Mother Doria's remarks defend Meghan amid Thomas Markle health crisis

Meghan Markle's spokesperson on Friday said she  sought to make contact with her estranged father Thomas Markle after he was reported to have had a leg amputated in the Philippines.

"I can confirm she has reached out to her father," the spokesperson said.

Meghan - whose royal title is the Duchess of Sussex - and her father have been estranged since the run-up to her marriage in 2018 to Prince Harry. 

Days before the wedding, Thomas Markle said he would not attend due to ill health and after he admitted posing for paparazzi pictures.

British media said Thomas Markle moved from Mexico to the Philippines earlier this year.

Markle has criticized Meghan for one reason or another since she got married to Harry and his statements about his daughter have been widely published by the tabloid media and used for mudslinging against the Duchess of Sussex.

As soon as reports of Thomas Markle's illness surfaced online, the Duchess' critics launched a full-blown campaign against her, portraying her as an insensitive and heartless daughter.

She was smeared online despite her spokesperson's statement that Meghan had tried to contact her. On the other hand, Meghan's fans took to social media to defend the former US actress, sharing videos of her mother Doria Ragland, who went to great lengths to protect her daughter.

In one of Doria's clips shared online, the mother of Meghan shared how she was hounded by paparazzi to get something on her daughter: "I just can't go walk my dog. I can't just go to work. There was always someone near, waiting for me, following me to work," she says in a clip from the documentary Harry & Meghan. "I was being stalked by the paparazzi. Once I pulled over, he pulled next to me and said, 'You know I want to get a story, and you know you can get a lot of money for this.'" "And I just look and think, 'This is my child. I have nothing to say.'"

One of Meghan's fans shared the clip with the caption: "Never forget the tabloids stalked Mama Doria and offered her money to sell out her own daughter. She refused. No leaks. No briefings. No betrayal. Only protection and love. That's what a real parent does."

Several other fans defended the Duchess of Sussex, saying she's always been a caring daughter and she's not to blame for her father's controversies.