Photo credit: Emma Tovey / Shutterstock.com

Just in time for Father’s Day, Meghan Markle’s father has opened up about his daughter in a tell-all interview with Good Morning Britain.

Thomas Markle spoke openly about the media invasion on his life when Meghan and Prince Harry’s relationship went public, as well as a few other things we had no idea about – including how Prince Harry asked for his permission to marry Meghan, how Meghan cried when she found out that he couldn’t walk her down the aisle at the wedding, and how he always called Meghan his princess (aww!) from the start.

“Of course it comes out as a ‘wow,’ but this is my daughter. My daughter is certainly a prize for him as well,” Thomas Markle said when he knew his daughter was dating a prince.

“Yeah, he’s great, he’s an interesting guy, he’s a prince, but my daughter’s been a princess since the day she was born. I don’t have a problem with that.”

And what about when Prince Harry wanted to pop the question? He went down the traditional and gentlemanly route and asked her father’s permission first, of course. We would expect nothing less!

“Meghan told me first,” Thomas Markle added.

“But a few times after that, Harry got on the phone with Meghan. They told me together, and Harry asked for her hand over the phone. And I said, ‘You’re a gentleman. Promise me you’ll never raise a hand against my daughter and of course, I give you my permission.”

Aww – anyone else getting a tad emotional? Speaking of emotions, apparently, Meghan was understandably extremely upset when she found out that her father was too ill to walk her down the aisle. However, Thomas Markle agreed that Prince Charles was an excellent replacement given the circumstances…

“I absolutely wanted to walk my daughter down the aisle,” TM said.

“They were both disappointed. Meghan cried, I’m sure—she did cry, and they both said, ‘Take care of yourself, we’re really worried about you.’ They said the important thing was that I get better.

“I can’t think of a better replacement than someone like Prince Charles. He looked very handsome and my daughter looked beautiful with him. I was jealous, I wish I had been there, I wish it had been me. But thank God he was there.”

And speaking of the Royal Family, what DOES Thomas Markle think of them and how his daughter will fit in?

“The royals are very complicated and it’s a whole different lifestyle,” he said.

“But I think that she can always rise to that occasion. My daughter is capable of anything and she’ll certainly be a compliment to the royal family.

“Having the press at my door and following me at my door, yeah that kind of becomes an invasion a bit. Though my other family members are somewhat disturbed, but here again, it’s a compliment. My daughter is now seen all over the world as a Duchess. I’m very proud of her. I’ll adjust to this.”

Naturally, the subject of those staged paparazzi photos came up, so it was interesting to finally hear things from his side…

“They took all these pictures of me making me look negative, so I thought this would be a nice way of improving my look. Well, obviously that all went to hell,” Thomas Markle explained.

“I feel bad about it, I apologize for it. There’s not much I can do. That was a mistake.

“I didn’t do this for money, I did it to change my image.”

And finally, he revealed the one thing we were always curious about – where he watched the Royal Wedding. He told Good Morning Britain that he watched it in a small Bed and Breakfast, shortly after being released from hospital following surgery…

“It was incredible watching her,” he concluded.

“I cried a little bit about it, but she was so beautiful walking down that aisle and so proud and so gorgeous. I was very proud. I couldn’t have seen a better moment in my life.

“The unfortunate thing for me now is that I’m a footnote in one of the greatest moments in history rather than the dad walking her down the aisle. So that upsets me somewhat.”

We can only imagine! We’re glad that Thomas Markle has had a chance to talk openly and freely.

Will this interview change people’s perceptions of him? Only time will tell…