The Tragedy Of Meghan Markle's Half-Sister Samantha Is So Sad

The following article includes allegations of domestic violence. 

Meghan Markle and her half-sister's drama has played out in the spotlight for years, attracting considerable media attention. Unsurprisingly, Samantha Markle's shady side has earned her quite a reputation among the general public. She sued her own sister and admitted to profiting off her fame, after all. But Samantha has also endured a lot of hardship in her life. To begin with, Samantha, the daughter of the Duchess of Sussex's father Thomas Markle Sr. and his first wife, Roslyn, has struggled with her health most of her life.

During high school, she fell off a swing so violently that she was left temporarily paralyzed on her left side and blind in one eye. Because of her difficult recovery, Samantha had to miss a lot of school. Around the same time, she began to experience other symptoms that led to her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. She wasn't properly diagnosed until she was in her early 40s, when she became wheelchair-bound from extreme weakness in her legs commonly associated with the neurodegenerative disease.

Samantha has also struggled with her familial relationships beyond her estrangement from Meghan. Despite having three children, she has little to no relationship with any of them. Her youngest even accused her of abusive behavior, a claim backed by Samantha's own mother — from whom she is also estranged. Additionally, Samantha has accused her longtime boyfriend of domestic violence more than once. On top of it all, she has faced financial struggles, including bankruptcy. Samantha is certainly no stranger to hardship.

Samantha Markle has struggled with her health since she was rather young. After developing symptoms as a teenager, she finally received a proper diagnosis at age 43. In 2008, Samantha learned she suffered from multiple sclerosis. The condition affects the central nervous system and can cause a wide range of symptoms, including numbness in the legs that can affect the patient's ability to walk. 

While the chronic disease can produce mild symptoms, Samantha's were severe and caused her to lose mobility in her lower body. "I'm in a wheelchair because I have M.S. and I dealt with that for a lot of my life," she told Fox 35 in 2021. She doesn't often discuss her health, as she never wanted to place the focus on her condition. "It didn't stop me and I didn't want it to define me." However, Samantha believes Meghan Markle missed the perfect chance to show her activism went beyond photo ops.

"I am in a wheelchair and she did meet Harry at the Invictus Games. I felt like it was an opportunity to be a voice and bring a lot of awareness to it [disability]," she said on the Australian radio show "Hughesy and Kate" in 2017 (via the Daily Mail). Samantha also seemingly resents her half-sister for not making an effort to check on her. "I wasn't going to say: 'Oh, you should phone your sister in a wheelchair more,'" she told the Daily Mail in 2024.

Samantha Markle didn't get to have a high school experience like most of her peers. In her adolescence, Samantha suffered a fall from a rope swing that caused extensive injuries, including blindness and paralysis, she detailed in her 2022 defamation lawsuit against Meghan Markle (via Reason). Because her recovery was tough and lengthy, Samantha had to quit high school temporarily to focus on her health. However, she didn't give up on her education.

She eventually finished high school and went on to further her education, studying criminology and psychology at the University of New Mexico, according to her LinkedIn. Following her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, Samantha earned a Master's degree in mental health counseling and vocational rehabilitation counseling to help people who, like herself, were living with a disability. "It was at that time that I decided to reevaluate my skills, interests and abilities, but I also wanted to find a way to help others," she wrote in the bio section. 

A photo of her college graduation (seen above) has become a contentious point in Samantha's estranged relationship with Meghan, as she has used it to disprove her half-sister's claims that the two hadn't spoken in nearly two decades during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. "My degree clearly shows 2008, and anybody who has a calculator or a functioning frontal lobe knows that was not 19 years ago," Samantha said on New Zealand's "Newstalk ZB" radio (via Yahoo!).

Samantha Markle gave birth to three children, but she doesn't have much of a relationship with any of them. Ashleigh and Christopher Hale, the children she had with her first husband, were raised by Thomas Markle Sr. and his first wife, Roslyn Markle, from an early age. "They got custody of us when I was probably around two years old. And ultimately, they did adopt us. So I was raised by my paternal grandparents — for me, they were my parents," Ashleigh said on the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan" (via Harper's Bazaar).

According to Ashleigh, who is close with Meghan Markle, both of them preferred to live with their grandparents rather than their mother. Samantha's daughter from her second marriage, Noel Rasmussen, is also estranged from her and has even leapt to her aunt's defense. "When [Meghan] started dating Prince Harry, [Samantha] got an interest in Meghan which she had never had before," she told the Daily Mail in 2018. Like her older half-siblings, Rasmussen also lived with her grandmother at times.

Besides her children, Samantha also has no relationship with Roslyn. Her mother cut ties with her over Samantha's treatment of Ashleigh, Christopher, and Noel. Roslyn has even accused her daughter of abusing Noel. "'That's my effing daughter, and I'll treat her how I want to. I'm not beating her,' is what she told me," Roslyn told the Daily Mail of her attempts to step in to protect her granddaughter.

Samantha Markle may have a couple of degrees and experience in the broadcasting industry like Thomas Markle Sr., who was a lighting director in the 1970s, but that didn't prevent her from facing financial obstacles. Shortly after divorcing Scott Rasmussen, Samantha filed for bankruptcy in 2003. Her LinkedIn page doesn't list any job activity between 1998 and 2005, suggesting she didn't work throughout her second marriage. She was seemingly working toward her college degree instead. The end of her marriage and college costs may have contributed to her financial struggles.

But that wouldn't be the only time she found herself in a complicated situation. Because her feud with Meghan Markle unfolded in the public eye, Samantha claimed she has lost work opportunities as a mental health counselor. In her lawsuit, Samantha argued her sister's libelous claims against her caused "actual damages in the form of lost employment, lost income from sales of her autobiography, [and] emotional and mental distress," referring to her 2021 book, "The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister" (via Us Weekly).

The court sided with Meghan in the case. Samantha's lawsuit came after she admitted to profiting from her half-sister's fame. "Let's face it, we all have to survive, money makes the world go round, so if you want to call that cashing in, that's fine. But no one in media would refuse a paycheck for talking about the royals," she said on "Good Morning Britain" in 2018 (via the Daily Mail).

Samantha Markle reportedly has a tumultuous relationship with her live-in boyfriend, Mark Phillips. In December 2020, he was arrested and charged with domestic violence after police responded to an altercation at their Florida home, the Daily Mail reported. Phillips allegedly lost his temper after Markle, who struggles with lower-body strength, asked for his help getting off the toilet. During the fight, she accused Phillips of hitting her in the face.

Phillips left their home, but was later arrested by authorities. That wasn't the first time police had been called on the couple, however. Back in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they lived before moving to Florida in 2016, police intervened during several altercations, with at least one instance relating to domestic violence. Markle's second husband, Scott Rasmussen, also accused Phillips of harassing their daughter, Noel, throughout their custody battle. According to court documents, he threatened the then-teenager over text messages.

"Perjury is a serious charge and you will not lie or you will be charged and granny as well," he allegedly wrote. In the joint Daily Mail interview she gave with Roslyn Markle, Noel noted that her mother's abusive behavior toward her escalated after Phillips moved in with them. "He had a good temper on him," Noel said. "He had gotten violent a few times if I'd refused to do something. I was more scared of him, honestly." At 16, Noel moved in with her father as the situation became dangerous, she said.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.