Meghan Markle's father in new row over being paid for tell-all interview

The father of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, was today embroiled in a new controversy as it emerged that he was paid over USD 10,000 for a new tell-all interview with a UK television channel following his daughter's wedding to Prince Harry.

Thomas Markle made headlines yesterday with an emotional interview with ITV's 'Good Morning Britain', during which he revealed he had wept at missing Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry at Windsor Castle last month.

The 73-year-old former Hollywood lighting director also made some embarrassing references to his new son-in-law's political leanings ignoring the fact that royals are expected to remain neutral on politics.

Piers Morgan, the presenter who interviewed Markle on the live show, told The Sun' Markle had pocketed "a few thousand pounds", but insisted his "ultimate motive was not money" and had turned down significantly higher offers from American media outlets.

The presenter insisted Thomas Markle wanted to get a "proper chance" to put across his "side of the story" on a British programme.

"I didn't do this for money, I did this to change my image. I was presented as a hermit hiding out in Mexico but obviously that was a mistake and went wrong, Markle said during the interview.

In reference to a previous controversy over staged paparazzi shots of him preparing for the royal wedding, he added, "I spoke to them both(Harry and Meghan) and apologised. I realised it was a serious mistake but it was hard to take it back. I had been seen as a negative for an entire year and I wanted to improve my look."