Sixteen years before Meghan was born, her father Thomas Markle had a daughter from a first marriage. Samantha Markle lives in Florida, from where she seeks to proclaim her truth about their family.
“I grew up as an only child. I would have loved to have brothers and sisters” confided the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle to Oprah Winfrey. This sentence has turned the blood of Samantha, his half-sister, who disputes this version of the facts and sues him for defamation. She is asking for $75,000 in damages.
Last name : Born Yvonne Marie Markle, in 1997 she changed her first name to Samantha and invented the alias ‘Samantha Grant’ to attempt a media career. Meghan slams him for “changing my name back to Markle when I started dating Harry. That says a lot…”
Birth : Yvonne uttered her first cry on November 24, 1964, in New Mexico.
Kinship : She was born shortly after the marriage of Thomas Markle, director of photography in television studios, and Roslyn Loveless, secretary. The couple will also have Thomas Jr two years after Samantha, before divorcing in 1975. Later Thomas meets Doria Ragland on a film set: they marry and give birth to Meghan in 1981.
Lost custody of her three children
Marital status: Twice divorced, Samantha has three children of whom she has lost custody. From her first marriage to Earl Hale were born Ashleigh in 1985 and Christopher a year later, entrusted to their paternal grandparents after their mother was convicted of driving under the influence. From her second marriage to Scott Rasmussen was born Noelle, in 1998. The couple divorced in 2003 and Noelle asked not to see her mother anymore. Samantha now lives in Florida with a new companion, Mark Phillips (no connection with Princess Anne’s ex-husband, who has one “l” less).
Rank in the order of succession: Samantha has no connection to the royal family, she wasn’t even invited to Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry in Windsor.
She is embedded in Kensington Palace
Three things to know about her:
. In her youth Samantha tried a career as a model, and even landed a few appearances in TV series. In 2008, when she resumed studying psychology, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis: she has been moving around in a wheelchair ever since. On the day of the presentation of his Bachelor, his half-sister Meghan was still posing by his side.
. She’s kind of invasive. In October 2018, she did not hesitate to show up without an invitation in front of the gates of Kensington Palace, claiming to want to deliver a letter to Meghan. Discarded by security, she consoled herself by buying face masks of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in a nearby souvenir shop. She has since been placed on a list of people to watch as potentially dangerous to the British royal family.
. Samantha has admitted to helping organize fake paparazzi that ended up ousting Thomas Markle from her daughter’s royal wedding. Always ready to speak in the media to criticize her half-sister, she also published in 2021 the first volume of a biography entitled “The Diary of Princess Pushy”, in which she gives her version of Meghan’s personality. Her own mother Roslyn finds this attitude “embarrassing”, judges that her daughter lacks dignity and would do better to keep quiet.
Read also : All about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding