Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, is denying involvement in a royal sightseeing tour — organized by his friend, photographer Karl Larsen — that has been halted over privacy concerns.
“I never gave my approval to Karl Larsen for any tour anywhere,” Markle, 79, told Mail Online Royals on Tuesday. “I am not involved in any way.”
The excursion was advertised on travel firm Tripening’s website as the “Royal Celebrity Tour of Los Angeles and Montecito.”
Potential sightseers (up to six at a time) were promised an “in-depth tour” of the area where Meghan, 42, grew up and where Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, 38, call home.
The Post reached out to reps for Meghan Markle and her father, as well as Tripening for comment.
Details about the tour — which costs $1,200 for the group of six — were later scrubbed from the website following backlash.
In the since-deleted ad viewed by The Post, Larsen wrote in the description, “I’m the world-famous celebrity photographer Karl Larsen, a best friend of Thomas Markle (Meghan’s father) and the guy with a stunning exclusive portfolio of pictures of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle together in Montecito.”
Passengers were supposed to be taken to the royal couple’s famous hangouts in Montecito, including various eateries and the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club.
In the listing, Larsen claimed he is the only one who has an “open communication pathway” between Markle’s camp and the rest of her family, much of whom she is estranged from.
“I am the only person who has an open communication pathway between Meghan’s camp and the rest of the Markle family,” he wrote in the listing.
“There is nobody on the planet that knows more info that [sic] me and I’m the only person that’s qualified to put on such a tour.”
Not only has Markle’s father denied involvement, but so has her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr.
“Under no circumstances whatsoever did my father or myself ever agree or be aware of being involved in such a ridiculous cheesy embarrassing idea of being involved in a tour bus business with Karl Larsen,” he wrote in a Tuesday statement on Instagram.
“And furthermore, it is against the law to use somebody’s name for advertising without their written permission, and a prior business agreement.”
In recent years, Markle has had quite a strained relationship with her father, whom she was once close to. Their bond soured shortly before Meghan’s 2018 wedding to Harry.
The Hollywood director suffered a stroke last year and has publicly pleaded to reconnect with his daughter to repair their relationship.
Now there’s outrage about the tour, especially from tech entrepreneur Christopher Bouzy, who called it “harassment” of the royal couple.
“The recent incident where a celebrity tour was being organized to visit the neighborhood of the Duke and Duchess’s residence is a concerning escalation of online harassment transitioning to the real world,” Bouzy told Newsweek on Tuesday.
“The problematic listing was an act of targeted harassment, and it jeopardized the safety of the Duke and Duchess’s family.”
In response, Larsen claimed he had “no intentions” of driving past the Sussexes’ house.
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