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Meghan should 'lose title' after Ellen stunt says Thomas Markle
Meghan Markle's surprise appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show has failed to impress her estranged father, Thomas Markle who says his daughter should be stripped of her royal title.
The retired Hollywood lighting director has spoken out following the duchess' TV interview — her first since her sit-down with Oprah in March — in which she participated in a cringeworthy prank orchestrated by Ellen herself.
'Lose her title'
With Ellen, 63, instructing her through an earpiece, Meghan, 40, performed a bizarre series of stunts while interacting with unsuspecting stallholders outside the studio.
The mum-of-two left onlookers baffled by drinking from a baby's bottle, calling herself 'mommy' and breaking into song.
Thomas, 76, didn't hold back on his opinion of Meghan's behaviour, telling The Sun that his daughter has "insulted the Queen, the Royal Family and the British people".
"She made a complete fool of herself and should lose her title," he added. "I love my daughter but her performance was ridiculous."
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Thomas' comments come as a palace insider told Page Six that the Sussex family has turned down the Queen's invitation to celebrate Christmas at Sandringham in order to "avoid a media frenzy".
"There's a lot that goes into the logistics and the planning of the family Christmas, so of course, staff know that Harry and Meghan are not coming," the source revealed. "If they were, they would have communicated it to their family by now."
Harry and Meghan have not spent the festive season in the UK since 2018 and will instead remain at home in Montecito, California for the holidays. This Christmas will be the Queen's first following the death of her husband, Prince Philip earlier this year.
Sussexes 'snuck out'
Also during her chat with Ellen, the Duchess of Sussex offered a rare glimpse into the early days of her notoriously private romance with Prince Harry.
Meghan revealed that she and her then-boyfriend, Harry went incognito and 'snuck out' to attend a Halloween party in Toronto, Canada.
The couple was accompanied by Harry's cousin, Princess Eugenie, and her then-boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank, to the 'post-apocalypse' themed bash.
"[Harry] came to see me in Toronto and our friends and his cousin Eugenie and now her husband Jack, they came as well, and the four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to just have one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple," Meghan told Ellen.
"It was a post-apocalypse theme, so we had all this very bizarre costuming on, and we were able to just have one fun final night out," she added.
While Meghan didn't put an exact date on the foursome's 'fun night,' it was likely just a day or two before news of the high-profile couple's relationship finally leaked on October 31, 2016.
Meghan also told Ellen that she and Harry celebrated Halloween this year at their California home with their two kids, Archie, 2, and five-month-old Lili who, by all accounts, wouldn't get into the festive spirit.
"We wanted to do something fun for the kids, and then the kids were just not into it at all. Archie was a dinosaur for maybe five minutes, not even five minutes," Meghan said.
"Finally Harry talked him into putting the head on. But Lili was a skunk. It was so cute. Like Flower from Bambi," she added.
Meghan's Hollywood memories
Elsewhere during their chat, Meghan reminisced about starting out as an actress in Los Angeles which saw her come to the Warner Brothers lot, where The Ellen Show is taped, for auditions.
"I would park at gate three and then I would scoot on over and what was so nice is the security guards would always say, ‘Break a leg, we hope you get it’," the former Suits star recalled.
The duchess, who gave up her acting career when she married Harry in 2018, also explained the very unusual way she used to get in and out of her 'very old' Ford Explorer Sport after the key stopped working on the driver’s side door.
"So after auditions, I would park at the back of the parking lot and I would open the trunk and climb in, pull the door shut behind me and crawl all over my seats to get out. That’s how I would come to and fro," she laughed.
Meghan and Ellen have reportedly been friends since a chance meeting at a dog shelter in 2012. Her appearance comes on the show's final season, after Ellen announced her talk show will end after 19 seasons in 2022, noting that "it's time" for her to move on.
The decision came amid slumping ratings following allegations by former and current staffers that The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been a toxic place to work.
Though the Emmy award winner insisted her decision to bring the curtain down had nothing to do with allegations against the show.
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