Meghan has been called out on Twitter by her half-sister. Photo / Getty Images
Meghan has been called out on Twitter by her half-sister. Photo / Getty Images
Meghan Markle's half-sister has claimed the duchess told a big lie in her first official speech on the Royal Tour.
According to Samantha Markle, the Duchess of Sussex was "delusionally absurd" to claim to an audience at the University of the South Pacific's campus in Fiji yesterday that she hadpaid her own university fees, using scholarships and financial aid programs.
In an angry since-deleted tweet, Samantha criticised her sibling, claiming it was actually their father, Thomas Markle Senior, who'd forked out the money for her education.
In her widely-praised speech on Tuesday, Meghan told the crowd that she understood the "personal feeling of pride and excitement" that came with attending university.
"I am also fully aware of the challenges of being able to afford this level of schooling for many people around the world — myself included," she said.
"It was through scholarships, financial aid programs and work-study where my earnings from a job on campus went directly towards my tuition — that I was able to attend university. And, without question, it was worth every effort."
Samantha later doubled down on her claims, even tagging the official Kensington Palace Twitter page in her accusations.
The since deleted tweet. Photo / Twitter
"Our father paid for all of her education! This speech is not true," she wrote, adding: "Our father paid for all of her education, this is an outrageous lie! She needs to stop hiding the truth."
She then listed all the institutions their father had paid for — claiming he financed Meghan's education at the Little Red School House, Immaculate Heart, and Northwestern University — before demanding "proof" of her scholarships.
"Proof, let's see proof of scholarships and grants. Dad paid for her education, all of it. If she worked at all, it was for extra shoe money and party money," Samantha wrote.
Thomas Markle Senior has previously claimed that he paid Meghan's $41,980-a-year tuition after winning $1.586 million on a lottery.
"When Meghan was 11, she moved back in with me up until she was 17 and went to college," he told the Daily Mail last year.
"I was having my good years then, making good money, and could afford to give her the best, with a good school, good education, good home. She became the woman that she is today thanks to everything I did for her."
Despite the negativity from her half-sister surrounding her university speech, the Duchess of Sussex's first official royal tour with Prince Harry has so far been widely considered a raging success.
