Meghan Markle’s estranged father is ‘trapped’ and unable to walk on the 19th floor of a building in the Philippines after a huge earthquake, according to the Duchess of Sussex’s half sister.
The concerns over Thomas Markle Snr, 81, were revealed by Samantha Markle on social media last night.
The former Hollywood lighting director, has been living in recent months with his son Thomas Markle Jnr, 58, in a high rise block on the island of Cebu.
The densely populated province was rocked by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake at 10pm local time (3pm BST, 10am ET) on Tuesday.
At least 69 people are said to have died in the calamity amid widespread devastation after houses and old churches collapsed, and cracks opened up in bridges and roads.
Rescuers have been sifting through rubble for survivors as local authorities rush to deliver aid and restore electricity and communication lines.
The military has deployed army and air force personnel to help the relief effort after what has been described as the country’s most serious earthquake for years.
Samantha, 60, who is known for her often erratic behaviour and a long-running feud with Meghan, disclosed her fears for her father in a post on X.
She stated: ‘My father is stuck on the 19th floor of a building in the Philippines after a massive earthquake and he can’t walk and he is trapped.’
Samantha went on to bizarrely criticise Meghan, 44, for her father’s situation, suggesting that she was somehow responsible for putting him ‘in this position’.
She later made her X account private so her posts could no longer be seen by non-followers.
Today she offered a further update, saying he is now ‘OK, and making plans to get out out [sic] of that building’.
It is not known if Thomas was in his own £500-a-month apartment when the earthquake struck, or in another high rise building on the main island of Cebu.
Samantha pointedly did not reveal whether the earthquake had damaged his apartment block, or how it had left him ‘trapped’.
The quake followed a week of back-to-back monsoons in the region which killed more than a dozen people.
Thomas who has suffered a range of health problems in the past moved 7,500 miles to the Philippines with his son in January this year from his former home in Rosarito, Mexico, a coastal town just south of Tijuana in Baja California.
The pair at first reportedly stayed in a three-star hotel before renting their high-rise flat just yards from a busy seven-lane main road.
Their apartment is considered to be relatively luxurious in the Philippines, despite its humble location, as the average wage in the country is just £7,000-a-year.
He was pictured sitting alone while resting in the blistering heat outside a supermarket near his new home in May this year, just a day after his grandson Prince Archie’s sixth birthday.
In an indication that he was struggling in the tropical climate, he was seen using a walking stick to get around uneven roads and paths as temperatures reached 33C with humidity levels at almost 90 per cent.
The former Emmy-award-winner’s son was also seen leaving their flat hand-on-hand with an unidentified young woman.
A source told the Daily Mirror at the time: ‘Thomas and his son only recently moved into the property and they are still finding their feet in Cebu after the big move abroad, but they’re here together and are firmly supporting each other.’
Cebu has a population of more than three million, and some 900,000 residents exist below the poverty line, according to figures.
Thomas was living in Mexico when he had his spectacular fallout with former Suits actress Meghan in the lead up to her wedding to Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018 which was watched by nearly two billion people worldwide.
He admitted just days before the ceremony that he had collaborated with photographers to stage pictures of himself being fitted for a suit, exercising and reading up about his daughter’s marriage.
The story, which was revealed when The Mail on Sunday showed CCTV images of him talking to photographers before pictures were taken, caused widespread media coverage and embarrassment.
He then announced that he would not be flying to London for the wedding due to health issues after reportedly suffering a heart attack.
Meghan was subsequently walked down part of the aisle by her father-in-law, then-Prince Charles, with her mother Doria being the only member of her family in attendance.
The rift became even more pronounced in the following months and years due to him repeatedly giving interviews to newspapers and television outlets, often speaking critically about her and Harry.
The duchess stated in interviews, including her infamous chat with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, that she felt betrayed by her father speaking to the press and sharing private communications.
As a result, Thomas has never met Prince Harry or his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet, nor visited their home in California. He did however, speak on the phone to Harry before their wedding fall-out in 2018.
Samantha who is Meghan’s older half-sister from their father’s first marriage, has also regularly criticised her in interviews and on social media.
She launched a legal battle against the duchess after Meghan claimed they did not grow up together and did not have a close relationship, but she lost her case.
Thomas told the Daily Mail of his move to South East Asia in January this year as he packed his bags in Mexico, taking with him treasured childhood photographs of Meghan.
He said: ‘I am ready for a change. I have felt stuck in a rut for some time and I am ready to meet new people and experience kindness.’
Mr Markle added: ‘At 80 it is time to go somewhere where the people are lovely and I can enjoy a quieter, friendlier existence.
‘In South East Asia the medical care is good, you can live reasonably cheaply, the people are kind and respect older people and the food is healthy.
‘Mostly I just want peace. At 80, none of us know how long we have left. I want whatever time I have to be peaceful with none of the awful drama of recent years.’
