The contents of what has been described as Meghan Markle’s “bombshell letter” to Thomas Markle Senior, in which the Duchess of Sussex accused her 74-year-old father of having “broken my heart into a million pieces”, have been revealed for the first time.

The letter was written by Meghan shortly after her wedding to Prince Harry in May last year but her father disclosed its contents to The Mail on Sunday in response to what he felt was an attack on him in America’s People magazine last week by five of his daughter’s close friends.

Meghan’s highly emotional five-page letter, written in neat handwriting, begins:

“Daddy, It is with a heavy heart that I write this, not understanding why you have chosen to take this path, turning a blind eye to the pain you’re causing.

“Your actions have broken my heart into a million pieces — not simply because you have manufactured such unnecessary and unwarranted pain, but by making the choice to not tell the truth as you are puppeteered in this. Something I will never understand.”

Markle failed to attend his daughter’s wedding after suffering two heart attacks but his ex-wife, Doria Ragland, was present. Prince Charles stood in for Markle.

Meghan, who is expecting her first baby at the age of 37 in spring, continued: “You’ve told the press that you called me to say you weren’t coming to the wedding — that didn’t happen because you never called.

“You’ve said that I never helped you financially and you’ve never asked me for help which is also untrue; you sent me an email last October that said: ‘If I’ve depend too much on you for financial help then I’m sorry but please if you could help me more not as a bargaining chip for my loyalty.’

“I have only ever loved, protected, and defended you, offering whatever financial support I could, worrying about your health… and always asking how I could help, So the week of the wedding to hear about you having a heart attack through a tabloid was horrifying. I called and texted…. I begged you to accept help — we sent someone to your home… and instead of speaking to me to accept this or any help, you stopped answering the phone and chose to only speak to tabloids.”

The letter Meghan sent to her father Sourced by Correspondent

Meghan went on: “If you love me, as you tell the press you do, please stop. Please allow us to live our lives in peace. Please stop lying, please stop creating so much pain, please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband… I realise you are so far down this rabbit hole that you feel (or may feel) there’s no way out, but if you take a moment to pause I think you’ll see that being able to live with a clear conscience is more valuable than any payment in the world.”

Meghan referred to her 54-year-old half sister, Samantha Markle: “I pleaded with you to stop reading the tabloids. On a daily basis you fixated and clicked on the lies they were writing about me, especially those manufactured by your other daughter, who I barely know... you watched me silently suffer at the hand of her vicious lies, I crumbled inside.”

She continued: “We all rallied around to support and protect you from day 1, and this you know. So to hear about the attacks you’ve made at Harry in press, who was nothing but patient, kind and understanding with you is perhaps the most painful of all.

“For some reason you choose to continue fabricating this fictitious narrative, and entrenching yourself deeper into this web you’ve spun. The only thing that helps me sleep at night is the faith and knowing a lie can’t live forever.”

It was The Mail on Sunday which revealed Meghan’s father had been paid for staged photographs and TV footage, as she pointed out: “I believed you, trusted you, and told you I loved you. The next morning the CCTV footage came out. You haven’t reached out to me since the week of our wedding, and while you claim you have no way of contacting me, my phone number has remained the same. This you know. No texts, no missed calls, no outreach from you — just more global interviews you’re being paid to do to say harmful and hurtful things that are untrue.”

Markle, who has a different version of events and seems determined to get even with Meghan, showed The Mail on Sunday a series of texts he claimed he had sent to his daughter.

In one he said: “When did I attack Harry? The only thing I said is we had a disagreement, ‘get over it’. We had disagreements and he was protecting you from, me, but I didn’t feel that I was attacking him?” He also said he had written to Doria about Meghan’s letter: “I don’t know why Meghan is being so hateful and sending me such a hateful letter. There are no rabbit holes, I do not speak to every reporter or newspaper I see!

“Yes I have made a couple of stupid mistakes… I have apologised for those mistakes 100 times or more! I gave Meghan a good life and the best education I could! I love her and I always will.”