Meghan Markle has been slammed for the treatment of her father after he was rushed to hospital.

Thomas Markle senior, 81, is now "stable" albeit still in intensive care following a three-hour operation. He was dashed to hospital after an emergency at home on the island of Cebu, more than 7,000 miles away from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Montecito, California.

The Duchess of Sussex, it is understood, has not made contact with Thomas despite his health scare. This has split opinion, though Meghan, 44, has taken scathing criticism in one newspaper opinion column today. Jan Moir, an experienced columnist, said: "Mr Markle has been exiled, banished, cancelled and snubbed for seven long years by the Sussexes; treated like an embarrassing sack of family rubbish hurriedly put out with the bins while the Duke and Duchess get on with their gilded lives.

"She has shown no compassion over the past few years, not one drop, as her father suffered one health blow after another, from two heart attacks on the eve of her wedding to a massive stroke in 2022 that robbed him of the power of speech."

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And, in her lengthy piece, Ms Moir noted Meghan's "hypocrisy" — an alleged trait for which she and Harry have faced scrutiny before on other issues, such as climate change and most recently her insistence on being introduced by her royal title that she previously wanted to avoid.

Writing for the Daily Mail, the journalist added: "She makes treats and cosy memories for loved ones while simpering about warmth, love, friendship and family.

"On the Netflix set, an eager crew of celebrities and 'new friends' – ie total strangers – have gathered to grease up the old Duch as if she were a fattened goose and the onscreen mood is very come-let-us-adore-her, oh Christ, the lard... It's not the hypocrisy that gets me, it is the pity of it all."

Thomas Sr and Meghan's relationship broke down and the pair became estranged in 2018, after Meghan married Prince Harry. The pensioner has been living in a £500-a-month high-rise flat in the island of Cebu since earlier this year.

The rift has been highlighted today as, at the time of writing, the former actress has failed to at least address her father's condition on her Instagram posts. Ms Moir continued: "Show up, do good, is the sanctimonious motto on their Archewell website. You get the feeling they would crawl over broken glass to hold the hand of a stranger whose gender wasn't being respected by their/her peers, or a bullied child, before showing up and doing good for the welfare of their own kin."