The Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father has had two heart attacks and a stroke in recent years and now the 80-year-old must deal with the punishing heat of Cebu in the Philippines
Thomas Markle has moved to a “brutal” new climate where temperatures reached 33C this week – but he’s being looked after by Meghan’s half-brother.
The Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father has had two heart attacks and a stroke in recent years and now must deal with the punishing heat of Cebu in the Philippines. Temperatures this week reached 33C and humidity levels almost 90%. Pictures taken the day after grandson Archie’s sixth birthday show the former Hollywood lighting director, now 80, sitting alone while resting in blistering heat outside a supermarket near his new home on Wednesday. A source said: “There are only two types of weather in Cebu: hot and humid, and hot and humid and raining. It’s brutal even for men half his age, but it’s still sad to see him looking as though he’s struggling.”
The source went on: “Thomas and his son only recently moved into the property and they are still finding their feet in Cebu after the big move abroad, but they’re here together and are firmly supporting each other.”
It is understood Thomas Snr and Meghan’s older half-brother Thomas Jnr, 58 – who was yesterday seen leaving the flat hand-in-hand with a young woman – had previously been staying in a three-star hotel on Cebu before moving in to the flat.
Despite its humble location, yards from a busy seven-lane main road, the apartment block is considered grand by many folk in the Philippines, where the average wage is just over £7,000 a year.
Cebu has a population of more than three million, and some 900,000 residents exist below the poverty line, according to the latest figures. Life here is a world away from the luxury Thomas’s daughter and son-in-law Harry enjoy at their multi-million pound Californian mansion.
Speaking in January, when Meghan’s dad revealed he was considering relocating to South East Asia, he said: “I travelled in that part of the world when I was a younger man. The people are so kind and welcoming, and they are respectful to older people. It is a place of culture and beauty.
“At 80 it is time to go somewhere where the people are lovely and I can enjoy a quieter, friendlier existence. In South East Asia the medical care is good, you can live reasonably cheaply, the people are kind and respect older people and the food is healthy. Mostly I just want peace. At 80, none of us know how long we have left. I want whatever time I have to be peaceful with none of the awful drama of recent years.”
Speaking about Charles, who walked Meghan down the aisle in his place after he fell ill, he said: “I’m a grandfather and he is King of England – but he too is a grandfather who would like to see his grandkids.”
Neither Thomas nor Charles has a close relationship with their two shared grandchildren. Thomas has never met Archie or Lilibet, while it is believed Charles has only met Archie “a handful” of times. The King is understood to have met Lilibet, who was named after his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, just once since her birth in June 2021.
Thomas Snr added: “I’m not running away. I am going in search of a more positive life. Every day I see something about Meghan. I wish her no ill will. My dream is that one day I could bring my whole family together, like a ‘normal’ family.”