Thomas Markle says he is 'very pleased' about the arrival of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's daughter
- Thomas Markle welcomed Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
- The 76-year-old told The Sun he was "very pleased" about the arrival of his granddaughter.
- "I wish her and her mother all my love and best wishes," he said.
Thomas Markle welcomed the arrival of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's newborn daughter Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
The 76-year-old told The Sun that he was "very pleased" that his estranged daughter Meghan had given birth to her second child at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California on Friday.
"I'm very pleased that my daughter and my new granddaughter had a successful delivery," said Thomas, who has not yet met his two-year-old grandson Archie.
"I wish them all my love and the best of luck," he added.
In a statement sent to Insider on Sunday, Meghan and Harry shared the news of Lili's birth and explained the meaning behind her name.
"Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet," the couple said. "Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales."
Thomas has not spoken to his daughter since before she married Harry in 2018, when he admitted to staging paparazzi photos. He was due to attend the royal wedding but told TMZ at the time that he suffered a heart attack six days before the event took place.
As reported by The Guardian, in unaired footage from the duke and duchess' sit-down interview with Oprah in March, Meghan said that she felt her father had betrayed her in the run-up to the wedding and that "it's hard for me to reconcile that."
The last time Thomas spoke about his relationship with Meghan was on "Good Morning Britain," two days after her interview with Winfrey aired.
"I'm very disappointed about it. I've apologized about this thing, what happened, at least 100 times or so," Markle told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid.
Thomas also said during the interview that he still loves his daughter and only does press interviews because he hasn't heard from her.
"Well, basically what I do, because I haven't heard from them is I'll do a story for the press," he said. "If I don't hear from them in 30 days, then I'll do another story for the press."
Other family members have also congratulated the couple on their newborn, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sharing a post on Instagram on Sunday that was captioned: "We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan, and Archie."
Representatives for Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall also took to Instagram to congratulate Meghan and Harry, writing: "Congratulations to Harry, Meghan, and Archie on the arrival of baby Lilibet Diana. Wishing them all well at this time."
Meanwhile, Princess Eugenie used an Instagram story to congratulate her cousins, according to Town and Country, and wrote: "Congratulations dear cousins.. we couldn't be happier for you all."