Meghan Markle's father, Thomas Markle, has suffered a major stroke.
The 77-year-old estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex was rushed to a hospital from Tijuana, Mexico, where he resides, to Chula Vista, California, around 9:30 p.m. on May 23.
It's not the first time Thomas Markle has had a major health incident. He reportedly suffered two heart attacks in the days leading up to Meghan and Harry's royal wedding in 2018, resulting in him not being able to attend. Save for brief written correspondence, Thomas and his daughter have been estranged since.
Thomas' stroke comes just days before he was set to travel to the United Kingdom. Like his daughter, he was planning to be present across the pond for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. He wouldn't be seeing Meghan or his grandchildren while there, however. He was set to provide commentary for right wing media outlet GB News.
The latest updates from daughter Samantha Markle indicate that Thomas is struggling following what was determined to be a massive stroke. She says the family was concerned about his blood pressure prior to the incident. By the time paramedics arrived, he was only able to communicate by writing.
"I don't think he saw it coming but he's doing better — he's in good spirits," Samantha told GB News, per the Daily Mail.
"It's going to take several … maybe six months, maybe a year, to get his speech back. He can work with a speech therapist and it's good, the attack he had in the speech producing part of the brain wasn't so big that he can't recover."
"But you know when you're almost 80 years old, there's less plasticity and things are more difficult," she continued.
"So he has the memory of the words and the associations, the stroke was on the right side of the brain, so the damage was on the left and he's left handed. But it also impaired his speech and his ability to swallow."
Samantha isn't the only one who commented on Thomas' condition. Photographer Karl Larsen, who cohosts a podcast with Thomas, spoke with The Sun about his condition.
"Thomas Sr. thought he had a stroke and was taken to hospital. He wrote it on a piece of paper because he can't speak right now," he continued.
"He lost his voice, I don't know why, so he had to write it down and he gave it to someone who he was with. He was just barely present enough to write on a piece of paper."
"He is in a hospital in the Chula Vista area of San Diego. I'm here waiting to see him. I don't know how serious it is yet," he continued.
"We were due to leave for London to be there for the Jubilee on Monday. Now it's all up in the air, I don't know what will happen. I can't possibly see how that would still be on."
A source says that Thomas hasn't made moves to take better care of himself since his 2018 health issues.
"Tom never changed his diet after his heart attacks four years ago before Meghan's wedding," the source shared.
"He didn't change his diet at all, he still eats a lot of fast food. He should have gone into hospital last week when he was first sick. No one expects Meghan to visit him, that’s so unlikely, even now."
The fact that those close to Thomas know that it's unlikely this incident will force a reconciliation hasn't stopped those online from weighing in on one side or another. Some feel that Meghan should make peace with her father, while her supporters believe she owes him nothing after the way he's behaved.
