Samantha Markle’s daughter slams her mother for getting her BANNED from Meghan’s wedding

Meghan Markle’s niece has slammed her estranged mother Samantha Markle as the reason she was banned from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s wedding after speaking out for the first time in their new bombshell documentary.

Ashleigh Hale, 37, also sensationally claimed that her aunt’s relationships were being ‘managed’ by Buckingham Palace after getting involved with Prince Harry.

In another thinly-veiled attack on Buckingham Palace, it is suggested that Meghan’s relationships with friends and close family were being ‘monitored’ by those inside the Firm.

The business immigration attorney, who is thought to have been Meghan’s inspiration for her character in Suits, claims that she was not allowed to attend the star-studded bash in 2018… despite A-list stars like George Clooney and Oprah landing an invitation.

Speaking for the first time about their ‘close’ relationship on the Netflix documentary, Ashleigh said that she was ‘hurt’ by the decision to ban her from the wedding.

She said: ‘I think I said I was hurt on some level, but I understood where it was coming from.

‘To know that it was because of my biological mother that this relationship, that’s so important to me, was impacted in that way. I feel like because of her, it was taken away. It’s been hard.’

Both Ashleigh and Meghan opened up about their relationship, with her father Thomas Markle connecting the two via email initially.

As part of their $100million deal with Netflix, the privacy-conscious couple have handed over a trove of pictures and video from their relationship.

These included snaps of Meghan with Ashleigh on a trip to New Orleans before she met Harry, as well as Meghan standing by Ashleigh’s side on her wedding day.

The two women grew close after Meghan emailed her niece, with Ashleigh claiming there were ‘long emails’ back and forth several days a week.

 MailOnline can reveal:

Meghan said: ‘My dad said that Samantha had found her daughter and I remember saying, oh if you have her email address, I want to email her.

‘I think we both crave the same thing. I wanted a sister, and she was like a little sister.

‘Ash was put through quite a bit by the media just by association and I didn’t want her life to be plagued with all that drama.’

Ashleigh was brought up by her paternal grandparents from the age of two, and was adopted by them before reconnecting with her mother in 2007.

In another swipe against the royals, Ashleigh added: ‘Communication with Meg became less and less frequent… my impression was that her relationships were being managed on some level.

‘She took me to New Orleans, we walked around, we listened to some good live music, ate way too much food and had way too many drinks.

‘It was just the two of us which I think is really special. I think she takes on a lot of roles for me.

‘There is a sister element, there’s a maternal she’s my friend she’s kind of all the things.

‘After the news first broke, Samantha pretty quickly began expressing a lot of angry words about Meg, and towards me.

‘What was communicated to me, was maybe some resentment and it felt like no matter what I said you know her perspective didn’t change and seemed to get angrier and bigger, and we stopped talking.

‘Just some people you can’t reason with.’

Ashleigh went on to say that she had been estranged from her mother, and she felt ‘hurt’ that she was not allowed to the wedding.

Those who did attend the bash included Oprah Winfrey, Idris Elba, George Clooney and his wife, humanitarian lawyer Amal Clooney.

Elton John, Priyanka Chopra, a close friend of Meghan’s, as well as several of her Suits castmates – including Jacinda Barrett and Patrick J Adams and his wife, Troian Bellisario.

Samantha Markle, Thomas Markle and Thomas Markle Jr did not attend the wedding, and it is understood that only Meghan’s father had been included in the original wedding plans.

Despite her claims that Meghan’s relationships were being ‘managed’, the Duchess still attended events with her friends both before and after their nuptials – including a baby shower for Archie.

She threw the bash in New York, with Amal Clooney, Misha Nonoo, Jessica Mulroney and Gayle King all attending the event – as well as tennis ace Serena Williams.

The shower took place Grand Penthouse Suite at The Mark hotel on New York’s Upper East Side – which costs $75,000-a-night.

Several of Meghan’s closest friends also flew to the UK days before her big day in 2018 and were spotted in London to see the sights.

Lindsay Roth, Sarah Rafferty, Misha Nonoo, Priyanka Chopra and Heather Dorak all flew across the world to celebrate their friends’ nuptials.

Meghan also claimed that her passport was taken by the Palace during their sensational Oprah interview in 2021 – though made several trips abroad including to New York after meeting Harry.

She also hits out at the formality of the royals, describing meeting the Prince and Princess of Wales wearing torn jeans and bare feet.

Discussing what happened, she said: ‘I was a hugger. I’ve always been a hugger, I didn’t realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits’.

She also admits to being baffled by the ‘formality’ of meeting the Queen for the first time, claiming she thought Harry was ‘joking’ when she learned she had to bow or curtsey and comparing her first meal at Windsor to a ‘Medieval Times, Dinner and Tournament’.

The highly-anticipated series is being put out in two parts, with the first three episodes of the six-part docu-series now available to stream online.

In episode one, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex begin by filming themselves on the day they ended their royal duties in March 2020, with Harry in the VIP lounge at Heathrow as he flew to Canada.

Meghan cries with a towel on her head as she declares: ‘I don’t even know where to begin’.

Viewers pointed out this footage was captured six months before their $100million deal with Netflix was signed in September 2020.

The privacy-conscious couple have given extraordinary access to the streaming giant, including a treasure trove of pictures and footage from their private lives including of their children.

There are also private texts and emails they shared at the time of their courtship.

The first three episodes also cover Harry’s birth and upbringing and he blames the media for the failure of his previous relationships.

The Sussexes then describe how they get together, their engagement and then quitting as frontline royals.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex discuss Megxit, racism and their new life in California.

It also begins with a pointed comment that the Royal Family declined to comment on allegations in the show and reveals it was completed in August 2022 – before the death of the Queen.