Meghan Markle's father Thomas pulls out of royal wedding after staged images surface online

The upcoming royal wedding of Prince Harry and the American actress Meghan Markle slated for 19 May at the Windsor Castle is experiencing an unfortunate development, with the bride’s father, the 73-year old Thomas Markle, refusing to walk her down the aisle as planned, over a spate of staged photographs of him emerging after he hired paparazzi to take some flattering pictures of him, as reported by News.com. [caption id=“attachment_4426291” align=“alignnone” width=“1200”]  Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Facebook[/caption] Meghan is said to be distraught over this development and is pleading her father to change her mind and give her away. The Kensington Palace issued a statement saying, “This is a deeply personal moment for Ms Markle in the days before her wedding. She and Prince Harry ask again for understanding and respect to be extended to Mr Markle in this difficult situation,” as reported by News.com. The palace had previously announced that Mr Markle and his ex-wife Doria Ragland were slated to play important roles in the wedding, where 600 guests have been official invited, and 2,640 members of the public have been selected to be part of the celebrations. Priyanka Chopra, a friend of Megan had made it to the coveted list, which left out head of states and the UK Prime Minister Theresa May out of the ceremony. Thomas Markle, who is now a retired Hollywood lighting director and living in Mexico, had accepted that he had staged photos since the media had hounded him and published unflattering photographs of him, and wished to re-invent himself in a positive light in the run up to the royal wedding. His ex-wife is now the forerunner to walk Meghan down the aisle at the St George’s Chapel, as reported by News.com. The royal couple had met on a blind date in July 2016 and followed by a 18-month romance shrouded in secrecy, that included a camping trip in Botswana, the couple had announced their engagement on 27 November, 2017. The reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II had given her official consent to the nuptials in the middle of the March, a legal obligation for the first six heirs in line for throne.