Meghan Markle has addressed her relationship with her elder half-sister Samantha Markle - who dubbed her 'Princess Pushy'.
The Duchess of Sussex used her Netflix show, Harry & Meghan, to address the difficult relationship with Samatha, who has frequently criticised her in interviews. The show also includes an interview with Samantha's immigration lawyer daughter, Meghan's niece, Ashleigh Hale, who says her mum's resentment towards Meghan affected their relationship.
Ashleigh tells the programme she and her brother were raised by their grandparents after they got custody when she was two years old.
She tells the documentary: "Ultimately, they did adopt us so I was raised by my paternal grandparents., for me, they were my parents. My biological mother, I've not seen her since I was six years old.
"Later in life, around 2007, we reconnected."
Meghan adds: "I just remember my dad saying...'Samantha found her daughter and I was like...'Oh if you have her email address, I want to email her."
Ashleigh says the pair exchanged lengthy emails back and forth, before moving on to texts and calls as they chatted several times a week.
Meghan adds: "We just hit it off, I was on Suits at the time, so I said 'let's go on vacation'" and the pair visited New Orleans together.
Ashleigh added: "I think she takes on a lot of roles. There's a sister element, there's something maternal. She's a best friend, she's kind of all those things.
Meghan says: "We both craved the same things, I wanted a sister and she was like a little sister."
Addressing her mother's comments, Ashleigh says: "After the news broke, Samantha pretty quickly began expressing a lot of angry words about Meg towards me.
"What was communicated to me was maybe some resentment, and I felt like no matter what I said, her persepctive didn't change and seemed to get angrier and busier, and we stopped talking. Some people you just can't reason with."
Later on, Ashleigh shares her hurt that she couldn't attend the wedding - as Meghan recalled the upsetting moment she had to tell her after discussing with the royal comms team how Samantha wasn't invited.
Discussing the matter, Megan said: "How do we explain that this half-sister isn't invited to the wedding but the half-sister daughter's is. And so with Ashleigh, the guidance at the time was to not have her come to the wedding
"I was in the car with H. I had her on speaker phone and we talked her through it what guidance we were being giving and why. And that's painful."
Addressing it, Ashleigh said she was "hurt" but "understood where it was coming from."
Speaking about her family, Meghan said: "The UK media, I truly believe, wanted my mum’s side of my family to be the ones that all this drama could be stirred up with and they just had my mum who is classy and quiet, and then you have the other side of my family that is just acting differently.
"My half-sister, who I hadn’t seen for over a decade, and that was only for a day and a half, suddenly it felt like she was everywhere. I don’t know your middle name, I don’t know your birthday.
"You are telling these people that you raised me and you are calling me Princess Pushy?”
Her mum Doria Ragland adds: "Tom's kids were a good 17 years older than her. And Meg and I left when she was two.'"
Meghan adds: "I don't remember seeing her at my dad's house, if and when they would come around. The last time I saw her, that I remember, is when I was in my early twenties.
"I hadn't had a fall out with her. We didn’t have a closeness to be able to have (one) – and I wanted a sister.”
It then shows a screen, where it says: 'Samantha Markle maintains she and Meghan had a close relationship until 2018, and that the media fabricated quotes that have been attributed to her.'
Ahead of the series dropping, a friend close to the royal family stressed the situation concerned "real people” and that there was a “great deal of sadness” collectively at the fraught state of affairs.
A dramatic trailer for the show dropped late last week, while the Prince and Princess of Wales were in Boston ahead of William's Earthshot Prize ceremony.
Following the trip, William rushed back to London to hold crisis talks with his dad King Charles ahead of the show's release.
"It’s really important to remember that these are real people. This isn’t a soap opera. They are human beings and a family and there’s a great deal of sadness,” the friend said.
King Charles and Prince William, along with Queen Camilla and Princess of Wales Kate, are not expected to personally watch the show, but royal staff will will watch the series, and considering any possible response to allegations.
Are you looking forward to watching Harry & Meghan? Have your say in the comment section below.
The King and the royal family will be carrying on with royal duties as normal today, while millions are expected to tune in for the first three episodes of 'Harry & Meghan '.
In a trailer Prince Harry teased explosive allegations as he warned "We know the full truth” and spoken of a "hierarchy in the family”, a "dirty game” and “leaking” and “planting of stories”.
The Sussexes signed lucrative deals thought to be worth more than £100 million with Netflix and Spotify after exiting the monarchy amid the Megxit crisis.
The monarchy found itself into crisis after the Sussexes spoke to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, where they accused an unnamed member of the family of racism towards their son Archie before he was born, and the institution of failing to help the suicidal duchess.
The couple exited as senior working royals in 2020 in favour of more freedom and the ability to earn their own money in the US.
Harry said he felt let down by his dad, and "there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened” in their relationship.
In the aftermath of the Oprah broadcast, the Queen issued a statement saying “while some recollections may vary”, the issues would be taken “very seriously”, but dealt with privately as a family.
But on a podcast and a mental health Apple TV series, Harry went on to accuse his family of “total neglect” and appeared to criticise the parenting skills of Charles and the Queen and Philip, suggesting he had suffered "genetic pain”.
The first dramatic trailer for the Netflix offering dropped unexpectedly last week, with another coming at the start of this one.
The trailer for the much-awaited show featured several photos of Meghan and Harry throughout the years, including wedding snaps and photos of them on holiday.
The second set of episodes will drop at the same time next week and are expected to feature even more drama - with the date set to clash with the Princess of Wales's carol concert in memory of the late Queen.
It dropped while The Prince and Princess of Wales were in Boston ahead of William's Earthshot Prize ceremony, and he rushed back to London to hold crisis talks with his dad King Charles ahead of the show's release.
A senior royal source said: "There is a completely united front from the King and his family concerning the numerous attempts to privately make peace with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which sadly have once again resulted in the other side wishing to air their repeated grievances to the world.
"If there is a need to respond to anything in the upcoming series then you can be assured that response will be swift and robust."
What are your thoughts on Harry & Meghan? Have your say in the comment section below.
