Meghan Markle's father, Thomas Markle, is in intensive care in a hospital in the Philippines after he was rushed into emergency surgery. The 81-year-old was in surgery for three hours and will require further surgery to remove a blood clot, as his son, Thomas Jr., told the Daily Mail.
"I took dad to a hospital close to our home, and they did various scans, and the doctors said his life was in imminent danger," he recalled.
"They raced us by ambulance, with the sirens going, to a much bigger hospital in the centre of the city. My dad has undergone emergency surgery. I would ask everyone around the world to keep him in their thoughts."
Thomas shares his youngest daughter, the Duchess of Sussex, with Doria Ragland, whom he was married to for nine years until their split in 1987.
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He and Meghan have been estranged since 2018 when he staged paparazzi photos before her wedding to Prince Harry, later claiming that he wanted to improve his public image.
Thomas also suffered two heart attacks the night before Meghan and Harry's wedding, preventing him from being there on her special day. Instead, King Charles, who was the Prince of Wales at the time, walked her partway down the aisle in his stead.
Meghan's older sister, Samantha Markle, told the publication that she is praying for Thomas' health to improve. "He is a strong man, but he has been through so much. I am praying that he is strong enough to survive this," she said.
"My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke and an earthquake. I hope he can pull through this." He suffered a massive stroke in 2022 and underwent months of therapy to regain his speech.
Thomas Jr. told the Daily Mail that he hoped Meghan would reach out to their father, despite their differences. "My only wish is that Meghan shows my father some compassion. He is literally fighting for his life."
Thomas Jr. moved with his dad to the Philippines in early 2025 so as to "escape" the constant media attention on Meghan and Harry.
"Every day, there was some story or other about Meghan and Harry. It was a constant reminder that my daughter is no longer speaking to me. I still do not understand why she continues to ghost me. My only wish is to see my grandchildren before I die," he told the publication previously.
Meghan and Harry share kids Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four. The mother of two's new holiday special from her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, was released on Wednesday, and Meghan has yet to comment on her father's condition.
Her husband previously shared on their joint Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, that he regretted the breakdown of her relationship with Thomas.
"She had a father before this," he said. "Now she doesn't have a father. I shouldered that. Because if Meg wasn't with me, then her dad would still be her dad."