Following the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged half-sister Samantha Markle is continuing to petition for her father to be allowed to meet his royal grandson.
More than a week after the royal baby’s birth, he has already accrued a roster of new friends as they flock to Frogmore Cottage to meet him, but absent among them is Thomas Markle Sr., who remains on the other side of the pond without any contact with his daughter.
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In an interview with Mirror, Samantha pleaded with her sister for that to be changed.
“It’s sad. He should have been involved. Being excluded is like a dagger through his heart,” Samantha said of her father’s lack of inclusion in the pregnancy and the birth. “And poor Master Archie is not getting to know a creative, loving person.”
As royal fans will recall, Markle’s relationship with her father has been strained ever since news broke that he was involved in a paparazzi scandal. After a health crisis forced him to back out of the royal wedding, he engaged in a number of highly publicized interviews criticizing the Royal Family, causing a deepening rift in his relationship with his daughter.
While Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, flew to London and was at her daughter’s side during the birth, and was spotted alongside the new parents as they introduced Archie to the Queen, Thomas Markle was not afforded that same luxury.
According to Samantha, part of that fault lies with Ragland, who should “have said ‘get your dad out here,’” but didn’t due to a “lack of effort,” and her father was instead forced to learn of the birth as he “sat in traffic.”
Although some lingering tensions seem to remain, Samantha added that she is ready to put the past behind them, including the controversy, and is hoping that in time the rift in the Markle family can mend.
“We always have been desperate to heal the rift, but it’s up to Meghan to reach out now,” she said. “Life is short and precious so I hope having the baby will soften her feelings and she will do the right thing.”
Currently, no plans have been announced for Markle’s father to meet his grandson, and while he is said to be “devastated” in the aftermath of the birth, in an official statement he said that he was “delighted” for his daughter and Harry.
