In the weeks before the royal wedding, the big question on everyone's lips was: Would Meghan's father make it to the nuptials?

Sadly, the answer to that question was no, with Thomas Markle claiming that late minute heart surgery had stopped him from travelling to London to walk his daughter down the aisle. However now, a shocking new report is alleging that the 73-year-old retired television lighting engineer faked an emergency operation and used it as an excuse not to attend the wedding, as well as to garner sympathy from the public.

The Daily Mail claims to have interviewed an anonymous source, a "close friend" of the Duchess of Sussex's, who told them that the real victim of the story was not the former American actress' father, but instead Meghan herself.

'"The whole story about Meghan's father undergoing heart surgery was made up," the source reportedly told the Daily Mail. "He had to come up with a good enough reason not to attend her wedding and avoid any further embarrassment after those staged photos went public."

They continued: "The poor health story was his way of generating some compassion from the public, and taking the attention off those staged photos which were a complete embarrassment to Meghan and the royal family. Of course Meghan is upset with him. Her father missed her wedding. He missed walking her down the aisle all because of that ill-conceived publicity stunt. It was really just such poor judgement on his part. Now everyone's feeling sorry for him. They shouldn't. He brought this upon himself and if he were truly sick Meghan would have made an effort to visit him. Don't feel sorry for him. If anything, feel sorry for Meghan."

In addition, the newspaper writes that when they reached out to the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, where Thomas told his interviewers on ITV's Good Morning Britain he had been admitted, the clinic replied that "no such name" had ever checked into the hospital. Of course, it is possible that Meghan's father used a moniker when he checked in.

The astonishing claims are certain to vex the Markle family, namely the Duchess' half-sister Samantha. Only this week, in a series of tweets to her private account, Samantha told Meghan that if their father died, she would hold Meghan personally responsible. Posting a news article that showed the recently married royal couple touring the Nelson Mandela Centenary Exhibition at the Southbank Centre in London, she wrote: "How about you pay tribute to your own father?! Enough is enough. Act like a humanitarian act like a woman! If our father dies I'm holding you responsible, Meg!"

She added: "Glad you have so much time to gallivant around paying tribute to others while ignoring your own father! How cold can you be and look in the mirror? Harry? I guess I was right... My father is not an embarrassment for loving his daughter! The Royals are an embarrassment for being so cold. You should be ashamed of yourselves."

There has been no comment from Thomas Markle, Meghan Marke or the Palace about the Daily Mail's allegations so far.

In the weeks before the royal wedding, the big question on everyone's lips was: Would Meghan's father make it to the nuptials?

Sadly, the answer to that question was no, with Thomas Markle claiming that late minute heart surgery had stopped him from travelling to London to walk his daughter down the aisle. However now, a shocking new report is alleging that the 73-year-old retired television lighting engineer faked an emergency operation and used it as an excuse not to attend the wedding, as well as to garner sympathy from the public.

The Daily Mail claims to have interviewed an anonymous source, a "close friend" of the Duchess of Sussex's, who told them that the real victim of the story was not the former American actress' father, but instead Meghan herself.

'"The whole story about Meghan's father undergoing heart surgery was made up," the source reportedly told the Daily Mail. "He had to come up with a good enough reason not to attend her wedding and avoid any further embarrassment after those staged photos went public."

They continued: "The poor health story was his way of generating some compassion from the public, and taking the attention off those staged photos which were a complete embarrassment to Meghan and the royal family. Of course Meghan is upset with him. Her father missed her wedding. He missed walking her down the aisle all because of that ill-conceived publicity stunt. It was really just such poor judgement on his part. Now everyone's feeling sorry for him. They shouldn't. He brought this upon himself and if he were truly sick Meghan would have made an effort to visit him. Don't feel sorry for him. If anything, feel sorry for Meghan."

In addition, the newspaper writes that when they reached out to the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, where Thomas told his interviewers on ITV's Good Morning Britain he had been admitted, the clinic replied that "no such name" had ever checked into the hospital. Of course, it is possible that Meghan's father used a moniker when he checked in.

The astonishing claims are certain to vex the Markle family, namely the Duchess' half-sister Samantha. Only this week, in a series of tweets to her private account, Samantha told Meghan that if their father died, she would hold Meghan personally responsible. Posting a news article that showed the recently married royal couple touring the Nelson Mandela Centenary Exhibition at the Southbank Centre in London, she wrote: "How about you pay tribute to your own father?! Enough is enough. Act like a humanitarian act like a woman! If our father dies I'm holding you responsible, Meg!"

She added: "Glad you have so much time to gallivant around paying tribute to others while ignoring your own father! How cold can you be and look in the mirror? Harry? I guess I was right... My father is not an embarrassment for loving his daughter! The Royals are an embarrassment for being so cold. You should be ashamed of yourselves."

There has been no comment from Thomas Markle, Meghan Marke or the Palace about the Daily Mail's allegations so far.