Meghan Markle’s dad reveals he’s moving to other side of the world to escape ‘awful drama’

Meghan Markle’s dad has revealed he is planning to move to the other side of the world to escape the ‘awful drama’ of life as the Duchess’ father.

Former film director Thomas Markle, 80, currently lives in a secluded cliffside house in Mexico, but is already said to have started burning his unwanted possessions as he plans a “fresh start” abroad. He is famously estranged from his eldest daughter Meghan, his only child from second wife Doria Ragland, and the pair have not spoken since before her royal wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018. Thomas’s announcement comes as his daughter prepares for the release of her new Netflix show featuring a string of famous faces, including a special cameo from her husband.

Explaining his decision to move abroad aged 80, Thomas told MailOnline: “I am ready for a change. I have felt stuck in a rut for some time and I am ready to meet new people and experience kindness.” He added that he wants to live more in a more “peaceful” setting with none of the “awful drama of recent years”.

Thomas admitted he doesn’t yet know where he will relocate to, but has considered south-east Asia as one possible destination as he travelled there when he was younger, and described the region as a “place of culture and beauty”. He has decided not to renew his lease on his rented property a few miles from the US border in Rosarito, Mexico, and now hopes to move away with his son Tom Jr, 58, who is Meghan’s half brother.

Thomas has suffered a number of health scares in recent years. He had two heart attacks not long before Meghan and Harry wed in 2018, and was rushed to hospital in Mexico in May 2022 after suffering a stroke. It has left him with some speech problems, as well as issues with his back and knee.

He became estranged from Meghan in the run-up to her wedding, when he was found to have set up photo opportunities with the paparazzi. Thomas has never met his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who live with the Sussexes around 250 miles away in Montecito, California, and in a 2021 interview Meghan told Oprah Winfrey: “I grieve a lot… I’ve lost my father”.