Royal Wedding
Meghan Markle's Reclusive Dad To Get Crash Course In Royal Etiquette Ahead Of Wedding
May 11 2018, Updated 1:36 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle’s reclusive dad is to get intensive etiquette training ahead of his daughter’s wedding, Breaking Celebrity News learned exclusively!
Retired Hollywood lighting director Thomas Markle Sr. will undergo a set of lessons teaching him how to react when he meets the Queen and rules about touching and talking to the Royal family.
The 73-year-old will also be schooled in how to act when walking his daughter down the aisle, his duties as father of the bride and how he should tackle the feast guests of the Royal wedding will be served.
A Royal source revealed to Breaking Celebrity News exclusively the “crash course” has been compared in inner circles to the training given in musical My Fair Lady.
It is the musical version of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion play about Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle receiving speech lessons from phoneticist professor Henry Higgins so she can pass as a lady.
Our insider said: “It’s clear to look at Thomas he is not used to Royal protocols or attending posh events, especially not on the level of a Royal wedding.
“But the training he is going to get in the run up to the big day is not snobbery – it will actually make him feel comfortable as it is designed to demystify Royal protocols and traditions so he will not be confused about how she act in front of royals.
“The etiquette lessons will cover everything from how he should act when he meets the Queen – by bowing his head and not touching her for example, and how he should start conversations with royals.
“He will also be taught the traditions of Royal weddings and how to eat the banquet that will be served as there will be a huge amount of cutlery and glasses involved at the meal.”
The source said knowing “the basics” of tradition helps put “outsiders” more at ease at Royal events.
"Ground rules” will also be laid down, such as advising Thomas not to drink too much at the wedding meal.
He is also likely to be firmly told to memorize protocols such as not talking to the Queen until he is spoken to, or turning his back on the monarch.
It is understood the etiquette training is the reason Emmy award-winning ex-cinematographer and lighting designer Thomas is traveling from his home in Mexico a week before his daughter’s wedding to Prince Harry on Wednesday May 19.
Similar lessons will also be given to Thomas’ ex-wife, social worker and yoga instructor Doria Ringland, 61.
The former couple – who divorced when their only daughter Meghan, 36, was six years old – will also be introduced to Prince Charles and Camilla, best man Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Prince Harry, 33, is still to meet his future father-in-law who US actress Meghan is said to “adore”.
Thomas married Doria in 1979. They divorced in 1988 and he now lives alone and is said to be “virtually reclusive”.
But he was recently spotted being measured up for his Royal Wedding suit by his local tailor in Rosarito, Mexico – a backstreet wedding and tuxedo shop minutes from his ocean-side home.
It is thought his specifications are being sent to a top tailor in London for the creation of a bespoke suit he will try and possibly get altered further when he arrives in the city.
Kensington Palace last week confirmed Meghan’s wedding will be “guided” by the type of traditions Thomas and his wife will be taught.
But a spokesman for the Palace added it would also contain touches “which reflects the personalities of Prince Harry and Ms. Markle – such as Meghan making a speech, which is not traditional form for a bride.