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Meghan Markle’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, is speaking out against Oprah Winfrey, who he believes is taking advantage of his daughter and Prince Harry.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have developed a close relationship with the media mogul since they moved to Montecito, Calif. In addition to sitting down with the couple for an explosive tell-all interview in March, Harry, 36, partnered with the 67-year-old for an AppleTV+ series “The Me You Can’t See,” which focuses on mental health.
Harry and Markle, 39, have been making a name for themselves since moving to Hollywood by openly and honestly discussing their time in the British royal family. However, speaking on Australia’s “60 Minutes,” Thomas alleged that it’s all a calculated effort on Winfrey’s part to profit off of the royal couple.
“For one, I think Oprah Winfrey is playing Harry and Meghan,” the former Hollywood lighting director said in a clip from the interview. “I think she’s using them to build her network and build her new shows and I think she’s taking advantage of a very weakened man and getting him to say things that you just shouldn’t be saying on television.”
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Harry and Winfrey partnered for “The Me You Can’t See,” which sees him focus on mental health and features interviews with celebrities and everyday people about how they’re working to overcome their individual struggles. The show has also seen Harry get remarkably candid about his own issues, many of which stem from losing his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997 and the royal family’s alleged indifference to his pain.
While Harry has said he hopes to open a conversation about mental health, Thomas, 76, believes that he’s being manipulated by Winfrey so that she can have an easier time “building back” her network.
Thomas Markle called out Oprah Winfrey in a recent interview.
(Getty Images)
“I think it’s a setup,” he said in his latest interview. “I think she’s patting herself on the back and making a lot of money from this.”
He added: “I think Harry is being put in a position where he’s saying things he’ll never be able to take back. That’s a horrible thing.”
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Thomas also took issue with the couple’s sit-down interview with Winfrey in which, among other things, Markle criticized the royal family for the way she was treated after marrying Harry in 2018 and subsequently stepping aside from their royal duties last year.
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In the interview, Markle discussed her own mental health and how the royals did little to help her with it. She also sent shockwaves when she revealed that conversations were had among family members, though not with Queen Elizabeth II, about how dark her baby’s skin tone would be prior to his birth.
Thomas Markle said he believes Oprah Winfrey is manipulating Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
(MEGA/Getty )
“Everything they’re doing right now seems to be going against public opinion,” Thomas alleged. “The only person benefiting from this is Oprah Winfrey.”
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The patriarch has allegedly not spoken to Markle since she married Harry in 2018. In the interview, he noted that he’s waiting for them to get in contact with him. However, Thomas revealed that he sent a letter to Winfrey with his contact information asking her to connect them and give him equal time to tell his side of the story.
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However, he claims he was never given a response.
Representatives for Winfrey did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.