Before today's allegations and the statement from the Duchess of Sussex there was not much at all between Meghan and her father.

Quite when the duchess last saw her father Thomas isn't clear. By the time her engagement was announced in 2017, a once-close relationship had cooled.

He had moved to Mexico following his retirement in the US and then, as he spoke freely to the media before and after her 2018 wedding, the relationship went into the deep freeze.

He said she barely called as he underwent heart surgery, the duchess's people briefed that she had. Then they went silent as he complained in interview after interview that he no longer saw his daughter, had never met Harry nor, later, his grandchildren.

Now Meghan has told us why.

Thomas Markle gave the first, very large, hint that things would be different within weeks of the announcement of Meghan and Harry's wedding.

Instead of accepting the embrace of the Palace - and the media silence that involves - he happily went rogue, giving comments,…