Meghan Markle’s paternal side of her family hasn’t made life easy for her since she joined the British royal family. However, it’s usually her father Thomas Sr. or her older sister Samantha stirring up trouble for the Duchess of Sussex. Meghan’s brother Thomas Jr., however, has also been a pot-stirrer in the past, with a recent appearance on a reality TV show giving him yet another opportunity to dish dirt on the duchess. The Big Brother: Australia alum spoke about the last time he saw his sister in person as well as his assessment of Prince Harry’s happiness after marrying Meghan.
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Meghan Markle’s Controversial Family Members
Generally speaking, Meghan Markle doesn’t get on well with her father’s side of the family. While she enjoys a close relationship with her mother Doria Ragland, her relationship with her father Thomas Markle Sr., sister Samantha, and brother Thomas Jr. has been notably chilly ever since she married Prince Harry in 2018.
With Samantha recently being unmasked as a vocal Meghan troll on Twitter as well as her dad’s near-constant barrage of insults against both her and her husband, Thomas Jr. has also taken every opportunity to keep up his end of the family feud. He once wrote an open letter to Prince Harry advising him to reconsider marrying Meghan shortly before the two tied the knot.
Meghan’s Brother Is Not Her Biggest Fan
He referred to his sister as a “Jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of you and the Royal family Heritage.” The main thrust of his grievances seemed to stem from the fact that he and others from the family weren’t invited to the wedding. His tune didn’t seem to change much over the years and during his appearance on Big Brother: Australia late last year, he doubled down on his caustic letter’s claims.
“Last time [I saw her] was at my grandmother’s funeral in 2011, and she took off after that and went to Canada,” Thomas Jr. recalled to another contestant. Meghan lived in Canada while filming her USA show Suits. Thomas Jr. continued, “We were close before,” adding, “Money changed her, money and fame went to her head really bad. I guess when you are introduced to the one percent of society—that is most likely the reason that happened to her when she didn’t have anything before.”
Thomas Jr. On Meghan’s First Marriage
Thomas Jr. also talked about Meghan’s first husband, Trevor Engleton, saying she “walked all over him and dumped him,” despite the fact that Engleton “took care of her. She was adored by him.” He added, “After being married, she sent him the ring in the mail—is that cold or what?”
He ominously added, “Harry’s on the chopping block next.” As for how he feels Harry’s life has gone since marrying Meghan, Thomas Jr. was pretty succinct. “The only difference between now and then, all the photos prior to that he had a smile on his face, all the ones after he doesn’t.”
How Would He Possibly Know?
To be fair to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, it’s not entirely true that Prince Harry smiles less frequently. Some royal experts have said the exact opposite about the red-haired prince. Not to be pedantic, but Thomas Jr. apparently hasn’t had much contact with Meghan for a little over ten years by his own admission, so pardon us for not taking his claims about his younger sister very seriously. We’d listen to a valet before him since it’s more likely that the valet has physically seen Meghan in the last decade. How would Thomas Jr. know anything about her life today if he’s not allowed to be a part of it?
As always, there’s no shortage of irony about the fact that the members of Meghan’s family that holler the loudest about how she’s torn the family apart are also the ones who use her name to be booked on reality shows, spreading rumors on talk shows, and to push their books while still speaking so negatively about her. It’s clear that this abuse is going in only one direction, as Meghan almost never speaks publicly about her family members.
The one time she did say something was during her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey where she insisted that she’d had very little relationship with her sister growing up. She said she was essentially raised as an only child, which makes sense since her sister is 17 years older than her and was raised by a different mother despite sharing a father with Meghan.
However, Samantha didn’t appreciate that description and sued Meghan earlier this year for libel, claiming that Meghan hurt her book sales. If there are any “jaded, shallow, conceited” people to be found in this situation, it seems like it’s fairly easy to figure out who they are.