'They're destroying the monarchy.' The 8 weirdest moments from Thomas Markle's 'tell-all' interview.

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Over a six-day period in October 2019, Thomas Markle invited cameras into his home in Mexico to talk about his daughter, the Duchess of Sussex.

The estranged father of Meghan Markle has been a constant fixture in tabloid media since his daughter and Prince Harry made their relationship public.

And not much – if any – of the coverage has been positive.

Thomas Markle doesn’t expect to hear from Meghan or Harry again. Post continues below video.

In a documentary for the UK’s Channel 5, which has aired in Australia on Channel Nine, titled Thomas Markle: My Story, the 75-year-old told his side of the story, answering questions about everything from those staged paparazzi photos and a tense phone call he had with his son-in-law, to his opinion of Harry and Meghan stepping down as working members of the royal family.

Here are the most bizarre moments from the interview.

His lie to Prince Harry.

After it emerged Thomas had staged paparazzi photos of himself ahead of Harry and Meghan’s wedding, Harry called his future father-in-law and asked if it was true.

Initially, Thomas denied it: “I lied to Prince Harry. I’m not proud of that, but I did,” he said.

He said Harry and Meghan were “furious” with him for staging them, and he wanted to apologise to the Queen.

Despite this, he still planned to attend their wedding but suffered a heart attack five days beforehand and was not able to be there.

“I called and said I can’t come. Meghan cried and was very upset. Harry seemed upset. Harry said to me, ‘If you had listened to me, this would not have happened to you’,” Thomas said, adding that he thought that was “a very rude thing to say”.

“It’s too bad I didn’t die because you guys could pretend that you were sad,” he replied, hanging up.

Mamamia’s daily entertainment podcast The Spill discusses Harry and Meghan losing their royal titles. Post continues after audio.

Thomas said he had not spoken to either Harry or Meghan since.

He said he is “absolutely” still making money from paparazzi photos, as “they will sell forever”.

Piers Morgan’s book.

In a brief shot in the tell-all, the 75-year-old sits at his laptop with a very telling book nearby.

The book is by British journalist and commentator Piers Morgan, a vocal critic of his daughter Meghan. The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade was released in 2005. It documented Piers' time as editor of newspapers the Daily Mirror and News of the World.

People say I'm too critical of Meghan Markle - but she ditched her family, ditched her Dad, ditched most of her old friends, split Harry from William & has now split him from the Royal Family.
I rest my case. pic.twitter.com/xgKLTt2Y0Z

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 8, 2020

Among his unwavering criticism of Meghan, Piers has gone after Meghan for what he perceives as negative treatment of her father.

'I deserve to be rewarded'.

After the wedding, Thomas said he was unsuccessful in trying to make contact with his daughter until August 2018, when she sent him a handwritten letter.

This is the letter that is the subject of a legal dispute between Meghan and the Mail on Sunday, which published it in part. In the letter, Meghan urged her dad to stop contacting the media.

He said he "felt like sh*t" when he received it, and there are parts that are "too offensive" to ever share.

Thomas was unapologetic for profiting from the sale of the letter to the newspaper and intended to continue to profit from discussing their relationship.

"The royals owe me. Harry owes me. Meghan owes me," he said.

"What I've been through, I should be rewarded for. My daughter told me that when I reached my senior years, she would take care of me.

"It's time to look after daddy."

Private photos and video.

Thomas shared intimate videos and photos from Meghan's childhood with Channel 5, including photos of her as a baby with her mother Doria Ragland.

Videos showed Meghan horse riding, fishing and performing in plays.

He described the years she lived with him between age 11 and 16 as his "happiest years".

How he learned about Archie.

Thomas said he was in his car when he learned Meghan was pregnant with his grandson Archie on the radio.

"I was sitting in my car waiting to cross the border and I heard the good news from the royals that Meghan is pregnant.

"Which is almost a joke when you tell people, well you heard it on the radio.

"This is my daughter, talking about my grandchild. She's going to have a grandchild that's mine. I'm not hearing about it on the phone, I'm hearing about it on the radio."

Doria and the royal family.

Discussing his relationship with ex-wife Doria, Thomas said "not everybody seems to approve of those kinds of relationships" in reference to their mixed-race partnership.

"People would look at Doria like she was a housekeeper. It wasn't fair. Of course, it wasn't fair," he said.

"I think she's going through the same problem right now with the royals. I don't think they know where to place her. She always looks scared. She always looks like a deer in the headlights."

Meghan's drama teacher.

Thomas visited Meghan's high school drama teacher, who said Meghan was doing an "amazing job" as Duchess.

When asked whether she thought Meghan would miss acting, the drama teacher replied: "She's got the biggest acting job of anyone in the world. She's out there being the Duchess of Sussex, and that's a big role."

Harry and Meghan's decision to step down is "embarrassing".

In a clip at the end of the documentary, filmed last week following Harry and Meghan's decision to step down as working members of the royal family, Thomas accused the couple of "cheapening" the monarchy.

Thomas said their decision was "disappointing" and "embarrassing".

"It’s disappointing because she actually got every girl’s dream, every young girl wanted to become a princess and she got that," he said.

"It looks like she’s tossing that away for money."

Thomas said Harry and Meghan had tarnished the British monarchy.

"When they got married they took on an obligation and that obligation is to be part of the royals and to represent the royals. This is one of the greatest long-living institutions ever. They're destroying it and they're making it shabby. It's kind of embarrassing to me.

"They are turning it into a Walmart with a crown on it."

Thomas said he can't see his daughter ever reaching out to him, especially following the documentary.

He said he believed Harry and Meghan were "lost souls".

Channel 5 said it reached out to the Sussexes regarding claims made in the documentary, but they did not respond.