LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MARCH 11: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME) Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends the 2019 Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

 

Meghan Markle’s well-documented dysfunctional family has caused her unimaginable personal pain, especially the seriously strained relationship with her father, Thomas Markle.

But could the birth of her own first child next month be a chance at healing the wound?

Yes, according to a new report by the Daily Mail that cites a friend of the Duchess of Sussex.

According to the website, Meghan plans to invite her estranged father Thomas, half-sister Samantha Markle and other family members to meet the newborn royal following the birth.

This, she hopes will help their dysfunctional family to let go of the past.

“Meghan understands the pressures of intense media scrutiny and she is saddened by what her family have had to endure,” the insider said.

“Meghan hopes and prays that the baby will bring her family back together.”

It sounds beautiful in theory. The birth of a child – in the English spring, no less – and the reuniting of a family as the result.

But could actions by the Markles, from Thomas publishing a private letter Meghan wrote him, to Samantha’s cruel public rants, really be forgiven?

Thomas Markle has publicly expressed his desire to meet his royal grandchild in several of the many interviews he has given (despite his daughter’s wishes for him to stay quiet).

“What’s sad is that sometime in the next year Meghan and Harry will have a baby and I’ll be a grandfather, and if we’re not speaking I won’t see my grandchild,” he told the Mail on Sunday.

“How tragic is that, to deprive a child of its grandfather because I said a few things critical of the royal family.”

“A few critical things” is putting it lightly. Regardless, there’s no question Meghan would want to heal her dysfunctional relationship with her family. But the question remains whether she can trust them, especially at such a vulnerable time.

Meghan is expected to give birth in late April or early May.