Meghan Markle’s father calls for Duchess of Sussex to be stripped of her royal title

Meghan Markle’s father has called for the Duchess of Sussex to be stripped of her royal title and said she has ‘insulted’ the royal family with her surprise interview on the Ellen show. 

Thomas Markle, 77, who lives 70 miles away from the Sussexes mansion, was left feeling ’embarrassed’ after watching his daughter earlier this week in the former actress’ first major TV interview since her notorious Oprah tell-all alongside Prince Harry.

Meghan’s estranged father, who is a retired Hollywood lighting director, called the Duchesses appearance a ‘stupid stunt’ and said she had ‘insulted the Queen, the royal family and the British people’.

Meghan’s estranged father, who is a retired Hollywood lighting director, called the Duchesses appearance a ‘stupid stunt’ and said she had ‘insulted the Queen, the royal family and the British people

Meghan, 40, can be seen drinking milk from a bottle, squatting and eating crisps like a chipmunk as part of a cringe-worthy on-the-street prank during the show

During the interview, Meghan, 40, left a group of street vendors open-mouthed in shock by dancing and singing in front of them while referring to herself as ‘mommy’ as part of a cringe-worthy on-the-street prank during the show.

Having shared several insights into her ‘happy’ family life in California with Prince Harry and their two children, five-month-old Lilibet and two-year-old Archie, Meghan made a clear attempt to distance herself from the royal family’s reserved image with the toe-curling comedy skit.

Speaking to The Sun, Mr Markle said: ‘She insulted the Queen, the Royal Family and the British people.

‘She made a complete fool of herself and should lose her title. I love my daughter but her performance was ridiculous.’

Her surprise TV appearance came as a shock as it was long rumoured that the Duchess would give her first interview to Ellen after she and Harry emigrated in January 2020. But in the end the Sussexes chose their neighbour in Montecito, Oprah Winfrey. 

Ellen, who is ending her show after 19 seasons amid plunging ratings after being accused of running a toxic workplace last year, is close friends with Meghan having bonded at a LA dog shelter where the talk show host encouraged Meghan to adopt her first dog Bogart. The women have stayed in touch ever since.  

In response to the claims, Ellen issued an apology and sent her staff a memo in which she wrote she was ‘taking steps… to correct’ issues with her employees. 

Thomas Markle was left feeling ’embarrassed’ after watching his daughter earlier this week in the former actress’ first major TV interview since her notorious Oprah tell-all alongside Prince Harry

‘Let mommy have a taste’: The 40-year-old made a clear attempt to distance herself from the royal family’s reserved image by pranking a trio of street vendors while her close friend Ellen, 63, told her what to do and say

During her appearance earlier this week, the Duchess spoke about her Hollywood auditions, and said: ‘So I had this very old Ford Explorer Sport and at a certain point the key stopped working on the driver’s side, so you couldn’t get yourself in through the door so after auditions I would park at the back of the parking lot and I would open the trunk and climb in, pull the door shut behind me and crawl all over my seats to get out. That’s how I would come to and fro.’

Meghan told the host: ‘I would park on gate three and I would scoot on over and the security guards here would always say “break a leg, I hope you get it”. So driving today was very different.’

However Mr Markle rebuted Meghan’s claims and insisted the vehicle was not a beat-up old car’ and ‘she got a lot of help starting in Hollywood’. 

The discussion marks the second high profile interview the Duchess has given in recent months, and comes after her bombshell interview with Oprah in March.

Meghan’s description of her lack of cash while starting out as an actress came weeks after she said she ‘grew up on the $4.99 salad bar at Sizzler’ in a letter to US politicians asking them to vote for Joe Biden’s plans for better maternity and paternity pay.

Royals experts questioned whether Americans would be impressed ‘by her account of how she had to struggle’ when her estranged father Thomas put her through private school from kindergarten and she now lives in a $14million LA mansion while sitting on an estimate $100million fortune.

Her claims also faced serious questions after it emerged she previously bragged that as a schoolgirl her estranged father Thomas Markle regularly took her to one of LA’s most famous restaurants where celebrities gobble up steaks, which now cost $55.

A 2013 post from Meghan’s Instagram account, deleted when she started dating Prince Harry, reveals that the Duchess told her 3million followers of ‘happy’ times at the Musso and Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard – and hinted she ate there regularly after dance lessons.

The discussion marks the second high profile interview the Duchess has given in recent months, and comes after her bombshell interview with Oprah in March

Ms Markle shared a picture of its famous sign above a vintage Mercedes with the caption: ‘I used to have lunch with my dad here after every tap & ballet class. Happy. Thank you. More please #mussos #hollywood’.

The restaurant, opened in 1919 and famed for its grilled meat and fish, is a world away from the cheap Sizzler salad Meghan claims to have been brought up on and is loved by Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt and Keith Richards.

One critic told MailOnline: ‘She has receipts all over her Instagram contradicting her poverty letter’. Another wrote: ‘She went to one of the most expensive schools in Los Angeles – but they couldn’t afford to spend more than $5 on a weekend dinner. I mean, during this time, Thomas was working on a hit TV show and had won an Emmy. WTH is she talking about?’