Meghan Markle Reaches Out to Her Dad Thomas Markle After His Emergency Leg Amputation, Spokesperson Confirms

Meghan Markle has reached out to her father, Thomas Markle, after learning he underwent surgery to amputate his left leg and is currently in intensive care.

“I can confirm she has reached out to her father,” a spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex says in a statement.

The update follows comments from Thomas’s son, Thomas Markle Jr., who told the Daily Mail that the 81-year-old had his leg amputated below the knee on Dec. 3 in the Philippines — where the two have been living since earlier this year — after a blood clot in his thigh reportedly cut off circulation. He described the emergency surgery as “life or death,” saying his father’s foot had turned “blue then black” before doctors determined that amputation was necessary.

While Meghan’s spokesperson did not share additional details about the nature of the contact, a source says that Meghan’s outreach is very recent and came after reports of her father’s medical emergency.

Requests for comment have been sent to Thomas Markle Jr.

Thomas Jr. told the Daily Mail that his father remains in an intensive care ward and that “the next two or three days are critical” as doctors monitor him for possible infection.

This latest health scare comes after several years of reported medical issues for Thomas, including a stroke in 2022. Meghan, 44, has been estranged from her father since shortly before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. The distance between them began after Thomas admitted to staging paparazzi photos and, according to Meghan, was not honest with her about his communications with the press.

In her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan said she felt the relationship had been permanently damaged. “I’ve lost my father,” she said at the time. In the couple’s Netflix docuseries the following year, Harry said he “shouldered” some of the blame for the rupture. “She had a father before this and now she doesn’t have a father,” he said, adding, “If Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad.”

The news of Thomas’s surgery comes the same week Meghan’s latest Netflix special, With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration, premiered, highlighting her family’s holiday traditions in Montecito with Prince Harry and their children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.