Princess Diana’s former bodyguard says that Prince Harry isn’t doing enough to protect Meghan Markle from the damage her father and his side of the family are doing to her image, ET Canada is reporting.
Ken Wharfe, 69, who served as the bodyguard to Harry’s mother two decades ago, says that Harry should have known that Meghan’s dad, Thomas Markle, and to a lesser extent her half-siblings, Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Markle (who used to known as Samantha Grant), would try to embarrass his wife and make money off of her name.
“[Harry’s] not an unintelligent guy. He’s been through the mill himself, he knows what press intrusion is like.”
Indeed he does. He’s dealt with the press hounding him and his family all of his life, and indeed the press may have played a role in his mother’s death. Princess Diana was hounded by the paparazzi since Day One of her life as a Windsor, and by all accounts, the paparazzi were at least partially responsible for her August 1997 death.
But Harry, unlike Thomas Markle, has tools to help him deal with the intrusive press. Meghan’s dad, says Ken, doesn’t know how to deflect them.
“Nobody’s looking after [Thomas]. They’re going to bend his arm, there’ll be the offers of money, there’ll be the pursuing paparazzi, the invasion and the negative reporting that we’ve seen.”
Meghan Markle’s father calls Prince Harry ‘rude’ in shock new interview https://t.co/lP4letu7yd pic.twitter.com/vPnqL6TJAn
— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) August 12, 2018
Much of that is on Harry, says Wharfe. Wharfe says that Harry could have used his leverage to silence Thomas Markle early on, but for some reason, he didn’t. As examples, Wharfe points to Thomas Markle reportedly staging paparazzi photos before the Royal Wedding, and giving an interview during which he revealed embarrassing royal secrets not long afterwards.
“Harry could have done something about that. He may have advised palace officials, maybe he did, but he could have insisted on that. He could well have done, but for some reason it hasn’t happened.”
According to Fox News , Wharfe thinks that the Royal Family should have contacted Meghan’s family long before the Royal Wedding to prep them for the realities of their daughter/half-sister being the wife of a British Royal.
“These are ordinary folk… living in a foreign land and suddenly their daughter’s marrying a prince. This was always going to be a problem.”
While he thinks Harry could have easily done more to put a stop to Thomas Markle’s nonsense, he has nothing but praise for Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland. Doria has mercifully kept quiet ever since Meghan’s marriage, and on the day of the Royal Wedding, she drew high praise, from Wharfe and from the British press at large, for being poised and dignified throughout.
“It would be very difficult for any parent outside of royalty. Meghan’s mother, this diminutive lady with absolute style arriving at Windsor Castle in front of global media, that’s very daunting for anybody.”
Unfortunately for Meghan, Harry, and the rest of the Windsors, Wharfe believes that Thomas Markle will continue to be a thorn in the family’s side until for the foreseeable future.
