Meghan Markle faced backlash after talking about the importance of family in her first public speech since joining Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Germany.
The Duchess of Sussex landed in Dusseldorf on Tuesday and soon made her debut in front of contestants apologizing for her delayed arrival at the event.
She explained she had been busy spending time with her children Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2, at their home in Montecito, doing the school run and treating them to milkshakes.
But her comments sparked the fury of royal author Tom Bower, who questioned how the Duchess could stress the importance of spending time with her family while she and Prince Harry remain estranged from both their families bar a few members.
Bower said: “For her to pretend she was late because she had to give her children milkshakes was just ludicrous.
“This is a woman who talked tonight about the importance of family… The importance of family for Meghan Markle, who did her best to destroy the Royal Family, who ignores her own father, who talks about how we have to look after victims… And leaves her father in Mexico with a stroke and doesn’t visit him. And talks about family values.”
The Duchess of Sussex hasn’t personally met with her father since shortly before her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
Thomas Markle Sr. was scheduled to walk his youngest daughter down the aisle of St. George’s Chapel but ultimately pulled out after it emerged he had struck a deal with paparazzi to have snaps taken of himself reading books about England before his visit.
He suffered a heart attack immediately after, and last year he was struck with a stroke that left him struggling with his speech.
The deterioration of their relationship extended to the Duchess’s half-siblings, Samantha and Thomas Markle Jr. She remains very close with her mom, Doria Ragland.
Most famously, Meghan and Harry have been engaged in a bitter one-sided war of words with the British Royal Family since before they announced they would step down from their official royal roles in 2020.
Ever since then, the couple has leveled a series of bombshell allegations at senior members of the institution that only exacerbated the feud.
Harry has particularly been struggling with his relationship with Prince William, a topic he widely discussed in his memoir Spare earlier this year.
But Meghan set the bitterness aside for her Invictus Games 2023 debut, speaking about spending time with her children before joining Harry and the “amazing” Invictus family.
She said: “It is so special to be here sorry I’m a little late to the party. I had to spend a little more time getting our little ones settled at home and get them to drop off.
“Three milkshakes and a school drop off and I just landed a couple of hours ago and I am thrilled that the first event I can do for Invictus is here with all of you. It is amazing and I hear it has got off to a good start so far.”
She added: “I am very proud of the Invictus family that are here. Like so many of you, you know this is about friends and family and the community of Invictus has created and Fisher house created.
“So many people at home are rooting for you. Thank you, and look forward to a fantastic week. I can’t wait until one day to bring our kids so they can experience how fantastic it is.”
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