Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been accused of "negligence" by her half-sister for not contacting their father after he suffered a stroke.
Thomas Markle - who has been estranged from the former 'Suits' actress since before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry - was hospitalised earlier this week and his elder daughter, Samantha Markle, accused her relative of “elder abuse” for not having the “moral conscience” to get in touch and find out how he is.
Samantha said: “He’s been through so much — two heart attacks, a pandemic and now a stroke. None of us have heard from Meghan. That’s negligence.
“If she can’t find it in her heart or have the moral conscience to step forward, then shame on her,” the estranged sister said. “He doesn’t have a lot of time. She’s going to have to live with that for the rest of her life.”
The 57-year-old writer suggested there was no point in trying to appeal to Meghan.
Asked on GB News if she thought the duchess should help cover Thomas' medical bills, she replied: ”She sees all of this. I’m getting the feeling that I would be spinning my wheels to try and appeal to her heart now.
“She could have contacted him to work things out at any time, and she hasn’t. How can she watch him suffer like this? Who does that?"
Although the retired lighting director may take months to regain the power of speech, Samantha is thankful he received medical treatment when he did, as things could have been so much worse.
She said: “I don’t think he saw it coming. I’m just so thankful to God that I called him when I did because he was slurring his speech. He couldn’t talk, and I feel like If we hadn’t got emergency care right away, it could’ve been fatal.
“I feel really blessed that he is getting some of his strength back, and it’s going to take several, maybe six months, maybe a year, to get his speech back.
“He can work with a speech therapist, the stroke he had in the speech production part.
“The stroke was in the right side of the brain, so the damage was on the left, and he’s left-handed, but it also impaired his speech and his ability to swallow.”