Meghan Markle is “upset and disturbed” by her father’s photo scandal.
Markle is having a bit of a blunder ahead of her big day, the bride-to-be reportedly unhappy and embarrassed after news broke that her father was caught staging photos with a paparazzi.
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“Meghan is upset and disturbed by the entire ordeal and just wants to move past it,” a source close to the soon-to-be royal told Us Weekly. “She doesn’t want to let anything ruin her day and is trying to keep focus on the weekend.”
The insider added that Markle’s relationship with her father has always been strained” due to “his ill thought-out decisions and his lack of responsibility.”
On Sunday, the Daily Mail published surveillance footage appearing to show the 73-year-old Markle Sr. arriving at an internet cafe with photographer Jeff Rayner in Rosarito, Mexico, where he now lives. The two appear to be staging a photo of Markle Sr. looking at a photo of his daughter and Prince Harry on a computer screen.
The internet cafe photo was just one of several images sold to newspapers around the world that were taken with Markle Sr.’s cooperation. The others show him working out with weights to apparently get in shape for the wedding, getting measured by a “tailor” for a custom suit and looking at a book on British landmarks in a Starbucks.
It is estimated that the photos sold for up to £100,000, or about $135,500.
A day later, Markle’s half-sister, Samantha Markle, took responsibility for the scandal.
“The bad press over my father… is my fault. The media was unfairly making him look bad so I suggested he do positive photos for his benefit and the benefit of the royal family,” Samantha wrote in a since-deleted tweet on Monday. “We had no idea he would be taken advantage of. It was not for money.”
The revelations come as the royal family prepares for the wedding on May 19, when Markle Sr. was supposed meet Prince Harry for the first time in person and walk his daughter down the aisle at St. George’s Chapel.
However, in light of the photo scandal, it has been reported that Markle Sr. will be absent from the May 19 nuptials.
After suffering a heart attack six days ago, Markle Sr. said he checked himself out of the hospital so he could attend the royal wedding, but has since decided against it because he doesn’t want to “embarrass” the Royal Family or his daughter.
He added that he “meant no harm” to Markle or the royal family.
Markle’s mother, Doria Loyce Ragland, is still expected to be traveling across the pond for the big day, where she will meet the Royal Family and accompany Markle on the ride from her overnight accommodations to St. George’s Cathedral.
