Unbelievable: Meghan Markle ‘experiencing anger and grief’ as her dad joins Netflix backlash…..See More

The Duchess of Sussex ’s father added more fuel to the already burning flames of their estrangement last week when he accused her of being “inauthentic” in her new Netflix series. Thomas Markle Sr, 80, who reportedly hasn’t spoken to Meghan for a number of years, told a newspaper the 43-year-old appeared “pre-planned and rehearsed” in her With Love, Meghan show.

The retired TV lighting director claimed he could tell when his daughter was “faking it” for the cameras, adding, “She’s trying so hard to be perfect that she tenses up every time the camera is on her.” Meghan, who amid all the criticism announced that she had already filmed a second series of the lifestyle show and was also launching a new podcast, reportedly hasn’t had any meaningful contact with her father since shortly after her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.

She told Oprah Winfrey in her and Harry’s bombshell interview in 2021 that she felt she’d “lost my [her] father”, and given Thomas’ latest attack on his daughter, a reconciliation seems unlikely any time soon.

Adding to the family backlash, Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, also spoke to American media last week, slamming the eight-part series. As well as taking issue with some of Meghan’s recollections of her childhood, the 58-year-old was highly dismissive of the show, saying, “Halfway through, I realised there’s something better I could be doing with my time.”

Stefan Walters, a psychologist specialising in trauma and Brainspotting therapy, told us that being reminded of the strained relationship she has with her father and half-brother in such a public sphere is likely to be difficult for Meghan. “It’s similar to couples who divorce and wish they could just go their own way to forget each other forever,” he told OK!.

But if you share blood and DNA, as Meghan does with her family, there’s always going to be a connection, they’re always going to be entwined and entangled in a way. When there’s an estrangement, whatever form that takes, it can be painful and hurtful to be reminded of that connection.

“The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. So the fact these people still feel a need to talk about Meghan suggests there are still feelings there, maybe sadness, and anger and grief, and it’s probably the same for Meghan too. It brings up that sense that they’re still emotionally connected on some level.”

Stefan adds that estrangement isn’t a linear process, and family members are often at different stages with their emotions, but having it brought into the public sphere is inevitably hurtful. “Meghan seems to be processing it in her own way, whether that might be through therapy, or talking to Harry, we don’t know what she’s doing. But bringing it into the public sphere isn’t edifying and it doesn’t serve anyone well.”

In spite of the family backlash, Meghan revealed last week that Netflix had commissioned another series of With Love, Meghan, after the first made the streaming service’s Top 10 globally, in the US and in Britain. It’s just the second show of Meghan and Prince Harry ’s five Netflix projects to break into the charts, after Polo, Heart Of Invictus and Live To Lead failed to make the list.

Meghan wrote on her official Instagram page, “If you’re loving Season 1, just wait until you see the fun we cooked up on Season 2! Thanks for joining the party, and an endless thanks to the amazing team and crew who helped bring it all to life!”

However, Meghan’s one-time supporter Katherine Ryan revealed last week that she’d done something of a U-turn regarding the former Suits actress. The comedian, who once said she loved the duchess’ confidence and voice, told listeners on her Telling Everybody Everything podcast that while she didn’t think Meghan was a bad person, she “likes cosying up to celebrities and she wants the hundred million dollar deal, and she likes the fact that she’s married to a prince”.

Suggesting she’d rather Meghan owned her change of circumstances, Katherine added, “I would rather someone lean into that and be like, ‘Oh my God, I used to be on Suits and now I’m married to a prince!’ I would rather that than this act of, ‘Oh, I’m just so humble.’”

But it hasn’t all been bad press for Meghan, who filmed the show in Montecito near to the home she shares with Harry, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three. Some of the crew have come out in her defence, with director Michael Steed telling People magazine she was “friendly” on set and “became really tight, fairly quickly” with the crew.

Another crew member revealed that Meghan organised ice-cream trucks, coffee carts and even an açai truck for the staff, and when filming wrapped, she presented them all with a monogrammed spoon engraved with “Thank You, Crew”.