Thomas Markle: Prince Harry told me to 'give Donald Trump a chance'

Thomas Markle, the father of Duchess Meghan of Sussex who famously skipped his daughter's royal wedding, is opening up about missing the historic event, and sharing a few new tidbits about Prince Harry along the way.

The 73-year-old gave his first interview since the royal wedding to ITV's "Good Morning Britain" program Monday, telling hosts Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan that he "absolutely wanted to walk my daughter down the aisle," though he was proud that Prince Charles took his place.

He also recalled a conversation he had with Prince Harry before the wedding, in which his daughter's then fiancé expressed an openness to President Trump and Brexit.

"Our conversation was, I was complaining that I didn’t like Donald Trump. He said, 'Give Donald Trump a chance'. I sort of disagreed with that."

When they talked about Brexit, Markle recalled, "I think he was open to the experiment."

As for whether Harry is still a Trump supporter, "I would hope not now," Markle said. "At the time he might have been."

In the interview, which many took to Twitter calling hard to watch, Markle described telling his daughter and Prince Harry that he'd be unable to attend the wedding because of heart problems in an emotional phone call.

"They were disappointed. Meghan cried, I’m sure, and they both said ‘Take care of yourself, we are really worried about you,'" he said. "I couldn't get over the fact that had happened, all that stuff was working on me. I had a heart condition."

“It was incredible watching her,” he said. “I was very proud. I was very upset that it wasn’t me, but the whole world was watching my daughter. I was very happy about that."

“The unfortunate thing for me now is I’m a footnote in one of the greatest moments in history rather than the dad walking her down the aisle," he added. "That upsets me somewhat.”

He also confirmed that he staged paparazzi photos in the weeks leading up to the wedding, posing for shots that included him trying on suits and reading books about the royal family.

"They'd take photos of me grabbing a beer, take photos of me getting into my car... they'd take photos of me making me look negative," he said. “I realized it was a serious mistake. It’s hard to take it back.”

He recalled the first time Duchess Meghan told him about her new boyfriend, in which she waited to disclose his royal pedigree.

"The first phone calls were, 'Dad, I have a new boyfriend' and I said, that's really nice. And she said, 'He's British' and I said, that's really nice. And eventually the third time around was like, 'He's a prince' ...  And at that point, she said, 'It's Harry' and I said 'Oh, Harry okay!'"

He also predicted that a royal baby won't be far in the future for the couple. "She's wanted children for a long time and when she met Harry and she spoke how much she loves him," he said. "There's got to be a child in the making, somewhere soon."

WPXI