Who Is Samantha Markle?

As the world celebrates the birth of a royal baby, many are waiting for Meghan Markle‘s half-sister, Samantha Grant, to weigh in.

Grant, or Samantha Markle, as she is often known, shares a father with the Duchess of Sussex. In the months before and after Markle’s royal wedding to Prince Harry, Samantha and Thomas Markle were outspoken in the press, scandalizing the British aristocracy and accusing Markle of pushing them out of her life.

In reality, Samantha has not spoken to Markle in the last nine years, according to a report by Telegraph. That has not stopped the 54-year-old from weighing in on every family matter she can comment on, including the royal birth this week. According to a report by The Sun, Samantha hopes that this child will be the key to healing the rifts in her family and bringing them all back together.

“It just makes everything that happened over the last year disappear. I want Meghan to be happy and calm and have peace,” she said. “Everybody needs to be positive.”

Samantha reportedly learned about the royal birth from her father, who heard it through the news media. Neither of them were included in the list of family members of Kensington Palace’s royal announcement, so it appears that the royal family will continue ignoring the outspoken family members.

Samantha is a native of Belleview, Florida, where she lives with her boyfriend Mark Phillips. She has three children, and has worked as a mental health counselor. She is reportedly estranged from numerous family members and did not attend Meghan’s first wedding before she met Harry.

Samantha was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008, although in her online Gravatar profile she claims that she is bound to a wheelchair because of “a 70-foot fall.”

Late last year, The Sunday Times reported that Samantha had been added to a watch list by by the British government because of her repeated media outbursts about her half-sister. The Fixated Threat Assessment Centre categorized her among “persons exhibiting signs of obsession with members of the Royal Family.” Samantha later denied this list on Twitter, saying it was “a British media attempt at silencing me.”

As much as Samantha has dominated media coverage of Meghan Markle‘s fairy tale story, the Duchess of Sussex has avoided commenting on her half-sister or their relationship. Still, at this point the two are inextricably linked, at least in public consciousness, with many now expecting a salacious comment from Samantha every time there is a development in royal life. As for healing the rift, however, chances to not look good.