ugly tittle-tattle about Meghans handouts and a fathers grief

David Modell’s 90-minute interview with Thomas Markle strove from the outset to strike a dignified tone. It opened with an epic panning shot of azure waters lapping the shore of Markle’s adopted home of Rosarito in Mexico. The colours were super-saturated, the title credits minimalist in that voguish Hollywood fashion. Were you watching a tell-all chinwag with the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father – or the latest Fast and Furious film? 

This veneer was quick to crack over the course of Thomas Markle: My Story (Channel 5), a (by turns) gripping, pitiable and baffling documentary on Channel 5. Markle, aged 75, is clearly a frustrated and unhappy man who misses his daughter. But he also came across as oblivious as to how his actions might seem to others. Could he, for instance, understand why many would consider it a violation to share precious home videos of father and daughter from Meghan’s childhood and adolescence? 

Watching these clips felt like a transgression. That will have been so regardless of whether you are a solid monarchist, raving republican or simply somewhere in the middle.  

The Duke and Duchess, busy settling into their new home in Canada, must have been horrified to hear that Thomas was chatting to Channel 5. On the off-chance that they watched, their distress will have increased exponentially across the hour-and-a-half.

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