Duchess Meghan's father, Thomas Markle, is speaking out about his famous daughter once again, this time to share his fears that she's struggling to adjust to life as a royal.
The retired Hollywood lighting director, 73, talked to Britain's The Sun on Sunday to claim that Prince Harry's new bride, 36, is having a difficult time in her new role as the Duchess of Sussex and is masking her pain with a smile.
"My thing about my daughter right now is that I think she is terrified. I see it in her eyes, I see it in her face and I see it in her smile. I've seen her smile for years. I know her smile," Thomas told the British tabloid. "I don't like the one I'm seeing now. This one isn't even a stage smile — this is a pained smile."
He admits that maybe she's "just having a couple of bad days. I don't know," but added, "It really worries me. I think she's under too much pressure. There's a high price to pay to be married to that family."
Thomas — who sat down with reporter James Beal in Rosarito, Mexico, where he lives in retirement — went on to bash the royal family, calling its rules "outdated."
After seeing photos of Meghan in pricey designer looks as events she's attended as a member of the royal family — after going to Prince Louis' christening last week, she and Harry made an official visit to Ireland — Thomas has branded the royal family's dress code "ridiculous," explaining, "Meghan seems like something out of an old movie. Why in 2018 are we dressing like the 1930s? Why do they have to cover their knees?"
"I think Meghan is in deeper than I am. I'm not blaming Harry or anyone but they are following rules that don't make sense to me," Thomas added. "They are no less human than anybody else. God knows, I feel sorry for them, for not being able to show emotion."
He's previously lamented the royal family's reluctance to embrace him even after he readily admitted he'd posed for paparazzi photos despite Meghan and Harry's advice warning him, "don't speak to the press," Thomas admitted in a June interview with British ITV journalist Piers Morgan, who paid Thomas for a live TV interview in June. Piers revealed afterward that Thomas did not give his daughter a head's up that he was planning to do the interview.
But according to Thomas, "The reason I am being shunned [by the royal family] is because I made a profit on the staged pictures" taken in the walk-up to Meghan and Harry's wedding, he told The Sun on Sunday. "Anyone who makes a profit off the royal family becomes shunned. But I could have made well over $100,000 by just doing a talk show. So if I moved to London and started selling cups with my daughter's face on, would they shun me?"
Thomas continued, "Half of Great Britain seems to make a fortune selling pictures of my daughter and her husband. Are they shunned?" he wondered, adding, "Does this make any sense to you or anyone else? I don't get it. I have already apologized to the royal family. I honestly think that if the queen took the time to think that she would not see me because I did some stupid photographs, that is ridiculous. I have had a fairly successful life. I'm fairly outspoken about certain things but I'm no different to any other father."