Meghan Markle moved halfway across the world to escape the British press. But there’s one thing she can’t escape: her embarrassing family and her own past!
If you think your family is embarrassing, just wait until you see the Markles. Meghan’s family, including father Thomas Markle, half-brother Thomas Markle Jr., and half-sister Samantha Markle, can’t seem to stop running their mouths to anyone who will listen. And most of what they seem to want to do is air their family’s dirty laundry and embarrass Meghan. It’s no wonder that the Duchess of Sussex no longer has anything to do with any of them.
Here are the most embarrassing Markle family moments captured on camera. Meghan — and the Royal Family — probably wish these videos never existed!
Thomas Markle claims the royals owe him
Think you’ve got a pretty embarrassing dad? Trust us: it’s pretty hard to beat having Thomas Markle for a father!
Markle has had many awkward moments, including nearly ruining his daughter’s royal wedding with tabloid shenanigans and later selling excerpts of her letter to him to the tabloids.
After all of that, we couldn’t help but cringe looking at this clip from the 2020 U.K. Channel 5 documentary Thomas Markle: My Story in which the 75-year-old rattles off everyone he thinks “owes” him something, including the royals, Harry, and Meghan herself.
“What I’ve been through, I should be rewarded for,” he claims.
RELATED: Photos of Meghan Markle She Never Wanted Us to See
Thomas Markle Jr. airs their father’s dirty laundry
Thomas Markle Jr. is Meghan’s older half-brother from their father’s first marriage. In October 2018, months after Meghan married Prince Harry, Thomas Jr. gave a shockingly candid five-part interview to InTouch, airing all of their father’s dirty laundry.
Among Thomas Jr.’s most outrageous claims: their father allegedly did cocaine in the ’80s, went on sex trips to Thailand, and cheated on Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.
Thomas Jr. also claims that their father expected Meghan to pay him back for her college tuition when her acting career took off on Suits.
Samantha Markle says Meghan and Harry will get divorced
Samantha Markle is Meghan’s half-sister, and they aren’t super close. But depending on what she is selling at the time, Samantha goes back and forth in how she describes her relationship with her famous sister.
In this TMZ interview from March 2021, Samantha pulls no punches as she outrageously claims that everything Meghan has told Prince Harry is a lie. She also predicts that Meghan and Harry’s relationship will end in divorce unless they take a series of measures such as couples counseling.
Of course, part of her advice is that the couple needs to apologize “to everyone that they’ve damaged,” so it seems like she is mostly fishing for attention here as someone else who thinks Meghan owes them something.
RELATED: 6 Reasons to Worry About Harry & Meghan’s Marriage
Thomas calls Meghan a liar
You can always count on Thomas Markle to spill some weird tea about Meghan. And that includes joining his daughter Samantha in calling Meghan a liar in front of the world!
That includes this clip in which he disputes Meghan’s claim that she paid for her own education at Northwestern University. He claims he paid for the tuition and that it took years to pay off the debt. This goes along with Thomas Jr.’s claim that their father paid her tuition.
Now, Thomas Markle says he feels betrayed that he was “ghosted” by his daughter while she rewrites her own history.
Samantha Markle writes a book slamming Meghan
Do you know how some people couldn’t recognize irony if it slapped them in the face? Rest assured: Samantha Markle is one of those people!
In this March 2021 interview promoting her book, Samantha complains that people assume her memoir is “a slamming, nasty tell-all” about Meghan. However, she titled her book The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister, using both a derogatory nickname for Meghan as well as her relationship to Meghan to sell the title.
But the most embarrassing part of this interview might be Samantha’s reaction when the reporter asks her, “What do you have to say to those people who say, “Oh, you’re just trying to make money off your famous half-sister’?” Watch Samantha pause before coming up with a pathetic response.
RELATED: The Biggest British Royal Family Scandals of All Time
Thomas Markle Jr. appears in court for drunk driving
All of these clips are embarrassing in their own way. This one, however, is just as sad as it is embarrassing.
In February 2019, The Sun obtained footage of Thomas Markle Jr. facing a judge in court after he was arrested for drunk driving.
Thomas Jr. has a long history of run-ins with the law, including a previous arrest for allegedly brandishing a gun at a woman after a drunken fight with his fiancée.
He can air his father’s dirty laundry all he wants, but his own dirty laundry is a matter of public record!
Meghan Markle gave a scandalous interview before she met Prince Harry
As a member of the Royal Family, Meghan is very private. But she was much more open in her days as an actress. And she really opened up in her 2013 appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
The entire clip is full of moments that must be mortifying for the Royal Family, including Meghan asking Ferguson to pinch her and him commenting on her being hairless enough to be a competitive swimmer.
But the most embarrassing part for Meghan might be when she discusses how her dad worked on the TV show Married With Children. She reveals she basically “grew up” on the set after school for 10 years.
Given the often-raunchy subject matter of the show, Meghan admits that the set was “a very perverse place for a little girl” wearing a Catholic school uniform, especially with guest stars like adult film actress Traci Lords!