Awards when Meghan was around 10-years-old.
The award-winning lighting director grew up in Pennsylvania with his parents and two siblings.
His mother Doris worked behind the sweet counter at a local ‘five-and-dime’ store, while his father Gordon was a printer at Olmsted Air Force Base outside the family’s hometown of Newport.
Thomas Markle’s career began in high school, working on theatre productions before landing a position at WTTW public television in Chicago.
He spent a decade on the live music programme Soundstage, rubbing shoulders with icons like Aretha Franklin and Billy Joel.
