Insider Claims The Queen Encouraged Meghan Markle To Fix A Fractured Relationship

It's no secret that Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, has a had a broken relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, since her wedding to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, in 2018. Although Thomas was set to walk his daughter down the aisle, those plans were scrapped after it was revealed that Thomas staged paparazzi photos of him preparing for the royal wedding, per the Daily Mail. Once the stunt came to light, Thomas said he would not be attending his daughter's nuptials due to health issues.

In the years since, things have gone from bad to worse between Meghan and Thomas. He has continued to share thoughts about the status of their relationship via the media. And, he notoriously leaked a letter she had penned privately to him to the Daily Mail without her permission (via BuzzFeed). And during Meghan and Harry's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey after they stepped down from their royal duties, the duchess explained her feelings about how her father has behaved. "I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I genuinely can't imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child. So it's hard for me to reconcile that," Meghan said.

Yet while Thomas's actions were an embarrassment to the royal family, one key person may have encouraged Meghan to find forgiveness.

Despite all of the drama surrounding Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, Queen Elizabeth II reportedly wanted the two to reconcile. "The Queen could see how damaging the situation was between Meghan and her father and she did speak to Meghan about it and tried to encourage her to talk to Thomas," royal expert Katie Nicholl wrote in her book, "The New Royals," according to Page Six.

In fact, the queen — along with her son, King Charles III (then Prince Charles), reportedly encouraged Meghan to go to Mexico to see Thomas and make things right. But as Tom Bower wrote in his book "Revenge: Meghan, Harry And The War Between The Windsors" (via Page Six), Meghan allegedly believed it was "completely unrealistic" for her to travel there "without causing a frenzy of media attention and intrusion that could bring more embarrassment to the royal family."

In the meantime, Thomas continues to speak to the press about his daughter. After Meghan spoke about possibly reconciling with the royal family, her father wondered why she can't bring herself to forgive him. "I have apologized to her multiple times for any hurt and pain I might have caused her," Thomas told the Daily Mail. "I love my daughter. She talks about forgiveness, so why not start with her own family? What about forgiving me?"