Duchess Meghan was once a self-proclaimed "daddy's girl."
In the Netflix documentary "Harry and Meghan," the 45-year-old said she spent "a lot" of time with her father, Thomas Markle, despite her parents' separation. She once described him as "thoughtful, inspiring, hardworking" recalling how he would "religiously" take her to tap and ballet class despite working long hours each week.
With the world watching, their once-close relationship has completely broken down over the last decade, with the duchess saying in an Oct. 23 statement she was "deeply distressed" by "sickening" child porn allegations against her dad, which he has denied.
Here's a look back at how their relationship unraveled.
May 2018: Will Meghan's dad attend royal wedding?
In 2017, Prince Harry proposed to Meghan. Britain geared
up for an elaborate royal wedding. In the run-up to the big day on May, 19, 2018, one question began to dominate the conversation around the nuptials: Would Meghan's dad be there?
Days before the wedding, staged fake paparazzi photos of Markle being measured for a suit and reading a book titled "Images of Britain" were published. Markle later apologized for working with a British tabloid to create the paid photos, saying he believed they would help rehabilitate his image after negative press articles.
Markle said he would not attend the wedding, saying he did not want to embarrass the royal family. He later changed his mind expressing hope that he would make it to Windsor to walk Meghan down the aisle. It was then reported that he had suffered a heart attack and required surgery, so would not be able to fly.
Two days before they were married, Buckingham Palace released a statement from Meghan confirming Markle would miss the ceremony.
"Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding," the statement said. "I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health."
King Charles, then-Prince Charles, walked his daughter-in-law down the aisle instead.
"I'm a footnote to the greatest moment in history rather than the dad who walked his daughter down the aisle," Markle told Good Morning Britain the following month. "That upsets me somewhat."
July 2018: Thomas Markle says Meghan has severed ties
In an interview with the Daily Mail two months after the royal wedding, Markle said Meghan had severed all ties with him and that numbers he had for her had been disconnected.
"I'm really hurt that she's cut me off completely," he said, saying there was no way to reach her. "I used to have a phone number and text number for her personal aides at the Palace, but after I said a few critical words about the Royal Family changing Meghan, they cut me off."
On Oct. 23, Meghan said that she was first made aware of "disturbing allegations" against her dad in 2018 and expressed hope that people would now understand why she has had no contact with the 82-year-old.
USA TODAY understands that Meghan was notified of the accusations against him during the summer of 2018, after her May wedding to Harry.
2019: Meghan's private letter to her father leaked
In August 2018, Meghan penned a private letter to her father begging him to stop giving interviews to the media.
Markle leaked his daughter's note to the press and portions of the handwritten document were published in 2019 by the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline.
“You have broken my heart into a million pieces," the duchess wrote, according to leaked excerpts from the five-page document.
Meghan sued for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement. A court later ruled that the publisher breached Meghan’s privacy by publishing parts of her letter.
In her own written evidence, the duchess she had not believed that her father “would sell or leak the letter, primarily because it would not put him in a good light.”
March 2021: 'I've lost my father,' Meghan tells Oprah
After stepping back from their roles in Britain's royal family and relocating to California, Meghan and Harry sat down for an explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. Among the topics discussed was that of Meghan's dad and the staged photos.
Meghan, who was pregnant with Princess Lilibet during the time of the interview, said her father was hounded by the tabloids before he went behind her back to speak to them. When confronted, he lied to her about what he had done.
"I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I genuinely can't imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child. I can't imagine it," she said. "So it's hard for me to reconcile that."
"'I just need you to tell me. And if you tell me the truth, we can help.' And he wasn't able to do that." — Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on a conversation she had with her father regarding tabloids #OprahMeghanHarry pic.twitter.com/XhPwGM0Uvl
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 8, 2021
The duchess noted that by contrast, her mother, Doria Ragland, had “remained in silent dignity," despite the tabloid intrusion. Meghan also told Winfrey that she was "still standing" despite the challenges of fractured family dynamics and the glare of the royal spotlight.
“I grieve a lot. I mean, I’ve lost my father. I lost a baby. I nearly lost my name. I mean, there’s the loss of identity,” she said.
The Sussex children have not met Markle, with Meghan saying Oct. 23 that she kept her children away to protect them.
December 2025: Thomas Markle's health worsens, Meghan reaches out
In December 2025, Markle's health worsened and he suffered a stroke. He also had a blood clot, leading to his left leg being amputated. Markle appealed to Meghan to visit him.
Meghan made contact with her father who was in hospital in the Philippines, though it is unclear what the duchess said.
"I can confirm she has reached out to her father," a spokesperson for the duchess said on Dec. 5, though Meghan's representatives called out the Daily Mail for reporting from Markle's bedside, calling it a breach of "clear, ethical boundaries."
Markle denies that his daughter contacted him.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meghan and her dad were once close. Here's how their relationship fell apart
