April 3, 2026

Thomas Markle Finds Love in the Philippines as Meghan’s Australia Problems Keep Growing

Show Notes
Transcript

Thomas Markle says he has found happiness again in the Philippines, where he is recovering from major health issues and beginning a new relationship, while still admitting he does not understand why Meghan “ghosted” him.

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan are pushing back against criticism surrounding their Australia trip, insisting it is privately funded and accusing some critics of spreading misinformation.
We also look at fresh mockery over Meghan’s wellness retreat venue, a resurfaced story from Katie Nicholl’s book about the late Queen stepping in during a tense pre-wedding moment, and a brutal new column that brands Meghan “The Elon Musk of Jam.”

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Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors by Tom Bower

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Calorogus Shark Media that low and welcome to Palace Intrigue.

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I am your host, Mark Francis. According to a report

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in The Mail on Sunday, Megan Michael's estranged father, Thomas Markle,

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says he has found happiness again in the Philippines, where

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he is recovering from major health problems and beginning a

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new relationship with a nurse named Rio Canido. Thomas Mikel,

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now eighty one, told the paper, I never expected to

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find joy and happiness again at my age. I felt

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neglected and sad for so many years, but now I

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am enjoying life again after so many tough times. I

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feel truly blessed to have found someone very special who

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takes such a good care of me. I want to

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talk about this because I never thought I would ever

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be happy again. I want people to know that you're

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never too old to find peace and love. There's a

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lot of negative things going on in the world, and

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if my story can give a little hope to one person,

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then I'm happy the haters will, but to be honest,

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I don't give a damn. Life is for living. There's

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nothing more important in life than love. Michael, who moved

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to the Philippines after a stroke and later underwent surgery

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that resulted in the amputation of part of his left leg.

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Said his life has changed dramatically after my stroke. Things

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were not great. I wanted to go to the other

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side of the world, to a place where the people

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are kind. The Philippines has a gentler way of life.

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I never expected to meet Rio and have my life

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changed in such a wonderful way. I finally feel safe

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and well cared for. I've got aneumonia, but I'm not

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feeling sorry for myself because I have Rio taking such

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good care of me. I hardly watched the news. I

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live in a world where people are kind to each other.

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On Megan, he said, I still don't know why she

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ghosted me. I was sad about Meghan for so long now,

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but I finally feel I can laugh again. Life is good. Yes,

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family is important, but how long can you live in pain?

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Sometimes you have to move on. I have moved on.

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Rio Canto, who said she did not know who Thomas

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Michael was when they met, told the paper I met

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him on the first day he came here last December,

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and he was being taken off the ambulance from the hospital.

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He waved me and was a bit worried because someone

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had told me he had a reputation for being grumpy.

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But I started working with him and he is a

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total gentleman and someone who is kind and funny. I

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don't know who he was when I met him. Here

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in the Philippines. Megan and Harry are not a big deal.

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Mister Mikle was a kind man. All the nurses and

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staff love him. He's funny. She also said, simply, I

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cared deeply for him. Thomas Michael also reflected on his

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grand children and the estrangement that still hangs over his life.

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He said, I'd love to see my grandkids. It makes

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me sad that King Charles has only met Archie and

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Lulibet once or twice. How strange it is that me

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over here in my little world and him, the King

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of England, are both in the same boat. We both

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can't see our grandkids. I love Megan, she is my daughter,

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but I don't know how much time I have left,

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and I want to spend what time I have being happy.

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Rio makes me happy. And on the possibility of marriage,

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he said I would marry Rio if it was beneficial

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to her, but it's not something we've discussed for now.

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We are just enjoying life. I am grateful every morning

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I wake up and feel safe and cared for. Rio

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has made me very happy. Harry and Megan's camp is

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pushing back against criticism surrounding their upcoming Australia trip, insisting

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the visit is privately funded and describing some of the

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backlashes driven by misinformation rather than fact. A spokesperson for

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the Duke and Duchess told The Mirror, Australians are not

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paying for this trip. It is being privately funded. People

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close to the couple say the trip is being framed

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internally as a work visit with charitable component, rather than

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any kind of unofficial royal tour. One source said there's

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a lot of misinformation being spread about this trip, all

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designed to whip up hate. The truth is you have

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a couple heading down Under for work. While they're in town,

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they're going to check in on some charitable causes that

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they have long supported, and in the Duke's case with

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the Invictors games he set up. The couple are critically

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aware that just by visiting a charity they can help

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shine a light on its work, bringing media attention that

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wouldn't otherwise exist. Have to do that, They could just

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as easily get paid and head straight back to California.

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God forbid. They're try and do any good in a

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world that could frankly use a little more Harry and

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Meghan and a little less sniping from royal commentators who

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make a living by proving hate bait for anyone willing

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to platform them. It's sad, what a way to make

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a living. Critics are questioning whether the venue for Meghan's

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wellness retreat matches the premium prize being charged. Event organizer

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gem And O'Neil had shown the space where Megan is

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expected to appear, saying, what really dawned on me this

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morning is the actual space where we're doing this garala dinner,

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and part of the garala dinner will be a Q

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and A in conversation with Megan, Duchess of Sussex. And

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the room is actually quite small, she framed that is positive,

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adding like it's a really intimate feeling, you know, which

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is really nice. According to a report in Radar Online,

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the event is being held in a hotel conference room

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with relatively simple set up, including a small stage with

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two chairs for Meghan and the host, along with round

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tables for guests. Ticket prices are said to range up

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to around twenty three hundred dollars for those seated closest

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to the stage, with slightly lower tears for those further back.

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Social media users quoted in the report were blunt in

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their assessment, with one saying from royal banquets to lowly

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hotel conference room downgrade complete, while another wrote it looks

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very low end holiday in real estate conference. Others made

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similar comparisons, with one comment to adding my office monthly

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meetings have a better setup than this. More palacy just

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is available now. An account from Kati Nichols's book The

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New Royals describes Meghan raising concerns about a dish she

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believed was not prepared correctly. Nichol writes that Meghan told

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her Kater she could taste egg in what was meant

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to be a vegan dish and became upset about it.

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The moment reportedly shifted when the Queen entered the room.

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According to the book, she said, Meghan, in this family,

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we don't speak to people like that. In The Independent,

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Victoria Richards called Meghan the Elon Musk of jam. She writes,

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You've got to hand it to the multifaceted, multi faced

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Meghan Markel. Not only has she been an actor, a

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reality TV star and a royal, but she's dabbled in

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lifestyle guru, a baker, a candlestick maker well sixty four

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dollar candles. Anyway. She's even had time to play at

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being a middle East Envoy, now adding to her cve

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of slightly pointlesses and certainly privileged jobs, if I may

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be so bold as to call them such. The Duchess

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of Sussex is taking a turn as both an inspirational

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speaker and trademarker of her range of lifestyle products as

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ever on her tour of Australia with her husband, Prince Harry,

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the non working Royal Duo. As anyone told that to

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Megan haven't even arrived on the continent yet, But Megs

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has done what she surely does best. She's got in

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there early and apparently already secured herself a deer with

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a local patent office ahead of their visit in April.

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She'll be able to sell her raspberry spread and wild

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flower honey with honeycomb and a keepsake jar, of course,

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as well as herbal hibiscus tea, those all important flower sprinkles,

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crape mix and short bread cookies with flower sprinkles, not

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to mention stuff for pets, dog biscuits, feeding mats, gardening equipment, skincare,

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yoga accessories, furniture, jewelry, food, seasoning, perfume, cosmetics, Napa Valley champagne,

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educational seminars. Seriously, she's flogging everything. It seems. There comes

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a point in the life of every American entrepreneur where

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they stop worrying about being disliked. That's why everyone's favorite

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rich man, Elon Musk, wants so keen to show he

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was one of the good guys. Now happily talks about

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empathy as a fundamental weakness of Western civilization as he

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counts as money piles. I think that Megan inc is there.

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Think of her as the Elon Musk of jam. She's

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a ruthless, blinding businesswoman who has managed to reinvent herself

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more times than the Man of Many Faces in Game

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of Thrones. She's the walking epitome of being a jack

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of all trades, master of pissing off the royal family,

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and she's not even remotely phased by failure. If she were,

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she would be doing what us normies would do if

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we too had lost a multimillion pound netflixtel because our

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reality TV series We Love Meghan was a bit crap,

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hiding in the dark room and deleting all our socials.

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She looks determined to conquer Australasia. Well at work, who knows,

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but I have a feeling that it doesn't really matter,

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because this is Megan Markle's world. You see in the

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rest of us are just simply living in it. And

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there you have it. Play to email us addresses the

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Palace Intrigue at gmail on dot com. Please foll us

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Spotify and Apple Apple of your choice. I Mark Francis

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my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intriguing, good times,

Thomas Markle Finds Love in the Philippines as Meghan’s Australia Problems Keep Growing

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