Meghan Markle's father suffers a stroke ahead of trip to London for Queen's Platinum Jubilee

Meghan Markle's father, Thomas Markle Sr., has suffered a stroke just days before he was due to travel to the UK for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. 

• Thomas Markle Sr. has suffered from a stroke, his daughter, Samantha Markle has confirmed. 
• The Duchess of Sussex's father was rushed to a Californian hospital on Monday after experiencing pain at his home in Rosarito, Mexico. 
• In other royal news, Emma Raducanu reveals Queen's sweet gesture was a 'pinch me' moment for the tennis star.
  

Thomas Markle is 'recovering in hospital' after suffering from a stroke, his eldest daughter, Samantha, has revealed. 

The estranged father of Meghan Markle was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Chula Vista, California on Monday evening after experiencing pain at his home in Rosarito, Mexico. 

The sudden illness occurred just a few days before the 77-year-old was due to fly to the UK to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and four years after he had two heart attacks that required surgical treatment. According to his representatives, Thomas was unable to speak when he arrived at the hospital and had to write down his symptoms on a scrap of paper for doctors to read. He has yet to be discharged from the medical facility, according to Samantha. 

It remains unknown if the retired lighting director's hospitalization will impact Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's plans to visit England for the monarch's 70th-anniversary celebrations next week. The Duchess of Sussex has reportedly not spoken to her father since 2018, after falling out with him over his refusal to stop talking to the tabloids. 

“I grieve a lot,” Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. “I mean, I’ve lost my father." 

She also spoke about the British press' relentless pursuit to track down Thomas, who has been separated from her mum, Doria Ragland, since she was six years old. 

“For over a year, the U.K. tabloids were trying to find my dad, offering people so much money to try to find his address," the 40-year-old recalled. "Once they did, I remember being told there was a huge headline like, ‘We Found Him!’ or ‘We Got Him!’” 

GB News presenter, Dan Wootten, has expressed regret over Thomas' recent health scare. 

"I am devastated to report this news, just seven days before Thomas would have joined me in London to celebrate the Queen's 70th year on the throne for a TV special on my GB News show, fulfilling his long-held wish to visit Windsor Castle," he wrote in the Mail Online on Monday. 

Thomas had also previously confirmed he would be making the transatlantic trip for the highly-anticipated Jubilee, which will see Harry and Meghan reunite with the Royal Family for the first time since their emigration to North America in January 2020. 

"I'm looking forward to it," he told GB News last month. "I'm going to show my respect for the Queen and I'm going to make sure the Queen understands my entire family respects the Queen and the royals and we admire them and we want them to know that is how we feel about them."