Meghan Markle's Dad 'Willingly' Woke Up At 5am Just To Straighten Her Hair
Meghan Markle's estranged father claims he was the duchess' hairdresser before she learned to do her own hair.
The Duchess of Sussex recently made headlines over the photos of her gorgeous locks from her and her husband Prince Harry's trip to Canada for the 2025 Invictus Games' countdown celebrations last week.
But long before she had access to Hollywood hairstylists, the former "Suits" star reportedly had her father, Thomas Markle, to help her smooth her hair.
Thomas told Caroline Graham for the Daily Mail that he would "willingly" wake up at 5 a.m. to help Meghan straighten her hair before she would go to school.
"When she wanted her hair straightening, it would take hours to do before she went to school," Thomas said. "But it was something I did willingly."
According to the Emmy Award-winning Hollywood lighting director, who had a close relationship with his daughter before their falling-out in 2018, Meghan allegedly suffered racism at a young age due to her naturally curly hair.
Thomas claimed that when they once stopped in rural Texas during a road trip to Florida, no salon would accept his daughter as a client.
"We tried several, but no one would take us in because I was a white man with a mixed-race child," Thomas claimed.
According to Thomas, Meghan eventually learned how to do her own hair and makeup as she spent time on sets and studios with him.
He recalled his then-teenage daughter observing professional hairstylists and makeup artists on the sets of TV shows such as "General Hospital" and incorporating some of their techniques into her own routine.
Meghan began sporting her now signature glossy hair during her days as a suitcase model on "Deal or No Deal."
Nowadays, the Duchess of Sussex gets her hair styled and colored by professionals such as Kadi Lee.
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles-based hair colorist took to Instagram to share photos of Meghan's shiny, bouncy locks during her Whistler, British Columbia, trip and revealed that she was responsible for the duchess' gorgeous "chocolate chestnut brunette" color.
"This mixture of red and golden undertones makes a dynamic shade of brunette that not only gives skin the healthiest glow, especially during the colder months of winter, it also provides the hair with a next level high power shine," Lee wrote.
The Highbrow Hippie co-owner, who works with stars such as Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt, also shared that her colleague Hector gave the duchess the "bounciest, long lasting blowout."
Thomas' comments about his daughter's hair came months after he made a public plea to reconcile with Meghan.
The Duchess of Sussex and her father became estranged days before her 2018 royal wedding to Prince Harry when Thomas staged paparazzi photos with a British tabloid. Meghan also claimed that her dad lied to her about talking to the press.
The rift between the father and daughter further widened after Meghan accused her dad of leaking a private letter she had written to him after the wedding.
During her and Harry's 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan described her father's actions as a "betrayal," according to Page Six.
In the Sussexes' Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan," the former actress claimed she learned that her dad would not be attending her wedding and walking her down the aisle through a report published by TMZ.
Meghan alleged that Thomas would not answer her calls or respond to her text messages despite speaking to the media.
In an interview with 7News last year, Thomas, who suffered a stroke in 2022, begged Meghan for a chance to mend fences, sharing that he fears he may not see his daughter before his death.
