Meghan Markle’s dad officially won’t attend the royal wedding because of surgery, and we hurt for her

The lovely Meghan Markle is an American actress and general icon who is set to marry Prince Harry on May 19th, 2018. After much back-and-forth, it turns out that Meghan’s dad won’t be walking her down the aisle.

Meghan’s extended family has continued to make headlines since the announcement of her engagement to Prince Harry.

The media have closely followed stories about her siblings and half-siblings, and speculated who from her American family will be invited to the 2018 royal wedding. The subject of Meghan’s dad has been heavily scrutinized, in particular. Reports speculated about whether Thomas would attend the London nuptials to walk her down the aisle. On May 8th, he reportedly suffered a heart attack, but checked himself out of the hospital to prepare for his trip abroad.

After less than a week of turbulent headlines, Meghan’s dad announced on May 14th that he would not be attending the wedding, out of respect to Meghan’s new family-to-be. He then reversed his decision, telling TMZ (so take this with a large grain of salt) that he has every intention of flying to London to walk Meghan down the aisle. Later still — this all took place on May 14th, the week of the wedding — it was reported that Meghan’s dad suffered chest pains.

And on the morning of Tuesday, May 15th, he confirmed to TMZ that he would officially be unable to attend the wedding because he will be undergoing heart surgery this week.

"They [doctors] will go in and clear blockage, repair damage and put a stent where it is needed, he told them.

At this time, reports suggest that Meghan’s mother may walk her down the aisle. Meghan’s mom is already on the 2018 royal wedding schedule, and they’ll be riding in a carriage together from their accommodations to the church.

Our hearts are with Meghan and her family, since this is undoubtedly a stressful time for them a mere days before the wedding.