It's been a tough few weeks for Meghan Markle. Her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, seems to be unraveling before our eyes. Thomas has once again given a tell-all interview about his daughter, despite her express wishes to keep her private life out of the spotlight. He now claims that Meghan has cut him out of her life, as well as making some pretty manipulative, dramatic statements.
“Perhaps it would be easier for Meghan if I died. Everybody would be filled with sympathy for her. But I hope we reconcile. I’d hate to die without speaking to Meghan again,” Thomas said in the interview with the Mail on Sunday this weekend. In a move that is sure to enrage his son-in-law, Prince Harry, Thomas evoked the late Princess Diana, as well. "They [the royal family] have Meghan treating her father in a way that Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, would have loathed. That’s not what Diana stood for." Yikes.
While Meghan is clearly going through a lot right now, it's being reported that Kate Middleton has stepped up to help guide Meghan through this turbulent situation. It's hard enough to be estranged from your family, but to be in a new place where you know few people must make it so much harder. Thankfully, Kate is making sure Meghan doesn't feel alone.
“Kate’s well aware of what Meghan is going through. Her family has been dragged through the tabloids and she knows it’s not nice. She’s made a big effort to be kind to Meghan and look out for her,” a source told Vanity Fair. “Kate’s made a real effort to be kind to Meghan and to include her. They’re quite different characters but they get along well.”
According to the source, Kate regularly invites Meghan over to the Cambridge family’s apartment at Kensington Palace for tea. The sisters-in-law have also bonded of their shared love of tennis, fashion, dogs, the English countryside, and chocolate. Even when they don't have time to hang out in person, they make sure to touch base over the phone. Despite their busy schedules, the two try to “see each other once a week, sometimes with Harry, sometimes Meghan goes on her own. Kate’s really busy juggling three kids; she has a lot on her plate and she has her own friendship group, but she has made an effort with Meghan. She’s been very sympathetic to what’s been going on with Meghan and her dad.”
Meghan may not have the support from her biological family right now - not including her mother, Doria Ragland, who Meghan (and Oprah!) have raved about it in the past - it seems she is quietly building strong bonds with her in-laws, especially the Duchess of Cambridge. If anybody can sympathize with the struggles of marrying into the royal family, it's definitely Kate.