Meghan Markle ‘Guided’ to Not Invite Niece Ashleigh to Royal Wedding: What to Know About Samantha Markle’s Biological Daughter
usmagazine.comA sweet family bond! Despite Meghan Markle’s estrangement from father Thomas Markle and her half-siblings, she is close to niece Ashleigh Hale.“I am Meg’s niece,” the immigration attorney revealed in the third episode of Harry & Meghan, which premiered on Netflix on Thursday, December 8. “Meg is my aunt on the maternal side of my family.
So, she is my biological mother’s half-sister.”The lawyer’s biological mother is Samantha Markle, whom Thomas shared with ex-wife Roslyn Markle alongside son Thomas Jr. However, Hale was raised by her paternal grandparents, alongside brother Christopher Hale.“So, they got custody of us when I was probably around 2 years old and, ultimately, they did adopt us,” Ashleigh said in Thursday’s episode. “So, I was raised by my paternal grandparents and, you know, for me, they were my parents.”Ashleigh further claimed in Harry & Meghan that she had not seen Samantha, now 58, since she was 6 years old before they reconnected in 2007.
Shortly after the mother-daughter pair’s reunion, the 78-year-old former lighting director told Meghan the news. The Duchess of Sussex, 41, was immediately interested in reaching out to Hale via email.“It started out with these long emails back and forth to each other and then texts and calls,” Ashleigh recalled in the Netflix doc. “After a while, I think we were talking, on some level, several days a week.”Meghan and her niece quickly “hit it off” and began planning trips during the actress’ hiatuses from Suits, which was filmed in Toronto.“I think she takes on a lot of roles to me.
There’s a sister element, there’s something maternal, she’s a best friend, she’s kinda all the things,” Ashleigh gushed in Harry & Meghan, as footage flashed of the twosome bonding
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