Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Reportedly Intervened When Queen Elizabeth Wanted to Stop Thomas Markle

Queen Elizabeth has reportedly had enough of the bad press brought on by Meghan Markle's father, though she has been prevented from doing anything about it by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

As royal watchers will recall, drama surrounding the newlywed couple began before they even tied the knot when Markle's estranged half-sister Samantha Markle began speaking out against her and the royals in the press. Things only worsened after paparazzi took a keen interest in Markle's father, Thomas Markle Sr., and started staking out his home in Mexico.

Following the publishing of a series of unflattering photos of Markle Sr., Samantha helped concoct a plan that would soon unravel, helping Markle Sr. stage a series of photos of himself preparing for the wedding. The stunt was later discovered just days before the royal wedding and negative press began to accumulate.

According to an in-depth report detailing that the breakdown of the Duchess of Sussex's paternal side of her family published by Vanity Fair, Queen Elizabeth reportedly had every intention of stepping in and putting an end to things before they could get any worse.

"She was very concerned that it [the Markle situation] was spiraling out of control, which it was," a source claimed. "Buckingham Palace wanted to be able to do something and be proactive and make the situation go away. It was a direction from the Queen, so her courtiers were under strict instructions to sort it out. But Kensington Palace was not singing from the same hymn sheet, and that was because the message was coming from Meghan. She didn't want to engage and thought that she could handle it on her own."

The source added that Markle's reluctance to have the Queen intervene led to "tension" between the courts and that in an effort to calm things between herself and her family, the Duchess of Sussex has even considered speaking to her father again on a probationary basis so long as he refrains from speaking to the press.

The claims come just days after Markle Sr. appeared on Good Morning Britain in his first television interview since Kensington Palace announced that Harry and Markle were expecting their first child together.

During the appearance, Markle Sr. claimed that he had been "ghosted" by his daughter despite his numerous attempts to reach out to her, including daily text messages and even a series of letters. At the time, he even pleaded for the Queen to step in and help reconcile his broken relationship with his daughter.