Queen Elizabeth Tried To Convince Meghan Markle To Mend Relationship With Father: Book

Queen Elizabeth II encouraged Meghan Markle to reconcile with her estranged dad, according to a new book.

The late monarch, who died on Sept. 8, never publicly addressed Markle's falling-out with her father, Thomas Markle Sr., following the Duchess of Sussex's wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018.

However, the Queen reportedly tried to convince Prince Harry's wife to reach out to her father and try to mend fences with him, Vanity Fair royal editor Katie Nicholl wrote in her new book on the royal family, "The New Royals."

"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," Nicholl wrote, according to Page Six.

An anonymous royal source told the "Harry: Life, Loss and Love" author that Queen Elizabeth felt that "the whole thing was quite badly handled with Thomas Markle and if it had been done differently, it would have come out better," the book said.

The Queen also thought that it was a mistake that her grandson didn't travel to Mexico to meet his future father-in-law ahead of the royal wedding, according to the book.

"I think she felt that Harry should certainly have met Thomas Markle, and it was unfortunate that that had to happen," Nicholl wrote.

Thomas, 78, was set to walk his daughter down the aisle at St. George's Chapel in England on May 19, 2018, when photos surfaced of him allegedly getting a suit measured for the wedding and perusing books about the U.K. The former lighting director for TV soaps and sitcoms later admitted that he worked with a paparazzo to stage the photos.

Thomas eventually bowed out of the royal wedding, later undergoing heart surgery.

King Charles III stepped in to fill Thomas' role during the ceremony, walking Meghan down the aisle.

Thomas' staged photos and absence from the wedding led to his falling-out with his daughter, who allegedly later stopped talking to him.

Markle's relationship with her dad further deteriorated after she accused him of leaking a private letter that she wrote to him after the wedding.

The Duchess of Sussex sued the Mail on Sunday for publishing the letter and won the lawsuit. In the letter, the former "Suits" star begged her dad to "stop creating so much pain."

"Please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband ... I realize you are so far down this rabbit hole that you feel (or may feel) there's no way out, but if you take a moment to pause I think you'll see that being able to live with a clear conscience is more valuable than any payment in the world," she wrote.

In addition to her hopes of reconciliation between Markle and her dad, Queen Elizabeth also wished that Prince Harry and the rest of the royal family would repair their relationship. The prince has been estranged from his older brother Prince William and other royals since he and Markle stepped back from royal duties and moved to California in 2020.

"The Queen adored Harry right to the end, and Harry adored her," historian Robert Hardman told People. "I think she was one of the conduits between Windsor and California and it would have been one of her dearest wishes that they patch things up."