Meghan Markle's half brother, Thomas Markle Jr has revealed he's now homeless and he blames this on Meghan and Harry's relationship which he said put him in the spotlight. The 53-year-old said for the past two months he’s been living in a hotel room in Oregon with fiance Darlene, her son and their two dogs. He revealed he lost his job, his home, and has been unable to find anywhere else to live.
Thomas claims his life has been in a downward spiral since Meghan got engaged to Prince Harry. This, he said, has meant that his every move was suddenly "put under the microscope". He believes his name has become so notorious in Grant Pass, his home town, that no one is willing to hire him or lease a house to him and his famous royal sister wouldn't even help him in any way.
He said it's hard for him seeing the amount of money Meghan is spending on baby showers and other things whereas he has nothing because of her. He said just a fraction of what she spends will set him up for life.
In an interview with Sun Online, he said: "This is the lowest point of my life.
"Living in a small hotel room is really taking its toll on Darlene and her son — on all of us. And it’s all because my life suddenly got catapulted into the spotlight — through no fault of my own.
"My every move has been put under the microscope — not just for me but all my family. Now there’s been so much said about me — both true and untrue — no one wants to lease me a house or give me a job. It’s tough to accept — especially when I never asked for any this."
Thomas Jr’s problems started earlier this year after he suffered ill-health and was unable to carry on his work as a glazier. He explained the situation to his landlord Paul Walter but was quickly issued an eviction notice.
The pair went to court and Thomas Jr agreed to vacate the property without an eviction and says he left the property in good condition. However, the landlord gave interviews branding Thomas a "low-life", who owed him money and had trashed the property.
He said: "Suddenly every local station was talking about how I was evicted, how I trashed this house. But it was all untrue — I have pictures proving I left the house in a good condition. I took 55 pictures of every square foot of that house — I left it in good shape. I would never trash a house — that’s not the kind of person I am."
He continued: "I got late on my rent because I was out of work and I had this joint problem. I had to go to hospital for three times and see a specialist. I told the landlord at the time and he said I could just pay the overdue rent in January but as soon as I paid what I owed I got a lease termination.
"You can’t evict someone just because they don’t have a job — so we went to court and our attorneys made an agreement that I would leave by April 5. Right after that agreement he did interviews telling people I was a low-life, a freeloader, a scumbag, that I owed him money and I was being evicted which wasn’t true. I couldn’t believe it — I feel he unfairly treated me because of who I am. He took advantage of who I am, used it against me and made me look like the bad guy.
"There’s definitely a barrier to me renting a property — even though there’s no eviction on my name, everyone has seen or heard his accusations against me — which are all untrue."
Thomas Jr said the false accusations had made it almost impossible for him to find an alternative home.
"I had a really nice place lined up where I was going to live out in the woods and I was going to do work on the property but I lost that because of all this," he said.
"I’ve been trying for other places but just can’t find anything. I’m still out of work — I’ve been applying to places but they hear my name and I don’t get it. I’ve even been applying to things I’m over qualified for. This has never happened to me before in my life.
"The problem is I’m known as Thomas Markle, Meghan’s crazy brother now. I’ve gone from being a private person to having everything I’ve ever done in my life out there for everybody."
He says living in a small hotel room is taking a huge toll on his relationship with Darlene.
He said: "It’s very uncomfortable and expensive — we don’t know how we are going to afford it. We have two dogs and Darlene’s son staying with us a lot of the time, I had to get a big storage unit so we have none of our stuff with us — it’s not a nice way to live.
"I’ve worked my whole life to have a comfortable living as a custom glazier that’s my trade and I’ve always made a good living from that. This is not just a low point it’s scary, it’s really uncomfortable to have such an uncertain future."
Thomas Jr recently signed a deal with boxing promoter Damon Feldman to fight actor Henry "Nacho" Laun, a close pal of Mark Wahlberg at an event next month. He said he is hoping that his upcoming celebrity boxing match will help turn things around for him.
He said: "I’m doing this celebrity boxing because I want people to see I’m a normal person but it’s hard to counteract all the bad stuff.
"People think I’m riding Meghan’s coat-tails but that’s the hand I’ve been dealt. This is my life now — I can’t live my old life anymore even if I want to but I still need to survive.
"For me this fight is about two things. Firstly it’s a fight for survival — I’m hoping this will really turn my fortunes around. It’s something positive to me to focus on rather than all the negative.
"Secondly it’s a fight for the Markle family — I hope it shows Meghan that she does have a family here that she may have forgotten about and that it hasn’t been easy for any of us having our lives turned upside down. I’ve got through my whole entire life working successfully and living a comfortable life and now for the first time I don’t have that any more.
"I don’t want to bad mouth Meghan but I think this could have all been handled better at the beginning. She could have helped me deal with all this attention and it’s still in her power to help me now.
"I wish her all the best with her new baby but it is hard when I see how much she’s spending on baby showers and things and I’ve got nothing.
"The kind of money she spends would set me up for life.”
No comments:
Post a Comment