ORDINARILY, IโD HAVE GONEย to Megโs father first, asked for his blessing. But Thomas Markle was a complicated man.
He and Megโs mother split when she was two, and thereafter she divided her time between them. Monday to Friday with Mum, weekends with Dad. Then, for part of high school, sheโd moved in with her father full-time. They were that close.
After college sheโd traveled the world, but always stayed in constant contact with Daddy. She still, even in her thirties, called him Daddy. She loved him, worried about himโhis health, his habitsโand often relied upon him. Throughout her run onย Suitsย sheโd consulted him every week about the lighting. (Heโd been a lighting director in Hollywood, won two Emmys.) In recent years, however, he hadnโt been working regularly, and heโd sort of disappeared. Heโd rented a small house in a Mexican border town and wasnโt doing well overall.
In every way, Meg felt, her father would never be able to withstand the psychological pressures that come with being stalked by the press, and that was now happening to him. It had long been open season on everyone in Megโs circle, every current friend and ex-boyfriend, every cousin, including those sheโd never known, every former employer or former co-worker, but after I proposed there was a frenzy aroundโฆthe Father. He was considered the prize
catch. When theย Daily Mirrorย published his location, paps descended on his house, taunting him, trying to tempt or lure him outside. No fox hunt, no bear baiting was ever more depraved. Strange men and women dangled offers of money, gifts, friendship. When none of that worked, they rented the house next door and shot him day and night through his windows. The press reported that, as a result, Megโs father had nailed plywood over his windows.
But this wasnโt true. Heโd often had plywood nailed over his windows, even when living in Los Angeles, well before Meg started dating me.
Complicated man.
Theyโd then begun following him into town, tailing him on his errands, walking behind him as he went up and down the aisles of local shops. Theyโd run photos of him with the headline: GOT HIM!
Meg would often phone her father, urge him to remain calm.ย Donโt speak to them, Daddy. Ignore them, theyโll go away eventually, as long as you donโt react. Thatโs what the Palace says to do.
