When Meghan Markle married into the British monarchy, she gained a whole new family. At first, it was seen as a fairytale come true for the actress from the US, but ultimately things ended in disaster.
Prince Harry and Meghan left the Royal Family just years after their wedding, but even after returning to the US, Meghan found familial love difficult to come by. Reportedly, she had become estranged not just from members of Harry’s family, but hers as well, her half-sister, Samantha Markle, included.
The Duchess’s relationship with her father has been the subject of media headlines for years. Thomas and Samantha Markle weren’t invited to Meghan’s wedding, setting the tone for the animosity between them. Samantha is 17 years older than Meghan, and the feud between the two half-sisters is said to have started when the then-future princess was born.
Today, Samantha and Meghan Markle’s relationship is virtually nonexistent, apart from their involvement in lawsuits against one another. So what is known about Samantha? Let’s take a closer look at Meghan’s half-sister – who was sadly left disabled after a tragic accident.
The bonds between Meghan Markle and some of her family members sadly aren’t all that tight. Her relationship with her father, Thomas, went down the drain after he allegedly sold a private letter signed by his daughter before her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. Meghan’s connection to her two half-siblings, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr., isn’t much stronger.
Thomas Markle was initially married to a woman named Roslyn, with whom he raised Samantha and Thomas Jr. The marriage didn’t last, though, and they divorced in 1973. Yet he would find love again when he married Doria Ragland. The couple welcomed Meghan Markle in 1981; by that point, Samantha was 17.
In her 2021 memoir The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister, Samantha described an idyllic childhood in Los Angeles. She babysat Meghan, went for ice cream, and, as her young step-sister grew older, they frequently talked on the phone. However, Meghan has a different view of things.
“I grew up as an only child, which everyone who grew up around me knows, and I wished I had siblings. I would have loved to have had siblings,” the Duchess told Oprah in the 2021 infamous interview.
Who is Samantha Markle, Meghan Markle’s half-sister?
Meghan’s arrival changed the stability of the Markle family, at least for Samantha and Thomas Jr. Sadly, When Meghan’s father sent her to several elite private schools, Samantha reportedly began to resent her younger half-sister. Soon after, Meghan pursued a career in the entertainment business.
Meghan found her feet in the world of show business thanks to her father, an Emmy award-winning lighting director. On many occasions, Meghan was given the opportunity to join her father on set.
She attended the all-girls Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. Later, she moved to Illinois to double major in theater and international relations at the prestigious Evanston school.
Following her internship at the US Embassy in Argentina, Meghan thought she might pursue a political career. However, the theater was always her biggest dream, even if her first job in show business wasn’t all that great.
Markle auditioned for shows while simultaneously studying, but her first role was as a briefcase girl on the game show Deal or No Deal.
Samantha Markle claims she and her family “weren’t royal enough” for Meghan
Soon after, she appeared in productions, landing minor roles in films such as Get Him to the Greek, Remember Me and the television series General Hospital. However, everything changed in 2011 when she landed the part of paralegal Rachel Zane on USA’s monster hit Suits.
Meghan played Rachel Zane on Suits until 2018, the year her life would again change forever when she met and married Prince Harry.
The wedding with Harry changed everything. Meghan had become a senior member of the Royal Family overnight, and it left her relationship with her father in tatters. As per reports, Thomas had sold a private letter from his daughter to a British newspaper, and after that he wasn’t given an invite to the wedding.
Samantha Markle wrote in her Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister that she felt Meghan didn’t want anything to do with her US-based family when she became the Duchess of Sussex.
“She loved my father, and everything was great. We were a pretty normal family, but then when the royal wedding came, I guess we weren’t royal enough or fabulous enough, and the whole M.O. became, seal off hatches, don’t let anyone talk,” Samantha told Fox Orlando.
Samantha Markle, health, MS
Today, Samantha, 60, continues to live her own life without any contact with Meghan. Tragically, her life changed in 2008 when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) after a fall. She has been in a wheelchair since and, in her memoir, confirmed she was “living with a disability.”
“I’m in a wheelchair because I have MS. and I dealt with that for a lot of my life. It didn’t stop me and I didn’t want it to define me,” Samantha told Fox.
Samantha claimed that since 2016, when Meghan started dating Harry, she had the idea of writing a book. Ultimately, she claims her disability was one of the main reasons as to why she did it, but she also wanted to tell the story of her half-sister.
“The world was wanting to know about so many things, and I refused to lie helpless tied to train tracks bound and gagged. I believe in win-win situations, and I was adamant about the fact that, if they were going to make money, then so were we,” Samantha explained.
Meghan and Prince Harry decided to share everything with the world following their royal exit. The couple appeared in a now-infamous Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021, and the year after, released their Netflix series Harry & Meghan. In the documentary, Samantha was featured in a five-minute segment where it was claimed that she “was part of the group that was putting out disinformation.” Meghan continued by saying: “You are making people want to kill me.”
Samantha Markle “faced realistic death threats” after Harry & Meghan’s Netflix series
For Samantha, Meghan’s outspokenness changed her life for the worse. As per a court filing, the Duchess’ half-sister was “forced to move residences, retract from public outings” and “faced realistic death threats.”
A filing by Samantha’s lawyer, Peter Ticktin, reported by Newsweek, read: “There can be no doubt that Meghan Markle attacked her sister Samantha Markle verbally in her documentary.”
“Never was part of any group which put out disinformation, never trolled Meghan, was never part of any hate group, never used the N-word on tweets, never monetarized any hate tweets against Meghan, or did anything to make anyone want to kill Meghan or have Meghan made nervous because of any such activity. Yet, with a dismissal, Meghan is permitted to walk away, as though innocent.”
Samantha’s lawyer continued: “Meghan now downplays the effect that her own words and the words of Christopher Bouzy and what the publication have had on Samantha, who has been forced to move residences, retract from public outings (such as going to the grocery store or even earning a living, as she is no longer able to work as a social worker), and faced realistic death threats from individuals who have ‘sworn’ allegiance to Meghan in this ‘fight’ between the two sisters.
“There were horrible stories”
“In other words, Samantha has suffered very real effects as a result of Meghan’s intentional, harmful, and disparaging campaign against her disabled sister, Samantha,” the lawyer concluded.
In their filing, Meghan’s lawyers said: “An implicit or express statement that [Samantha] belongs to a hate group spreading disinformation about Meghan is an opinion protected by the First Amendment.”
Samantha sought $75,000 in damage. However, a US court dismissed the case with prejudice, adding that she couldn’t refile the complaint. Although Samantha took Meghan to court, speaking out about the Duchess was difficult.
She told Fox: “There were horrible stories, and stories skewed to discredit us because we’ve spoken out about not being invited to the wedding, it just snowballed and they made it out like he was a deadbeat dad and I was a horrible, jealous, hagging sister.
“I feel like she should be accountable and apologize for treating the family and behaving the way she did in this case. It’s not that I don’t love her. You always love family.”
Samantha Markle – relationship with Meghan Markle today
Meghan relationship with the Royal Family seems to be beyond repair, and sadly, the same goes for her relationship with her half-sibling and her father, Thomas. Samantha’s mother, Roslyn, died recently, and in an interview with the Daily Mail, she revealed that her and Meghan’s father also has health issues.
“Meghan has no idea what she is missing out on because when my dad [Thomas] goes, it will be too late,” Samantha told the Daily Mail, claiming Meghan has “missed opportunities.”
While Samantha has nothing to do with the Royal Family — and hasn’t met them — she has kept herself updated on the feud between Harry, Meghan, and the monarchy. She expressed her disbelief about how Meghan treated the royals.
“I don’t know the royal family,” she said. “I’m just a human, watching from across the pond, but I couldn’t believe it… My dad doesn’t want Meghan to pay him back. But you want love from them because there is a pain in your heart if it isn’t there.”
“I didn’t want my mom to die feeling she was alone, and not loved. I almost left it too late. They could both learn from me,” Samantha added.
“I thought she would stop at the queen”
Thomas tried reuniting with Meghan following of his recent health scare. In 2023, he made a “deathbed plea” to his youngest daughter, but only time will tell if they can ever make amends.
“She’s done what she did to her own family to so many other people, too. I knew my dad had suffered, but I thought she would stop at the queen,” Samantha told the Daily Mail.
She concluded: “If you accept an olive branch, you are asking to be hurt again. I think that would be weird. It would be hard to trust that she was doing it for the right reasons. I think what makes me sad now is there were so many missed opportunities for love and real family,”
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