Last December was when all of the “one-legged Thomas Markle” drama happened. Thomas magically needed a foot – no, a leg! – amputated less than a year after he moved to the Philippines with his son, and instead of sharing his medical drama with his family, he called up the Daily Mail’s Caroline Graham to announce it. Thomas kept Graham fully apprised of every medical update and the Mail ran multiple stories a day about “why hasn’t the Duchess of Sussex flown to the Philippines to visit her amputee father??” Meghan responded brilliantly, by contacting the American embassy in the Philippines and sending a handwritten letter to Thomas. Not only that, she asked an American consulate official to document the receipt of the letter to Thomas. That was the end of it from Meghan’s side, and she scared the bejesus out of her toxic father and the Mail. The Mail still hasn’t published any part of Meghan’s letter because she would sue the f–k out of them again, like the last time they published a letter she wrote to her father. Graham did write a first-person account of her deeply inappropriate relationship with Thomas, so there’s that. At the end of the day, Thomas’s scheme with the Mail failed horribly and it took them over three months to figure out how to exploit Thomas again. Behold, Toxic Tom is dating his much-younger Filipino nurse. Caroline Graham got the exclusive, of course.
Meghan Markle’s estranged father has found love again with a Filipino nurse 35 years his junior. Retired Hollywood lighting director Thomas Markle, 81, says he feels ‘blessed and beyond happy’ to have found joy again after suffering years of anguish after his daughter allegedly ‘dumped’ him after her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
Mr Markle, who split with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland when Meghan was just five years old, met new love Rio Canedo, 46, as he recovered from life-threatening surgery to remove his left leg below the knee last December. Rio, a mother of two grown children, had no idea who Mr Markle was when she first met him in mid-December of last year after he checked into the rehab hospital where she works in Cebu, a city in the Philippines that Mr Markle and his son Tom Jr, 59, moved to in January 2025.
Mr Markle, who has never met his son-in-law Prince Harry or his grandchildren Archie, six or four-year-old Lilibet, nearly died after doctors were forced to amputate his left lower leg after a massive blood clot blocked the supply of blood to his foot. He spent four days in intensive care followed by weeks in hospital before being moved to a specialised rehabilitation unit in another medical centre.
This week he invited the Mail on Sunday to spend time with him and his new love and said he expected a backlash from the ‘Sussex Squad’, the notoriously cruel online trolls who support Meghan and Harry, but added: ‘I know some people will say hurtful things but I don’t care. I want to talk about this because I never thought I would ever be happy again. I want people to know you’re never too old to find peace and love. There’s a lot of negative things going on in the world and if my story can give a little hope to one person then I’m happy. The haters will hate but, to be honest, I don’t give a damn. Life is for living. There’s nothing more important in life than love.’
Mr Markle, who is currently suffering from pneumonia, said: ‘I finally feel safe and well-cared for. I’ve got pneumonia but I’m not feeling sorry for myself because I have Rio taking such good care of me.I hardly watch the news. I live in a world where people are kind to each other. The nurses and doctors here in the Philippines are wonderful. People here don’t have all the worldly goods we have in the West but they respect and care for older people…I was sad about Meghan for so long but now I finally feel like I can laugh again. Life is good. Yes, family is important, but how long can you live in pain? Sometimes you have to move on. I have moved on.’
He said: ‘I’ve been through tough times which makes me appreciate the good times. I finally at peace. I was in pain for so many years about what happened with my youngest daughter Meghan. I could never escape the stories online and in magazines and newspapers. I was constantly hounded by paparazzi. Over here I lead a quiet life. I am grateful for my health, for Rio and for the care I am receiving. I love the Philippines and I am enjoying my life.’
Mr Markle wants to take Rio on holiday to America once he is well enough: ’I would love to take Rio to Los Angeles and show her all the places in Hollywood where I worked for so many years.’ Would he drive to Montecito? He laughs. ‘No, I would never do that. What’s the point?,’ he said. ‘I’d love to see my grandkids. It makes me sad that King Charles has only met Archie and Lilibet once or twice. How strange it is that me, over here in my little world, and him, the King of England, are both in the same boat. We both can’t see our grandkids. I love Meghan. She is my daughter. But I don’t know how much time I have left and I want to spent what time I have being happy. Rio makes me happy.’
I should have known that they would dust off this disgusting old man right now, when the British media seems to be in a full-blown panic about the Sussexes’ Australian trip. What do you want to bet that Thomas has been easily persuaded to suffer some new medical emergency specifically timed for Harry and Meghan’s Australia trip? The “pneumonia” is definitely foreshadowing, correct? I still find it notable that Toxic Tom needed his foot/leg amputation the same week that the With Love, Meghan holiday special came out, by the way. It’s crazy to say that, but everything about that whole storyline was super-suspicious. Anyway, I wish this horrible man would just keep Meghan’s name out of his mouth. But whatever. This whole thing is just asinine.
Meghan Markle’s estranged father Thomas, 81, finds love again with Filipino nurse 35 years his junior
— Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) March 28, 2026
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, screencaps courtesy of GB News and 60 Minutes Australia.
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- Thomas Markle speaks out for the first time about he’s heart surgery and the moment he first spoke to Prince Harry on ‘Good Morning Britain’. Broadcast on ITV1,Image: 375263468, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material., Model Release: no, Pictured: Thomas Markle, Credit line: /Wenn/Avalon
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- Thomas Markle speaks out for the first time about he’s heart surgery and the moment he first spoke to Prince Harry on ‘Good Morning Britain’. Broadcast on ITV1,Image: 375263477, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material., Model Release: no, Pictured: Thomas Markle, Credit line: /Wenn/Avalon
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- Former US President Barack Obama adjusts his headphones as he attends a panel discussion held in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the German Protestant Church Congress in Berlin, Germany, 25 May 2017. Photo: Ralf Hirschberger/-Zentralbild/,Image: 525735530, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: UK and US ONLY – DIRECT SALES ONLY- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ralf Hirschberger / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
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