Meghan Markle 'didn't want to know her father's response' after Archie was born, new book reveals
Meghan Markle made sure her father was told when he became a grandfather, but didn’t want to hear what he thought, a new book has revealed.
According to Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the making of a modern royal family, Meghan asked her mother, Doria Ragland, to send a text message to Thomas Markle to let him know Archie had been born.
But while she wanted to make sure he heard the news from her, and not the press, the book says “she didn’t want to know whether her father replied to her mother’s text”.
The Duchess of Sussex and Markle, 75, have a fractured relationship, also laid bare in the book, following his behaviour after Meghan and Harry were confirmed to be dating and then again in the period leading up to their wedding.
The two are not believed to have spoken in some time, and might next meet in a courtroom.
Meghan, 39, is suing the Mail On Sunday and the MailOnline over excerpts of a letter she wrote to him in the months after her wedding to Prince Harry.
He has made it clear he would be willing to take the stand for the publisher, which would mean he would testify against his own daughter.
Read more: Why is Meghan Markle suing the Mail on Sunday?
Court documents that emerged earlier this year also revealed Markle had never met his grandson or his son-in-law.
The book also reveals that Archie was born eight days late, something that was not made public prior.
Meghan and Harry announced she was due in Spring of 2019 when they shared the pregnancy news, and she revealed to one well-wisher that she was due "late April".
One friend told the authors they were “the longest eight days of her life”, but the duchess was able to keep up with her yoga routines and regular dog walks in spite of this.
Authors of the biography also claim Meghan sent her father regular sums of money after she got paid from acting jobs and for work on Deal or No Deal.
Markle has previously disputed his daughter’s claim that she paid for her education with scholarships and aid programmes
The book was published on Tuesday after weeks of speculation over what it would reveal about their time as senior royals.
Written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, two royal reporters, the book was long touted as being ‘Harry and Meghan’s side of the story’.
However in the run up to the publication date, Scobie and Durand distanced themselves from that idea, and a spokesman for the royal couple denied they had been interviewed for the book.
A spokesperson for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to ‘Finding Freedom’.
“This book is based on the authors’ own experiences as members of the royal press corps and their own independent reporting.”
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Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family | £13.60 from Amazon
