Just months after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had their lavish royal wedding, they found themselves in a conference call with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles.
According to reports, the conference call was awkward and unfruitful and left a lasting impression on all the parties involved.
Prince Harry and Markle had millions watching when they said their “I dos” at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
A few weeks later, behind closed doors, they were in a call with Prince Charles. He angrily scolded them because he could not understand the humiliating scandal involving Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle.
The retired television lighting director and director of photography had become estranged from Meghan Markle.
Thomas Markle, who could not attend the wedding because of health issues, was embroiled in a scandal that dominated the headlines for months.
He was caught staging photos with the paparazzi for a large sum of money. He declined to apologize once the truth was revealed.
Instead, he conducted a series of explosive interviews where he tore his daughter, son-in-law, and the royals into shreds.
Tom Bower, a biographer, who has written a book about Markle and Prince Harry, shed some light on the exchange that took place during the call for peace and reconciliation.
Prince Charles demanded that the former American actress resolve her family drama that was further staining the royal family.
According to the book, an irritated Prince Charles asked the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: “Can’t she just go and see him and make this stop?”
Meghan Markle responded by saying: “It was completely unrealistic to think that she could fly to Mexico (where her father was living) and somehow hope to speak privately to my father without causing a frenzy of media attention and intrusion that could bring more embarrassment to the royal family.”
The Duke of Sussex explained that it was not possible to get in contact with his father-in-law because: “His phone was (not) in his possession, and his email account was compromised.”
The book said: “Meghan’s excuses irritated Charles and perhaps also the Queen. The monarch must have found it hard to believe that Meghan could not resolve her differences with Thomas Markle.”
It is claimed that the Queen and Prince Charles kept on insisting that Meghan Markle finds a path to reconciliation with her father, and she refused.
Bower revealed how the call ended: “Meghan rejected the suggestion…the conference call ended with both the senior royals perplexed.”
The Duchess later said this about the situation, “they fundamentally don’t understand.”
According to the book, the Duchess of Sussex felt alone in her fight to clear her name and image.
The author revealed: “Meghan was angry that Palace officials refused to protect her image. She refused to accept that staff were not employed to promote her as an individual but instead placed her within the grid of the entire royal family. In particular, Meghan fumed about the refusal officially to criticize Thomas Markle. From her perspective, Meghan was isolated, vulnerable, and stifled by conventions.”
Almost 4 years later, the four royals still do not agree on much.
