Days before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding day, the father of the bride, Thomas Markle, suddenly announced he was no longer walking his daughter down the aisle leaving the palace to scramble to find a replacement.
The end result was rather lovely and symbolic with Meghan Markle arriving to the church with her mother, Doria Ragland, and entering into St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle solo to walk halfway down the aisle. She was then greeted at the midway mark by Prince Charles, who walked her down the rest of the aisle, a gesture that was hailed as warm and emotional even for the typically staunch British Royal Family.
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Thomas Markle talks about his heart surgery and the moment he told Meghan he couldn’t attend the royal wedding #GMB pic.twitter.com/oIpPjPbd6u
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 18, 2018
Now, nearly a month after the spectacle of a day, Thomas spoke out on Monday, June 18, about the dramatic days leading up to the wedding itself for his first interview since the nuptials. The bride’s father dropped out due to his ailing health condition, which prompted doctors to warn that he had to get heart surgery or else he would further jeopardize his well being. Thomas broke the unfortunate news to his daughter over the phone.
“They were disappointed,” he told Good Morning Britain. “Meghan cried… and they both said, ‘Take care of yourself, we’re really worried about you’.”
While he was unable to make the wedding, Thomas watched his daughter and Harry marry from afar. “It was incredible watching her,” he told the morning show. “I was very proud… The unfortunate thing for me now is I’m a footnote in one of the greatest moments in history rather than the dad walking her down the aisle. That upsets me somewhat.”
Finally, he addressed the paparazzi photo debacle after it was revealed he was paid for staged photos by an agency. “I realized it was a serious mistake,” he said. “It’s hard to take it back.” The elder Markle told the outlet he apologized to the newlyweds, and in response, they were supposedly, “very forgiving.”
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