How Meghan Markle 'Set Alarm Bells Ringing' With Late Queen: She 'Realised The Potential Damage'

Meghan Markle's strained relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, reportedly set "alarm bells ringing" within the royal family when she got married to Prince Harry.

As per accounts, the late Queen Elizabeth II was deeply alarmed by the duchess' estrangement from her father, Thomas Markle, interpreting it as a sign of the "potential damage" Meghan could inflict upon the Palace.

Queen Elizabeth also suggested that Meghan Markle write a letter to her father, although Thomas has since claimed that his daughter's letter was a "dagger to his heart."

Since 2018, Meghan has been estranged from her father, Thomas, after he staged paparazzi photos with tabloids and deceived her about his interactions with the press.

Thomas also didn't attend her wedding to Prince Harry, although his hospitalization for a heart ailment, not just his feud with Meghan, might have contributed to his absence.

Upon Meghan entering the Royal family, her strained relationship with her father unsettled the late Queen Elizabeth, worsened by its highly public nature, per the Daily Mail.

"Meghan's public disagreements with her father set alarm bells ringing at the time," penned royal commentator Richard Eden, which he claimed he obtained from a Palace source.

The insider also claimed that the situation led Her Majesty to recognize that Meghan had the potential to cause trouble for the Palace.

"Her Majesty realised the potential damage they could do to the Royal Family in general," Eden added about his source's claims. "Looking back, the Queen might have had an inkling of what was to come."

At the time, the late queen was so worried about Meghan's estrangement from her father that she impressed upon her to write to him.

However, she couldn't foresee that the letter would not be the remedy she had hoped for. Instead, it worsened the already deteriorating relationship between Meghan and her father.

According to Eden, Thomas had received the letter thinking it would be an "olive branch" that would set the pace for a proper reconciliation. However, its content ended up being an unexpected "dagger to the heart."

Previous reports have claimed that Meghan told Thomas in the letter that his actions broke her heart "into a million pieces" and caused her "unnecessary and unwarranted pain by making the choice to not tell the truth."

The former actress also asked her estranged father to allow her and Harry to "live their lives in peace" and "stop exploiting her relationship" with him.

As a result of Meghan's strained relationship with Thomas, he has yet to meet any of his grandchildren, Prince Archie, 5, and Prince Lilibet, 3. He also hasn't had a face-to-face conversation with his son-in-law, although they did communicate over the phone when Meghan's relationship with Harry began.

Despite Thomas recently turning 80 and getting more advanced in age every day, he still hopes Meghan will reach out someday.

"I've never been one for birthdays, but I know the one person I most want to hear from, Meghan, won't be in touch," Thomas told the Daily Mail.

The former lighting director, whose home is still filled with pictures of his daughter, hopes to meet his grandchildren.

He added, "I would love to meet my grandchildren, but I would be happy with a photograph at this stage."

Meghan's father, Thomas, likened himself to King Charles III, noting that he and the monarch have suffered being shut out by their children.

During his conversation with the Daily Mail, the octogenarian talked about how he and Charles are both battling respective health troubles while being estranged from the children, adding that he feels "deep empathy" for the king, whom he believes is "in the same boat" as himself.

"I would love to speak to him because I am sure he has as many unanswered questions as I do," Thomas told the news outlet. "Neither of us deserves the treatment we've received. He is going through cancer treatment, and I'm not in the best of health."

"I have so many questions I'd like to ask Meghan and Harry," he added. "The main one being, why have they treated not only me but the royal family and the king so badly?"

Watching from the sidelines as his daughter lives her life, Thomas believes that he no longer recognizes the girl he raised.

He said, 'The person she's become isn't the girl I raised. She started to change when she lived in Canada filming Suits and was hanging out with the Soho House crowd."

He shared that as the mother-of-two became famous, she "began acting entitled" and that it "escalated after she met Harry."

Thomas also confirmed that he has kept up to date with all the drama in the headline about his daughter and is "saddened" that many now see his surname, "Markle," as a negative term.

He added, "It upsets me that the Markle name is now associated with negativity. People talk about being 'Markled' when they get dumped for no reason. That saddens me."