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Meghan Markle’s estranged father has found love again with a Filipina 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.
Last night Mr Markle said: ‘I never expected to find joy and happiness again at my age. I felt neglected and sad for so many years but now I am enjoying life again.
'After so many tough times I feel truly blessed to have found someone very special who takes such good care of me.’
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.
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Retired Hollywood lighting director Thomas Markle, 81, who split with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland when Meghan was just five years old, has found love again new love with Filipina nurse Rio Canedo, 46 (pictured together)
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Meghan Markle pictured with her father in 2011, whom she has been estranged after he suffered two heart attacks on the eve of her May 2018 wedding and was unable to walk her down the aisle
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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 became estranged from Meghan, 44 - who is only two years younger than her father’s new girlfriend - after he suffered two heart attacks on the eve of her May 2018 wedding and was unable to walk her down the aisle.
Meghan entered St. George’s Chapel on her own and was escorted part-way down the aisle by King Charles (then Prince of Wales) with her mother Doria being the only member of her family at the wedding.
Mr Markle claims he made repeated attempts to contact his daughter privately before eventually going public in a bid to reach her.
He said: ‘I still don’t know why she ghosted me.’
In his memoir ‘Spare’, Prince Harry claimed Meghan ‘lost’ her father after Mr Markle started speaking to the Press.
Mr Markle (who says he only spoke publicly when private efforts to reach his daughter failed) lived in Rosarito, Mexico, a four-hour drive from the 16-bathroom home Meghan and Harry bought in Montecito, California after they stepped down as senior royals after Megxit.
He suffered a devastating stroke in 2022 which left him unable to speak for weeks and decided to move to the Philippines last year in a bid to avoid constant reminders of his daughter and the grandchildren he longs to see but has never met.
Today he has regained his power of speech which he puts down in great part to speaking all the time to his new love.
He said: ‘After my stroke things were not great. I wanted to go to the other side of the world to a place where the people are kind.
'The Philippines have a gentler way of life. I never expected to meet Rio and have my life changed in such a wonderful way.’
Watching the pair together this week in the comfortable hotel-style room they share on the 12th floor of the rehab centre in Cebu, it is clear they share a very special bond.
Rio constantly fusses over Mr Markle and the two are openly affectionate and comfortable in each other’s company, laughing frequently and poking fun at each other.
When she holds his hand, as she often does, he beams with genuine delight.
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Mr Markle met new love Rio as he recovered from life-threatening surgery to remove his left leg below the knee last December
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