Thomas Markle – who turns 80 next month – has said he is not expecting to receive any birthday wishes from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and blames his son-in-law for his strained relationship with Meghan. The retired television lighting director has not had contact with his daughter for the last six years and has never met his grandchildren, five-year-old Prince Archie and three-year-old Princess Lilibet, nor Prince Harry.

Thomas famously did not attend Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018. Although he had originally been lined up to walk his daughter down the aisle, things took a turn for the worse when he became embroiled in a paparazzi scandal just before the big day. At the time, the Palace issued a statement insisting that the real reason for Thomas not attending the nuptials was due to health issues after he reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Speaking to the Daily Mail about his upcoming milestone birthday, Thomas said that Meghan is the one person he wants most to hear from, but he knows she “won’t be in touch”. The father-of-three also claimed that he remains perplexed that Prince Harry has never made the effort to pay him a visit.

Describing what he thinks of as one of life’s unanswerable questions, Thomas said: “When I reflect back on my life, as you do when you are approaching 80, that’s one of the questions I cannot find an answer for.”

Thomas – who lives 250 miles away from the Sussexes’ California home – continued: “Why didn’t Harry ever come to meet me? He has the resources to fly around the world – and does – but why didn’t he come to see me?”

The pensioner went on to claim that – prior to the wedding – people such as Harry and Meghan’s former communications secretary Jason Knauf had been “urging” the Duke to pay his future father-in-law a visit. Thomas added: “What man gets married without meeting his wife’s father?”

Thomas described himself as “in the same boat” as King Charles, as both grandfathers lack a relationship with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. He added: “Neither of us deserves the treatment we’ve received.”

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