{"id":501096,"date":"2026-03-29T02:27:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T02:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501096\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T02:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T02:27:14","slug":"meghan-markles-estranged-dad-81-is-dating-his-nurse-46-after-health-scare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501096\/","title":{"rendered":"Meghan Markle’s estranged dad, 81, is dating his nurse, 46, after health scare"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meghan Markle\u2019s estranged father, Thomas Markle, says he\u2019s \u201cblessed and beyond happy\u201d now that he\u2019s dating his much-younger nurse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never expected to find joy and happiness again at my age. I felt neglected and sad for so many years but now I am enjoying life again,\u201d Thomas told the Daily Mail<\/a> in an interview published Saturday. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter so many tough times I feel truly blessed to have found someone very special who takes such good care of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas Markle, pictured above going for a shopping trip in Baja, Mexico, revealed he\u2019s found love with a nurse 35 years his junior. \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Thomas, 81 \u2014 pictured above shortly after his move to Cebu, Philippines \u2014 met his new girlfriend, Rio Canedo, 46, while recovering from his leg amputation surgery in the Philippines. GDoggy \/ Karl Larsen PR Photos \/ BACKGRID<\/p>\n

The 81-year-old was introduced to his new girlfriend, Rio Canedo, 46, while recovering from his leg amputation surgery<\/a> in the Philippines. <\/p>\n

Canedo works in the town of Cebu, which is where Thomas and his son, Tom Jr., 59, moved to in January 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know some people will say hurtful things but I don\u2019t care,\u201d Thomas said of his romance while acknowledging their drastic age difference. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to talk about this because I never thought I would ever be happy again. I want people to know you\u2019re never too old to find peace and love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas moved to the area with his son, Tom Jr., (both pictured above in their first public sighting since their move) in January 2025. GDoggy \/ Karl Larsen PR Photos \/ BACKGRID<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter so many tough times I feel truly blessed to have found someone very special who takes such good care of me,\u201d Thomas, seen above being pushed through a Los Angeles airport, said of his new relationship. LionsShareNews \/ BACKGRID<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of negative things going on in the world and if my story can give a little hope to one person then I\u2019m happy,\u201d he continued, adding that \u201cthe haters will hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, to be honest, I don\u2019t give a damn. Life is for living. There\u2019s nothing more important in life than love.\u201d<\/p>\n

In early December, it was revealed that Thomas Sr. was admitted to the intensive care unit after undergoing emergency surgery.<\/p>\n

At the time, his son had told outlets that\u00a0he had been rushed to the hospital<\/a>\u00a0after getting sick at home.<\/p>\n

Thomas (seen above arriving at a hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2022) was reported to have undergone emergency surgery in early December. BACKGRID<\/p>\n

At the time, it was reported that Thomas, seen above stepping out of his Rosarito residence, was rushed to the hospital after he had become sick at his home. Dsanchez\/CPR \/ BACKGRID<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter my stroke things were not great. I wanted to go to the other side of the world to a place where the people are kind,\u201d Thomas told the Daily Mail of his move. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philippines have a gentler way of life. I never expected to meet Rio and have my life changed in such a wonderful way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI finally feel safe and well-cared for.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter my stroke things were not great,\u201d Thomas (pictured above grabbing to-go food in Rosarito, Mexico) explained. \u201cI wanted to go to the other side of the world to a place where the people are kind.\u201d \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Thomas, pictured above in Cebu, Philippines, earlier this year, added that he \u201cfinally\u201d feels \u201csafe and well-cared for\u201d thanks to Canedo. GDoggy \/ Karl Larsen PR Photos \/ BACKGRID<\/p>\n

Canedo takes care of Thomas with a strict no sugar diet, which has shown some results as the outlet noted Thomas\u2019 weight loss. She also encourages Meghan\u2019s estranged father \u2014 who is currently struggling with pneumonia \u2014 to drink more water.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got pneumonia but I\u2019m not feeling sorry for myself because I have Rio taking such good care of me,\u201d said Thomas. <\/p>\n

As we previously reported, the Duchess of Sussex did reach out to her father<\/a> amid his recent health issues despite their distanced relationship. But, Thomas tells the Daily Mail that he\u2019s moved past his strained relationship with his famous daughter. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hardly watch the news. I live in a world where people are kind to each other. The nurses and doctors here in the Philippines are wonderful. People here don\u2019t have all the worldly goods we have in the West but they respect and care for older people.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to his daughter Meghan Markle (pictured above at the 2024 SXSW Festival), Thomas brushed off their strained relationship, saying he finally feels like he \u201ccan laugh again\u201d after being \u201csad about Meghan for so long.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is good,\u201d he closed his update. BACKGRID<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are young trainee nurses here who we call the \u2018munchkins\u2019 and all I hear all day long are peels of laughter,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was sad about Meghan for so long but now I finally feel like I can laugh again. Life is good.\u201d<\/p>\n

A rep for Meghan did not immediately respond to Page Six\u2019s request for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meghan Markle\u2019s estranged father, Thomas Markle, says he\u2019s \u201cblessed and beyond happy\u201d now that he\u2019s dating his much-younger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,9566,12044,14195,15666,2755,96,100,223,120636,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-501096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity-couples","tag-celebrity-dating","tag-celebrity-families","tag-celebrity-interviews","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-meghan-markle","tag-royal-family","tag-thomas-markle","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}