Meghan Markle’s estranged half-sister Samantha Markle is admitting to using her sister’s newfound notoriety as a British royal to make a few extra bucks.
During a Monday appearance on Good Morning Britain, Samanthaopened up about the series of interviews she has done ever since her sister became a newly minted Duchess, claiming that she took advantage of Markle’s popularity to add a few extra bucks to her bank account through scathing interviews.
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“I worked in media most of my life and in broadcasting, so because my sister is suddenly royal isn’t grounds for me to stop doing all of that,” Samantha said during her Good Morning Britain appearance. “Let’s face it — we all have to survive. Money makes the world go round, so if you want to call that cashing in, that’s fine, but I think no one in media would refuse a paycheck for talking about the royal and, as a family, we’re not subject to royal protocol. Why would I stop living because we have a family issue going on?”
The Duchess’ estranged half-sister has frequented the headlines even before Markle’s May 19 nuptials to Prince Harry, at one point even telling Piers Morgan that Harry should have married somebody else. Her oftentimes controversial stance has been broadcast on shows like Good Morning Britain and Loose Women, and recently leaked emails have revealed that Samantha asks for thousands of dollars for her appearances.
“No one has a copyright on our life experiences and so, I think the public forgets that within the family, we’re each individuals with our own life experiences,” Samantha continued. “With all due respect, it’s not just Meghan. We’re entitled to share that. We’re entitled to be open about it and if we can shed some light on some issues for the public, then great and we can enjoy the process. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s not disparaging. It’s not harmful.”
Along with her frequent TV appearances, the 53-year-old was also responsible for setting up the staged paparazzi photos of their father, Thomas Markle Sr., ahead of the royal wedding that led to scathing reports and threatened to overshadow the wedding. Markle Sr. ended up backing out of the wedding, citing a heart attack, something that Samantha recently suggested was her half-sister’s fault.
“I was really feeling that now it is so critical, and so unfair, that if there’s a misunderstanding that she reach out to him and she clarify because life is very short,” Samantha explained of her since-deleted tweets. “He’s 74 years old and I felt if something were to happen to him and he passed away, I don’t think any of us could live with the fact that he died unhappy and there was not closure. I believe in her heart … that she would want that also.”
Samantha has no intentions of staying out of the limelight, with reports surfacing that she is joining the cast of the U.K.’s version of Celebrity Big Brother for the new season titled “he Eye of the Storm.”
