Meghan Markle's father has released an emotional five-page letter from his daughter, in which she tells him he has broken her heart "into a million pieces".

In the letter, the former Suits star begs Thomas Markle to stop "exploiting" her marriage to Prince Harry and fabricating stories, claims he has made no attempt to contact her since the wedding and accuses him of snubbing her attempts to help after he had two heart attacks.

The existence of such a text was first alluded to last week when five close friends of the Duchess gave anonymous interviews to People Magazine. Mr Markle claims he was forced to release the handwritten note, sent in August 2018, after Meghan friends claimed it was written in an attempt to heal the rift.

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He insists that their account has "vilified" him, stating: "I thought it [the letter] would be an olive branch. Instead, it was a dagger to the heart."

Published today by The Mail on Sunday, it sees the pregnant royal plead with her father to stop lying, stating that living "with a clear conscience is more valuable than any payment in the world."

"Daddy, it is with a heavy heart that I write this, nothing understanding why you have chosen to take this path, turning a blind eye to the pain you're causing," Meghan writes. "Your actions have broken my heart into a million pieces - not simply because you have manufactured such unnecessary and unwarranted pain, but by making the choice to not tell the truth as you are puppeteered into this. Something I will never understand."

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She continues to claim that Mr Markle told the press he called her to say he wasn't coming to the wedding when he did not. In addition, the former actress writes that she learned of Thomas’ heart attack "through a tabloid", a revelation she calls "horrifying".

The 37-year-old also speaks of her hurt at Thomas siding with her half-sister Samantha, who has attacked her again and again in the press, while she "silently suffered at the hand of her vicious lies".

"I have only ever loved, protected, and defended you, offering whatever financial support I could, worrying about your health... and always asking how I could help," she writes. "So the week of the wedding to hear about you having a heart attack through a tabloid was horrifying. I called and texted... I begged you to accept help - we sent someone to your home... and instead of speaking to me to accept this or any help, you stopped answering your phone and chose to only speak to tabloids."

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Meghan continues: "If you love me, as you tell the press you do, please stop. Please allow us to live our lives in peace. Please stop lying, please stop creating so much pain, please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband...

"I realise you are so far down this rabbit hole that you feel (or may feel) there's no way out, but if you take a moment to pause I think you'll see that being able to live with a clear conscience is more valuable than any payment in the world."

The release of Meghan's letter comes after her friends claimed Mr Markle's response to the letter was to ask his daughter to pose for a media photo op with him.

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The friend said: "He writes her a really long letter in return, and he closes it by requesting a photo op with her. And she feels like, 'That’s the opposite of what I’m saying. I’m telling you I don’t want to communicate through the media, and you’re asking me to communicate through the media. Did you hear anything I said?' It’s almost like they’re ships passing."

Talking last night, Mr Markle said it was unfair for his daughter's friends to use the media to "spin a line".

The 74-year-old told The Mail: "There was no loving message in there, nothing asking about my health, nothing from her saying, 'Let’s get together and heal our differences.'"

Meghan Markle writes emotional letter to father saying he's broken her heart 'into a million pieces'