The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan, has been personally calling several hospitals in the Philippines in a frantic attempt to locate her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
The Telegraph reported the 44-year-old duchess is determined to have a handwritten note delivered to the 81-year-old after he reportedly underwent a leg amputation below the knee during surgery to remove a dangerous blood clot.
After emailing her father without success since reports of his surgery emerged on Wednesday, Meghan has taken matters into her own hands states the report. The duchess has “personally called several hospitals,” but so far, her efforts have been in vain.
The Telegraph decribed how Meghan’s aides believe Mr Markle is a patient at a hospital in Cebu, Philippines, where he relocated from Mexico earlier this year. However, they have not yet been able to confirm this information.
Mail on Sunday photos spark search
This development comes after the Mail on Sunday published recent pictures of Mr Markle.
Earlier this week, the Daily Mail revealed that Mr Markle was “fighting for his life” after collapsing at his Cebu home. He underwent emergency surgery, followed by a second operation to remove a blood clot, which reportedly resulted in the amputation of his leg below the knee.
The retired television lighting director made a public appeal for Meghan to contact him after the incident, begging his daughter to see him “one more time before I die.”
Meghan and her father have not been in contact since 2018, following a fallout over staged paparazzi photographs ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry. However, sources claim that the duchess has “tried” to reach out to her father in the past.
Heart attacks prevented Markle from attending royal wedding
Mr Markle suffered two heart attacks on the eve of Meghan and Harry’s 2018 wedding, preventing him from flying to the UK. In his absence, the then-Prince of Wales, now King Charles, walked Meghan down the aisle.
The Duke of Sussex has never met his father-in-law, and in his memoir, “Spare,” he wrote that his wife was “mourning” the loss of her father. Mr Markle has also never met his grandchildren, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
Last contact: Post-wedding text and wishes for happy honeymoon
After Meghan’s wedding ceremony, Mr Markle texted her to tell her she looked beautiful. They discussed the wedding, and he wished the couple a happy honeymoon. “That was the last call,” he told a tabloid newspaper.
Before moving to the Philippines, Mr Markle gave numerous interviews to television networks and newspapers about his daughter, begging her to get in touch. He claimed he had been “shunned and ghosted” and vowed to do an interview every month until she made contact.
Extracts of a letter Meghan wrote to her father in August 2018, begging him to stop talking to the media, were later published in the Mail on Sunday.
‘Confusion’ as Meghan tries to make contact
The Telegraph reported Duchess instructed aides to try and establish whether the recent news reports concerning her father’s health were accurate before attempting to make contact through email. However, Mr Markle told the Mail on Sunday he was “confused” by reports of attempted contact, insisting he had not changed his number and had received no messages.
It was then claimed that the email was sent to an address Mr Markle had not used for five years, but sources said it appeared to have been delivered and did not bounce back.
Surgeon describes amputation as “life-or-death” procedure
One of Mr Markle’s surgeons in the Philippines told The Mail on Sunday that the procedure to amputate his foot was a matter of “life and death.” The surgeon explained that a massive blood clot in Mr Markle’s thigh had stopped circulation to his foot and lower leg, necessitating the removal of the foot to prevent a potentially fatal infection from reaching his heart.
On Friday evening, Meghan’s spokesman confirmed, “I can confirm she has reached out to her father.”
