• On Dec. 4, U.K. news outlet GB News falsely claimed that Meghan Markle was raised by her father, Thomas Markle, while her mother, Doria Ragland, was imprisoned.
  • Anchor Carole Malone issued a public apology to the Duchess of Sussex on air during a Dec. 15 broadcast.
  • “I apologize sincerely to Ms. Ragland and her family for any pain my comments may have caused,” Carole said, in part.

Genuine question for the culture: Can Meghan Markle ever catch a break? Following endless speculation about whether the Duchess reached out to her dad, Thomas Markle, amid his recent hospitalization and emergency leg amputation, she’s now been issued an apology from a U.K. news outlet for making an outrageous false claim about her mom, Doria Ragland.

Earlier this month, GB News aired a false claim that Meghan was raised by her now-estranged father while Doria was imprisoned. In a recent report aired during the Monday, December 15 broadcast, news anchor Carole Malone walked back on those claims, which she says she “now understands to be misinformation” she’d seen online.

“On Thursday, December the 4th, 2025, I stated that Thomas Markle, the Duchess of Sussex’s father, brought Meghan up while her mother, Doria Ragland, was in prison,” Carole said during the December 15 broadcast.

“I believed this to be the case based on what I now understand to be misinformation I had seen online,” the anchor continued, per footage posted on X. “I was questioned about the validity of this claim during the broadcast and I repeated this belief, which I now understand to be false.”

She added, “This was a genuine error. I accept what I have been told on behalf of Ms. Ragland—that she raised her daughter and that she has never been in prison or jail. I apologize sincerely to Ms. Ragland and her family for any pain my comments may have caused.”

The awkward mishap came about while GB News was covering Thomas’ recent hospitalization, which has also become a whole thing. According to reports, the Duchess had contacted her estranged father after the procedure, but he claimed that he “hasn’t heard” from her yet, and is “still open to reconciling with her in the future.”

Meghan’s reps have since revealed that she attempted to reach out to him via email on December 5. After that didn’t work out, a letter she had written finally made it to him by snail mail. “With the support of reliable and trusted contacts, her correspondence is now safely in his hands,” her representatives told People at the time.