Meghan Markle Slammed After Visiting Sick Kids Without Seeing Ill Dad: 'Cheap PR'

Meghan Markle made a rare appearance in Los Angeles two weeks ago.

The Duchess of Sussex visited the sick kids at Children's Hospital Los Angeles on March 21. She led the "Literally Healing" workshop while she was there.

For the outing, Markle looked stunning in her flowery $3,490 (£2,776) Oscar de la Renta silk-chiffon landscape shirt dress with a long cuffed sleeve and a sash belt. A video of her visit circulated on social media, where the Duchess of Sussex was seen holding a book and reading a story to the children. The clip also showed Markle hugging a kid and receiving a sticker from a little girl.

However, Markle's gesture raised several eyebrows, with many slamming her for having the time to visit the sick children but not her ill father, Thomas Markle Sr.

"Meghan threw her father out like an OLD SHOE! SHAMEFUL. What does she know about compassion?!" one commented.

"Uses kids for cheap PR," another wrote with a clown emoji.

A third person opined, "Has Meghan visited with her ailing father? Is there a county Sussex in California by chance? She certainly isn't representing the people of Sussex, England."

"Charities start at home. She should call her dad... [another] PR move to try to win sympathy, but nothing is sincere either her. Grifter. Disgusting way to use kids for her own benefits," a fourth person remarked.

Although many accused Markle of using the kids at the hospital for PR, others were convinced that the visit was genuine. They praised the duchess because they felt that she was great with children.

"She's great with the kids. So meaningful," a fan wrote.

Another added, "Thank you so much for posting and dearest Meghan. A true humanitarian who is true to this, not new to this. She has a heart of pure gold, and all her projects are done with love and making a real difference to people's lives. We, the public, deserve more like her!"

"Ahhhh. How sweet!" a different user said with two red heart emojis.

"Awww just lovely, and I love that she wore a mask. Very thoughtful," another netizen commented.

Markle Sr. suffered two heart attacks before Prince Harry and Markle's 2018 royal wedding, per TMZ. He canceled his attendance at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's big day because he reportedly had heart surgery. But before that, Markle's dad made headlines for staging paparazzi photos. The former actress reportedly stopped talking to him since the royal wedding because of the issue.

Markle Sr.'s paparazzi scandal was covered in the Sussexes' "Harry & Meghan" docuseries on Netflix. Markle's mom, Doria Ragland, said she was "absolutely stunned" that her ex-husband "would become part of this circus."

"I felt sad that the media would run with this," Ragland said, according to Business Insider. "That he would capitalize. Certainly, as a parent, it's not... that's not what you do. That's not parenting."

Markle Sr. suffered a debilitating stroke in 2022 and shared his deathbed plea to the Duchess of Sussex in an interview with 7NEWS Spotlight, asking, "How can I fix this?"

He reportedly wanted to reconnect with his estranged daughter and see his grandchildren, Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2.

Daily Express columnist Carole Malone urged Markle to speak with her dad and respond to his "dying wish." She warned Markle she might regret it if she refused to reconcile with her dad before it's too late.

"You hear him slurring. He's learned to speak again -- it has been almost a year since he's been able to speak properly -- and the one thing he is saying is, 'How can I fix this?' He is begging his daughter. He is literally begging her. He shouldn't have to beg the girl he brought up almost single-handed[ly]," Malone told GB News.

"She should make time to see him before he dies because ... if you don't do that with families if you let someone die on you in the way that Thomas Markle is going to die, I suspect, without seeing his daughter, it will haunt her. You don't get away without scars with that."

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Meghan Markle, Duchess of sussex