BREAKING NEWSMeghan Markle's Father Thomas Hospitalized in ICU After Emergency Surgery, Son Reveals: 'His Life Was in Imminent Danger'
Meghan Markle's dad, Thomas Markle, is in the ICU.
Dec. 3 2025, Published 3:51 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle's father, Thomas Markle, is fighting for his life after being rushed to a hospital in the Philippines for an emergency surgery.
The estranged dad of Prince Harry's wife remains in an intensive care unit after being hospitalized on Tuesday, December 2, for an undisclosed illness that required immediate medical attention.
His son, Thomas Markle Jr., 59, confirmed his 81-year-old father's scary health crisis while speaking to Daily Mail hours after the emergency occurred.
Thomas Markle was rushed to a hospital in the Philippines, where he lives.
"I took dad to a hospital close to our home and they did various scans and the doctors said his life was in imminent danger," he revealed on Wednesday, December 3. "They raced us by ambulance, with the sirens going, to a much bigger hospital in the center of the city."
Thomas Jr. said his dad "has undergone emergency surgery" and asked "everyone around the world to keep him in their thoughts."
The retired television lighting director must undergo a second procedure so doctors can remove a blood clot, his son explained.
Meghan Markle has been estranged from her dad, Thomas, since 2018.
Thomas' eldest daughter, Samantha Markle, also responded to her father's medical emergency in a statement to the news outlet.
"He is a strong man, but he has been through so much. I am praying that he is strong enough to survive this," the 61-year-old admitted. "My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke and an earthquake. I hope he can pull through this."
While Thomas is close with his eldest son and daughter — whom he welcomed during his first marriage to ex-wife Roslyn Markle before their 1975 divorce — he has been estranged from Meghan for years.
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Inside Meghan Markle's Estranged Relationship With Dad Thomas
Meghan Markle has two half-siblings, Thomas Jr. and Samantha.
Thomas welcomed Meghan, 44, with his ex-wife Doria Ragland, 69, in 1981, six years before their divorce was finalized.
Meghan hasn't been on good terms with her dad since 2018, when he was accused of orchestrating staged paparazzi photos ahead of her royal wedding to Prince Harry, 41.
The Duchess of Sussex shed light on her and Thomas' estranged relationship during her 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan.
"H and I called my dad. I said, ‘They’re saying you’re taking money from the tabloids to stage photos. Is this true?’ He says, ‘No,’” she recalled at the time."And on that call, I’d said to him, ‘Look. If they can’t stop this story, then it’s going to come out tomorrow, so why don’t we send someone right now to your house to get you out of there now because if that’s the case, your house will be swarmed by media. We’ll get you out.'"
Thomas Markle shares his daughter Meghan with ex-wife Doria Ragland.
She continued, "He said, 'No. I have things I need to do.' And it felt really cagey. I was like, ‘It doesn’t make sense.’ And when we hung up, I looked at H. I was like, ‘I don’t know why but I don’t believe him.'"
Thomas ended up ditching Meghan and Harry's wedding, claiming he couldn't attend because he suffered a heart attack.
In the docuseries, Harry opened up about feeling he's to blame for Meghan's lack of relationship with her dad.
"She had a father before this," he expressed. "Now she doesn’t have a father. I shouldered that. Because if Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad,” Harry explained. “It’s amazing what people would do when offered a huge amount of money. Fifty thousand, a hundred thousand, to hand over photographs, to create a story. And thank God most of them said no."
