The Duchess of Sussex’s nephew has hit out at the “embarrassment” of having relatives “spew hate” about his aunt.
Tyler Dooley has always “admired” the former actress – who was known as Meghan Markle before her marriage to Prince Harry – and doesn’t think comments from the likes of her half-sister Samantha Markle, who has been one of the Suits star’s most vocal critics, should be made public.
He told The Times newspaper: “I’ve always admired her, from when I was a small child, and I’ve always looked up to her. She has always been so pleasant and full of life.
Read more: Why pregnant Meghan’s bump size changes during the day
“You know what goes on in the media with members of my family and it’s just terrible. It’s an embarrassment to have family members out there speaking negatively about Meghan and it’s just something that shouldn’t be reported.
“They continue to give them a platform to kind of spew hate, you know. I’m really done seeing that. It’s just negative.
“She has never done anything wrong to anybody and she’s successful, she’s smart, she’s beautiful. There’s nothing not to like.”
The 26-year-old marijuana farmer is estranged from his father, Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr.
But Tyler is close to his grandfather, Meghan’s father Thomas Markle Sr. – who posed for paparazzi photos weeks before the wedding and ultimately failed to attend due to ill health.
Tyler is about to star in a new MTV series called The Royal World, a reality series that sees people with links to the upper echelons of society living together in an English country mansion.
In a trailer for the show, he says: “I’m connected to royalty because my auntie Meghan happens to be married to Prince Harry. I think I represent more of the average person who could be watching this show.”
He added: “I didn’t watch the Royal Wedding, I’m sorry, Meghan, I didn’t! I went over there and was in London to support my aunt Meghan. Honestly, with the controversy that’s happened with my family, all I wanted to do was just show my support.
“My favourite member of the British Royal Family would be my lovely aunt Meghan ’cause honestly I don’t know anybody else in the Royal Family.”
Meghan is currently over in New Zealand with husband Harry as they conclude their 16-day tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.
The couple thrilled fans by announcing on their first day of the tour that Meghan is pregnant with their first child.
Since then, Meghan’s estranged half-sister Samantha has spoken out in a bid to reconcile with the former actress, and urge her to include dad Thomas in the baby’s life.
Samantha, who has not spoken with Meghan in three years, told Daily Mail TV: “I think everybody really just needs to come together and realise this is really important and special for Meg, for Harry, for the child, for all of us, and we need to stop the sparring.
“A baby is incredible. You can’t say anything negative. You can’t feel anything negative. It’s just a beautiful, amazing thing. So my reaction was, ‘screw all this stuff and everything that’s been said’.”
Samantha previously told The Sun that she’s happy for Meghan, 37, and husband Prince Harry, 34, and hopes their future child could help heal the rift among the Markle family.
But she also warned she’d not be happy if their father Thomas, 74, was left out of the fold.
Read more: Samantha Markle “letting everything go” after Meghan’s baby news
“I would hope that — for the sake of the baby, the family, the world and my dad — that leaving him out of the statement was not intentional.
“I hope my dad is included and at a proper time. If he is excluded, I won’t be happy. It is in the best interests of the baby for my dad to be included.”
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