Find Out

Meghan Markle’s Sister: Who Is Samantha Markle?

Meghan Markle, Samantha Markle
Shutterstock/Kevin Manning/MEGA
Meghan Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry4th Endeavour Fund Awards, Mansion House, London, UK - 05 Mar 2020The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards. Their Royal Highnesses celebrate the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women who have taken part in remarkable sporting and adventure challenges over the last year. The Endeavour Fund supports the ambitions of these men and women to use challenges to help with their physical, psychological and social recovery and rehabilitation. The annual awards, now in their fourth year, brings together hundreds of wounded, injured and sick Service personnel and veterans as well as their families, friends and supporters of the military community. The awards ceremony, which will be hosted by former Invictus Games medallist JJ Chalmers, will see four prizes awarded on the night: Recognising Achievement Award, Celebrating Excellence Award, Henry Worsley Award and The Community Impact Award, a brand-new award for this year Wearing Victoria Beckham
Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex visit to Canada House, London, UK - 07 Jan 2020 Their Royal Highnesses wanted to meet with HE. Ms. Janice Charette, High Commissioner in Canada to the UK as well as staff to thank them for the warm Canadian hospitality and support they received during their recent stay in Canada. Following their meeting with the High Commissioner, Their Royal Highnesses will visit the Canada Gallery and view a special exhibition by Indigenous Canadian artist, Skawennati. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will also meet different members of the High Commission team who work in a range of sectors supporting the partnership between Canada and the UK. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex last visited Canada House on Commonwealth Day in March 2019 where they met and spoke with young Canadians from a wide range of sectors including fashion, the arts, and business and academia, about their experiences as expats as well as opportunities for young people working in the Commonwealth.
Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex at the Justice Desk initiative in Nyanga township, Cape Town, South Africa Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex visit to Africa - 23 Sep 2019 View Gallery View Gallery 25 Photos.
News Writer

Learn more about Meghan Markle’s relationship with her half-sister, Samantha, following Meghan’s explosive tell-all interview with Oprah. 

Meghan Markle shared a number of shocking revelations during her intimate conversation with Oprah Winfrey on March 7. No topic was off limits in the interview, which later featured Meghan’s husband, Prince Harry. The Duchess of Sussex even discussed her estranged relationship with members of her family, including her half-sister on her father’s side, Samantha Markle. Learn more about Samantha, Meghan’s relationship with her half-sister, and more.

Who Is Samantha Markle?

A photo of Samantha Markle [Kevin Manning/MEGA].
Samantha Markle, 56, is the daughter of Thomas Markle and Roslyn Loveless, her father’s first wife. She also has a brother named Thomas Markle Jr. Samantha followed in her father’s footsteps and worked in the entertainment industry for a number of years as a writer and actress. Prior to changing her last name to Markle, Samantha went by the last name Grant. As news of Meghan’s relationship with Prince Harry became widely publicized, Samantha appeared on a number of talk shows in Britain and America to talk about her relationship with Meghan. Consequently, Samantha went on to publish a supposed tell-all book, The Diary Of Princess Pushy’s Sister Part 1, which comes out this year, 2021.

Meghan Markle’s Relationship With Samantha

Over the course of her relationship and subsequent marriage to Prince Harry, Meghan’s relationship with members of her father, Thomas Markle’s, family became more strained. Leading up to the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan’s half-sister continued to go on morning talk shows and talk about Meghan. The drama in Meghan’s family became even worse when Meghan’s father suffered a heart attack and made the decision not to fly to the United Kingdom for his daughter’s wedding. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, was in attendance at the royal wedding.

More recently, Meghan went into detail about her relationship with her sister during her March 7 CBS interview with Oprah. “I think it would be very hard to ‘tell-all’ when you don’t know me,” Meghan said, referencing her half-sister’s book. “This is a very different situation than my dad. When you talk about betrayal, betrayal comes from someone you have a relationships with. I don’t feel comfortable talking about people I really don’t know,” Meghan explained.

“I grew up as an only child, which everyone who grew up around me knows. I wished I had siblings. I would’ve loved to have siblings. I’m so excited to be pregnant so that Archie [Meghan and Prince Harry’s one-year-old son] has someone. The last time I saw [Samantha] must’ve been at least 18, 19 years ago. Before that, 10 years before that,” Meghan shared with Oprah.

Meghan even claimed that her sister, who went by the last name Grant for a number of years, only changed her last name when Meghan and Prince Harry started dating. “She changed her last name back to Markle, I think she was in her early 50s at that time, only when I started dating Harry. So, I think that says enough,” Meghan alleged.

The Rift In Meghan Markle’s Family

Meghan Markle’s relationship with her family is quite strained [Shutterstock].
As of now, it appears that Meghan’s relationship with her father’s side of the family is fairly strained. She is close with her mother, Doria, who also lives in Los Angeles. But Meghan has been quite clear about the pain she has felt from how members of her family, including her father, worked with tabloids.

“For over a year, the UK tabloids were trying to find my dad, offering people so much money to try and find his address,” Meghan alleged. “As soon as they did, there was a huge headline that was like, ‘We Found Him! We Got Him.’” Meghan’s father memorably worked with tabloids to stage photos of himself getting fitted for a tux for her royal wedding and reading books about Britain. Thomas Markle later confirmed that the photos were staged.

As for Meghan’s future, the Duchess of Sussex and her husband are expecting their second child in early summer. Meghan and Harry will welcome a baby girl, they confirmed during the March 7 interview. The two already share Archie, who will turn two years old this May. It’s unclear if Meghan’s family, beyond her mom, has met little Archie.