Thomas Markle has vowed to give evidence against his daughter Meghan, to support his other daughter, Samantha Markle, in her defamation lawsuit against the former actress.
THOMAS Markle has vowed to give evidence against his daughter Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
The 40-year-old royal is being sued for defamation by her half-sister, 57-year-old Samantha Markle, who has claimed the former Suits actress made “false and malicious statements” about her in her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey last year, and now the women’s father has admitted he backs his eldest daughter and would be willing to give evidence on her behalf.
He said: “I would be more than happy to. I’ve been trying for almost four years to get to see my daughter and her ginger husband in a courtroom face-to-face. I’d be thrilled to defend my oldest daughter.”
Thomas believes Meghan – who has children Archie, two, and Lili, eight months, with husband Prince Harry – should settle the case.
Speaking as he launched his new YouTube channel, he added: “She can’t defend the things she said.”
Samantha filed her lawsuit earlier this month and accused Meghan of spreading lies in order to promote the idea she’s overcome a difficult family situation, and highlighted the fact the former ‘Suits’ star told Oprah she was an “only child”, despite sharing the same father as Samantha and her brother, Thomas Markle Jr..
The writer also disputed Meghan’s claim in the interview that she’d last seen her half-sister “at least 18, 19 years ago and before that, 10 years before that”, and that Samantha only changed her own surname back to Markle when the former actress began generating headlines for her relationship with Harry.
Samantha claimed Meghan has fabricated stories of growing up in “virtual poverty” because her dad paid for her to attend dance and acting classes, and “elite and expensive private schools”.
And despite the duchess’ claims to Oprah and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres that she worked hard to put herself through university, Samantha insisted their father covered the costs of Meghan’s tuition and living expenses at Northwestern University.
Samantha accused Meghan of lying about her and her childhood as part of a calculated effort so they “could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairytale life story concocted by” the duchess.
Samantha has claimed her estranged relative’s comments have damaged sales of her autobiography, ‘The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister’, prevented her from getting work, and caused emotional and mental distress.
A lawyer acting on behalf of the duchess branded the lawsuit “baseless and absurd”.
Michael Kump said: “This baseless and absurd lawsuit is just a continuation of a pattern of disturbing behaviour. We will give it the minimum attention necessary, which is all it deserves.”
