If you want to say Samantha Markle is “cashing in” on her half-sister Meghan Markle’s fame, so be it.
The older sibling of the new Duchess of Sussex addressed mounting claims that she has financially benefitted from her connection to the royal in a new Monday interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“I worked in media most of my life and in broadcasting, so because my sister is suddenly royal isn’t grounds for me to stop doing all of that,” she said on the morning program. “Let’s face it—we all have to survive. Money makes the world go round, so if you want to call that cashing in, that’s fine, but I think no one in media would refuse a paycheck for talking about the royal and, as a family, we’re not subject to royal protocol.”
As she continued, “Why would I stop living because we have a family issue going on?”
Markle continued her debate on the topic, telling co-hosts Charlotte Hawkins and Kate Garraway that Meghan’s public profile as a member of the royal family makes her a subject of discussion within the media.
“The media makes billions of dollars off of social issues and talking about the royals, so I don’t see how were any different,” she argued. “No one has a copyright on our life experiences and so, I think the public forgets that within the family, we’re each individuals with our own life experiences. With all due respect, its not just Meghan. We’re entitled to share that. We’re entitled to be open about it and if we can shed some light on some issues for the public, then great and we can enjoy the process. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s not disparaging. It’s not harmful.”
As Samantha concluded, “For someone to say, ‘Oh you shouldn’t take any money. You should turn down a paycheck,’ well go tell your boss you don’t want a paycheck for interviewing me because that’s cashing in.”
Ignoring Their Dad: “Enough Is Enough”
The co-hosts then wondered if all of her remarks meant Samantha will be appearing on Celebrity Big Brother. “I would tell you, but then I would have to kill you,” she answered with a laugh.
The sibling was appearing on the show in an effort to bridge the gap between Meghan and her father, Thomas Markle, whom Samantha claims has not spoken to Meghan in months. Last week, Thomas gave an interview to The Sun in which he said he thought his daughter looked “terrified” during public engagements. Samantha said they’ve resorted to public channels of communication with the royal since “private channels have been exhausted to no avail.”
“They were texting for a while, but all of that ceased and so I think he is very worried. He feels very isolated as you can imagine any father would,” she told the co-hosts.
“The concern is he really can’t calibrate how she is emotionally, her well-being and he truly is worried,” Samantha elaborated. “He just needs to know that she’s well, she’s happy, she’s ok and to touch bases, so I hope they get to do that soon.”
“He is 74 years old and we all know that life is short,” she said. “Given the circumstances over the last several months since the wedding, I think he really just wants to embrace her and have some closure on the distance and the misperception and really let her know that he loves her and I feel that he deserves that in return.”
Source: www.eonline.com