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AIBU?

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Original poster

Or is Meghan Markle making the right choice?

454 replies

CaliforniaDream · 17/05/2018 12:31

I don't know if it actually was her choice or her father's, but it seems to me that it's the right decision for him not to come to the wedding.

He's obviously not at all well and needs to recover from his heart attack. He is also obviously wildly in over his head with the media. I think Kensington Palace have something to answer for there as they should have taken him under their wing from the start and given him more help in dealing with press speculation. But the damage is done and now he has caused himself and his daughter a lot of heartache - that must be causing him stress, and I think he will be happier and more healthy for missing it.

I really feel for Meghan. She obviously had quite a complex and uneasy relationship with her dad. She must feel so betrayed that he went behind her back to have these press photographs taken, and it seems he is also texting gossip fodder directly to TMZ. While there are mitigating factors, he very clearly hasn't been putting his daughter's wellbeing first. If he had, she'd be able to have her dad at her wedding and now she can't.

I hope she still has a great day on Saturday, and that her father recovers, and that she's able to move on from this and have a reasonable relationship with him.

OP posts:
HadronCollider · 17/05/2018 18:18

She has plenty of aristocratic blood she's a direct descendent of Royalty if I remember correctly

AlfredDaButtler · 17/05/2018 18:18

Facts..... Alllllrighty then

She hasn’t troubled to introduce her “adored” father to her future husband yet although she’s had plenty of time to swan off to Monaco, Chicago & the Cotswolds. And you know that she hasn't made attempts to arrange to see him that he declined how, exactly?

She and Harry have offered him no support of any kind and were clearly hoping to just wheel him out for his role on their “special day” without making any effort to bring him into the fold and make him feel included beforehand. Again, you know this as a fact how, exactly?

Andrew Morton, just a week or so ago, was expressing concern that Doria would be the only family member at the wedding and that Dad still didn’t have a suit, a plane ticket or accommodation lined up. And?

Several days after his “heart attack” she still hadn’t spoken to him on the phone. I didn't realise you had access to her phone records, or intimate background knowledge of their relationship spanning the past 36 years.

He’s been updating an online gossip rag regarding his health...something that he simply wouldn’t do if his “adoring” daughter was bothering with him. Or maybe something he simply wouldn't do if he wasn't a knob. I mean what sort of father sells out his daughter?

LostInShoebiz · 17/05/2018 18:22

You know a lot of "facts" Tabby...

Puzzledandpissedoff · 17/05/2018 18:23

Was there constant coverage about Diana's family in the lead up?

There was coverage, but not constant as there wasn't that much to talk about; the best they could do was talk a bit about Diana's mum & dad's very bitter divorce and ponder what effect mum walking out when she was small had on her

Her personal statement, “I have always cared for my father”, is up there with “whatever love means”. Huge red flag

Maybe, but she could hardly say how incredibly close she is to him now. There seem to have been enough rubbish claims from the family, and another would hardly help

LostInShoebiz · 17/05/2018 18:23

Not everyone suffers jet lag so I don't think we should read too much into someone flying in DAYS before a wedding.

karyatide · 17/05/2018 18:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SoupDragon · 17/05/2018 18:34

Facts.....

Yeah, right 😂😂

IrmaFayLear · 17/05/2018 18:36

I’d be snoring through the vows.

Shame all the embarrassing family members weren’t invited. That’s what gives colour to a wedding.

Although I have a few - distant I hasten to add - rather disreputable cousins who I am sure the press would fall upon should I ever happen to marry into the royal family... (It would have to be Prince Andrew as he’s the only single, age appropriate royal for me. Actually, on second thoughts i’d better stick with the very unregal dh.

perroy · 17/05/2018 18:40

I think the father finally figured out that he was not invited and therefore did the photo shoot.

No other reason for the timing.

OyO · 17/05/2018 18:41

Where has the help been?

This baffles me too. Harry has made his contempt for press intrusion very clear over the years and so I'd have thought he would ensure that KP extended even more than their normal levels of protection/preparation for MM’s relatives. Especially knowing that they’re not the usual aristocratic, lived down the the road from Liz, types.

Maybe MM wasn’t entirely forthcoming about her background? I don’t think I’d be too keen to reel off my dodgy relatives to the royal family. Especially if I’d built the kind of persona she has.

School12345 · 17/05/2018 18:42

it's not nearly as embarrassing as Charles and the tampons

I think the tampon thing should really be laid to rest. It was 25 years ago and was revealed after his phone was bugged. It was a private conversation between two consenting adults. It's not like he went on the lunchtime news to announce it!

Has nobody ever said anything a tad risqué to their other half that they wouldn't say in company? I know it was all about revealing the affair with Camilla but it was so vulgar and crass of the papers to print that.

areyoubeingserviced · 17/05/2018 18:44

I really wish Harry and Meghan the best of luck
There’s not much she can do about her vile family.
I truly believe that Harry is punching with MM. She’s an attractive ,talented and attractive woman.
Harry loves her, so all the naysayers should just get over it.

Ssarah39 · 17/05/2018 18:47

ILikeMyChickenFried I never said her father was dying. I was reflecting on my own situation and where my priorities were when my dad was sick and dying.

merrymouse · 17/05/2018 18:51

Has nobody ever said anything a tad risqué to their other half that they wouldn't say in company

Certainly not while I was married to somebody else.

helacells · 17/05/2018 18:57

The whole thing makes all of them look terrible the Markle clan, KP, Harry and Meghan. If she doesn't rush to her dad s side after the wedding that will be even more ammo for the press.

Summerinrome · 17/05/2018 19:01

I am surprised by how many people appear not to like Megan at all, on the face of she seemed like a very good choice for Harry.

What I am picking up is a suspicious lack of trust now that she will inadvertently embarrass the royal family, compromise their privacy and codes of conduct, because already even her mother had booked to go on Oprah. They are being sold out and they are not even married yet. How can the royal family truly trust her given all of this in the background?
I hope they have a lovely day on Saturday and Megan finds a way to manage her family so it doesn’t spoil the future.

mycatistoofat · 17/05/2018 19:01

Why would she rush to her Dad's side if they aren't close at all?

or perhaps if he hasn't actually had a heart attack - just a thought

Summerinrome · 17/05/2018 19:03

I too am uneasy she has not been there for her father, she has known for ages that he isn’t well

Summerinrome · 17/05/2018 19:04

Why invite her father at all to such a public wedding half way across the world if you are not close?!

Especially if you know he is a recluse

merrymouse · 17/05/2018 19:06

And I think I would have remembered the fact that I was having an affair with somebody else before getting engaged to a teenager in my thirties.

I know that isn't completely fair and that Charles was under pressure to marry somebody 'suitable', but the point is that the royals are neither 'functional' nor free from scandal.

They go 'Non contact' (Edward VIII and the rest of the family), they marry scandalous people (Princess Margaret) and then get divorced and carry on with scandalous people (also PM) and that's before you even think about the Queen's children, or look at the Georgians or the Tudors or the Stuarts (One forced to flee, one beheaded).

Really the Markles are amateurs and need to up their game.

mycatistoofat · 17/05/2018 19:07

Maybe she thought it was the done thing? How on earth do I know. Makes me laugh on these threads how everyone has precise access to the hotline and thoughts of everyone involved Hmm

ajandjjmum · 17/05/2018 19:08

They can't be close. He was declared bankrupt a couple of years ago, when she was earning well in Suits. I wouldn't have let that happen to my Dad.

Summerinrome · 17/05/2018 19:09

I would love to know if Harry knew the true extent of her family problems... just would have thought the statement would have been from both of them

HadronCollider · 17/05/2018 19:13

Surely her background was vetted and questions were asked beforehand?

HasAnyoneGotAProblemWithThat · 17/05/2018 19:15

Or maybe Harry said I’m marrying her anyway.