In the build-up to the royal wedding, Meghan Markle's family seemed to be doing all that they could to ruin her big day. Her half-sister, Samantha Grant, was busy dragging Meghan through the headlines, criticising the Duchess for her lack of communication and penning an autobiography about what it was like growing up as Meghan's sibling.
However, while the rest of the world criticised Grant for trying to make money out of her sister's happiness, she defended her right to speak out.
In an interview with TMZ, Samantha said: "[Meghan is] not going to tell me I can't speak about my life or my father's where it's a matter of public self-defence because the media is disparaging us,” she said. “I'm not going to take it, she's not qualified to suggest that I don't."
But it wasn't just Samantha that was grabbing headlines, Meghan's father, Thomas, also caused uproar after he admitted to posing for staged paparazzi photos that showed him looking up who the royal family were - something which he apologised for shortly afterwards.
It was then reported that Thomas couldn't attend the ceremony due to having surgery on a heart condition caused by the stress of the whole affair. What followed was a will-he-won't-he that lasted for days until Meghan confirmed that her father wouldn't be attending.
"Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding," she wrote in a statement, provided by Kensington Palace. "I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health."
She continued, "I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday."
Like the majority of us, Thomas ended up watching the ceremony through a screen. The father of the bride rented an Airbnb in Baja Malibu, Tijuana, Mexico.
The 73-year-old came straight from the hospital to the guest house hosted by Charlotte Jane.
Charlotte said: "His friend picked him up from hospital and brought him to me. She said he was looking for a safe haven for him to go to. She was taking care of her friend."
"He was really, really, nice.
I said it was last minute and I’d have to do some changing of the sheets and things, but he said he didn’t care he just needed somewhere to rest. He was very, very humble.
His first question right away was ‘is there a TV so I can watch the wedding?’"
Mr Markle arrived at Charlotte's on Thursday and stayed until Monday morning.
The host said: "I offered him a couple of times to do him a dinner, but he was very reluctant to unlock his door."
"When he left I said to him that I watched the wedding and I thought his daughter looked beautiful.
"He said ‘thank you’ and said ‘yes, she did’. He said the wedding was beautiful.
"I invited him to brunch across the street with friends but he said no. He was really worried about being photographed.
"I feel like he was sad not to be there. I think if he was in good health he would have been there. You could tell he had just had had surgery.
"He looked like someone who needed rest."
It seems a shame that Thomas wasn't at the wedding, which saw Meghan part-walk her self down the aisle in her father's absence. Regardless, I'm in no doubt that Thomas felt the same sense of pride and love for his daughter as he would have if he had been in attendance.
