Meghan Markle’s estranged father Thomas, 81, finds love again with Filipino nurse 35 years his junior

Meghan Markle’s estranged father has found love again with a Filipino nurse 35 years his junior.

Retired Hollywood lighting director Thomas Markle, 81, said he feels ‘blessed and beyond happy’ to have found joy again after years of anguish after his daughter allegedly ‘abandoned’ him after her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.

Last night Mr Markle said: ‘I never expected to find joy and happiness again at my age. For years I felt neglected and sad, but now I’m enjoying life again.

‘I feel really lucky to have found someone so special who takes such good care of me after all the hard times.’

Mr Markle, who split from Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland when Meghan was just five, met his new love Rio Canedo, 46, last December while he was recovering from life-threatening surgery to remove his left leg below the knee.

Rio, a mother of two grown children, had no idea who Mr. Markle was when she first met him in mid-December last year after visiting the rehabilitation hospital where he worked in Cebu, the Philippines, where Mr. Markle and his son Tom Jr., 59, moved in January 2025.

Mr Markle, who has never met his son-in-law Prince Harry or his grandchildren, Lilibet Archie, aged six or four, nearly died after doctors had to amputate his lower left leg after a large blood clot blocked blood flow to his foot.

He spent four days in intensive care, then weeks in the hospital, before being transferred to a specialized rehabilitation unit at another medical center.

In 2011, Meghan Markle was photographed with her estranged father after he suffered two heart attacks on the eve of her wedding in May 2018 and was unable to walk her down the aisle.

This week he invited the Mail on Sunday to spend time with him and his new love and said he expected a backlash from the ‘Sussex Squad’, the notoriously cruel online trolls who support Meghan and Harry, but added: ‘I know some people are going to say hurtful things but I don’t care.

‘I want to talk about this because I never thought I’d be happy again.

‘I want people to know that you are never too old to find peace and love.

‘There are a lot of negative things happening in the world and if my story can give one person some hope then I’m happy.

‘Haters gonna hate but honestly I don’t care. Life is for living. ‘There is nothing more important in life than love.’

Mr Markle split from Meghan, 44, who is just two years younger than her father’s new girlfriend, on the eve of her wedding in May 2018 after he suffered two heart attacks and was unable to walk her down the aisle.

Meghan, St. He entered St. George’s Chapel alone and was escorted part of the aisle by King Charles (then Prince of Wales); his mother, Doria, was the only member of his family at the wedding.

Mr Markle claims he repeatedly tried to contact his daughter privately before going public in an attempt to reach her.

He said: ‘I still don’t know why you ghosted me.’

Prince Harry claimed in his memoir ‘The Substitute’ that Meghan ‘lost’ her father after Mr Markle started speaking to the press.

After leaving the royal family after Megxit, Mr. Markle (who says he only spoke publicly when private efforts to reach his daughter failed) was living in Rosarito, Mexico, a four-hour drive from the 16-bathroom house Meghan and Harry bought in Montecito, California.

In 2022, she suffered a devastating stroke that left her unable to speak for weeks, and she decided to move to the Philippines last year in an attempt to avoid constantly remembering her daughter and the grandchildren she longed to see but never met.

Today he regained his ability to speak, largely due to constantly talking to his new love.

He said: ‘Things weren’t so good after my stroke. I wanted to go to the other side of the world, to a place where people were kind.

‘There is a softer lifestyle in the Philippines. ‘I never expected to meet Rio and have my life change in such a wonderful way.’

Watching the couple together this week in the comfortable hotel-style room they share on the 12th floor of a rehab center in Cebu, it’s clear they have a very special bond.

Rio is constantly interested in Mr. Markle, and the two are clearly affectionate and comfortable around each other, often laughing and teasing each other.

She beams with genuine delight when he holds her hand, as he often does.

Mr Markle met his new love, Rio, last December while he was recovering from life-threatening surgery to remove his left leg below the knee.

He put her on a strict sugar-free diet and she lost a lot of weight. She pushes him to drink more water and keeps the chocolate I brought him as a gift, promising to divide it into one piece a day as a special treat.

Mr Markle, who is currently suffering from pneumonia, said: ‘I finally feel safe and well cared for.

‘I got pneumonia but I don’t feel sorry for myself because Rio takes very good care of me.

‘I don’t watch the news much. I live in a world where people are kind to each other. The nurses and doctors in the Philippines are amazing.

‘People here don’t have all the worldly goods we have in the West, but they respect and care about the elderly.

‘There are young trainee nurses here who we call ‘munchkins’ and all I hear all day is laughter.

‘I’ve felt sorry for Meghan for a long time, but now I finally feel like I can laugh again. Life is good.’

Two of the retired Hollywood lighting director’s three Emmys (TV’s Oscars) are on display in her room, but there are no photos of Meghan.

I told him I remembered visiting him in Rosarito, where pictures of Meghan and her entire family hung on the walls.

‘Yes, family is important, but how long can you live in pain? Sometimes you have to keep going. I continued on my way.”

He talks every day to his eldest daughter from his first marriage, Samantha, who lives in Florida and has MS, making a long trip to the Philippines impossible for her.

His son, Tom Markle Jr., lives 20 minutes away from Mr. Markle’s rehab center and visits once a week.

Both of his oldest children from his first marriage to Roslyn Loveless (they divorced in 1975 after 11 years of marriage) approve of his relationship with Rio.

As for Rio, she appears devoted to Mr Markle – whom she affectionately calls ‘Sir Tom’ – but knew nothing of his royal connections when they met.

He said: ‘I met him the first day he came here, December 16, when I was unloading the ambulance from the hospital. He waved to me.

‘I was a little worried because someone had told me that he was known to be moody.

‘But I started working with him and he’s such a gentleman, kind and funny.

‘I didn’t know who he was when I met him. Here in the Philippines, Meghan and Harry aren’t that big of a deal.

‘Mr Markle is a kind man. All the nurses and staff love it. “He’s so funny.”

Rio, who blushes easily, is reluctant to discuss their romance other than to say, ‘I care about her so much.’

He is divorced, has a 16-year-old son who is about to graduate from high school and wants to be a teacher, and a 22-year-old daughter who is studying pharmacy at university.

Mr Markle says he knows some people may criticize and even make fun of his recent relationship, but ‘it doesn’t matter to me, to be honest.’

He said: ‘I’ve been through hard times, which makes me appreciate the good times.

‘I finally have peace. I have suffered for many years over what happened to my youngest daughter, Meghan.

‘I could never escape the stories on the internet, in magazines and newspapers. I was constantly followed by paparazzi.

‘I live a quiet life here. I am grateful for my health, for Rio, and for the care I receive. I love the Philippines and I’m enjoying my life.

‘I don’t care what people think anymore.

‘I’m an old man and I never thought I’d be alive at almost 82.

‘What happened in Rio happened naturally. We became close and he moved in with me.

‘This is a relationship I value. He makes me very happy and takes very good care of me.

‘I hope I make him happy too.’

Mr. Markle wants to take Rio on holiday to America once he is sufficiently well.

He receives physical therapy three times a week, is about to start aquatic therapy, and hopes to be fitted with a prosthetic limb later in the year.

Mr Markle, who has worked on two hit shows (General Hospital and Married With Children), said: ‘I would love to take Rio to Los Angeles and show her the places I worked in Hollywood for many years.’

Was he going to Montecito?

He laughs.

‘No, I would never do that. “What’s the point?” he said.

‘I would love to see my grandchildren. It saddens me that King Charles only met Archie and Lilibet once or twice.

‘How strange it is that here, in my little world, me and him, the King of England, are in the same boat. Neither of us can see our grandchildren.

‘I love Meghan. She is my daughter.

‘But I don’t know how much time I have left, and I want to spend the remaining time happily. Rio makes me happy.’

As for the marriage issue; Could Meghan wake up one day and realize she has a Filipino stepmother?

Mr Markle said: ‘I would marry Rio if it was beneficial for her. But this is not something we discuss.

‘We’re just enjoying life for now. I am grateful to wake up every morning and feel safe and cared for.

‘Rio made me very happy.’