Meghan Markle's half-sister, Samantha Markle, has been trashing the new Duchess of Sussex for months.
She's accused Meghan of being heartless for failing to invite her and other family members to her wedding to Prince Harry on May 19 and has publicly called her everything from "a shallow social climber" with a "soft spot for gingers" to someone whose "behavior is certainly not befitting of a royal family member" and worse.
Now Samantha, 53, is insisting she's ready to make amends and reconcile with her long-estranged sibling, 36, all because she was deeply inspired by the charismatic American clergyman, Episcopalian Bishop Michael Bruce Curry, who delivered a rousing sermon about the power of love during the royal wedding.
"I watched the bishop talk about love and unity and forgiveness and I hoped it would strike a chord within Meghan. So if that was real and if I were to define a principle to all of this, then it would be that we all just work for a peaceful resolution and reunion as a family," Samantha told Britain's The Sun.
"I feel a religious and moral obligation to be open to her and not be vindictive or isolating or hurt. This should ride on her conscience as a moral obligation to at some point communicate with me and be united rather than divided — as that was the whole message," Samantha added. "If she wants to do the morally and religiously right thing, then she will and I'm open to that. I will wait to hear from her. I'm not going to beat my head against a wall."
She's also not going to go quietly — even after their dad, Thomas Markle Sr., told TMZ he hoped "all of my relatives will just shut up about everything" now that the wedding was over.
Critics, of course, think Samantha's claims that she desires a truce ring false — she is, after all, continuing to speak to the media, and just one day earlier, she criticized Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, accusing her of selling photos of Meghan to the media and arranging to be paid for an interview with wedding guest Oprah Winfrey. ("Even Doria cashed in talking to Oprah and some of the first photos out there only she could have had," Samantha tweeted.)
Samantha also told The Sun that Meghan has, in her opinion, a duty to include her estranged, outspoken family in her new life as a royal.
"If she feels that the Markles are not worthy and excludes us, I think that is going against the tenets of her baptismal vows and everything in the church," Samantha said. "If you're true in the queen's church, you should practice those principles rather than just speak them."
Samantha also said that she thinks Harry and Meghan owe her dad a trip to Britain since he couldn't make it to the wedding or walk Meghan down the aisle as he recovered from heart surgery on the heels of his paparazzi photo scandal (he admitted to setting up photos of himself getting ready for the wedding).
"I think Meghan and Harry should pick him up in a jet and take him to Buckingham Palace. After all, he did miss out on the wedding," she told The Sun. "I think he should have lovely tea and a tour."
Samantha is also unhappy that Meghan and Harry didn't issue a public statement about Thomas on their wedding day. (Meghan previously did just that when she said via the palace after her dad pulled out, "I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health.")
"I know the day is about Meghan and Harry but, had [Prince] Charles been in hospital with a heart attack, I think there would have been statements released expressing their sadness that he wasn't there," Samantha said.
But believe it or not, Samantha still had more to say — including how she believes the royal family was wrong to not give Thomas his own coat of arms, something that was done for Duchess Kate's family — the Middletons — when she married Prince William in 2011.
"To exclude him off a coat of arms is really stripping him of an honor and it's a huge insult. After a heart attack that would be cruel and isolating," Samantha told The Sun.
She also boldly defended herself against claims that she's harming her sister and Meghan's new family with her public comments.
"I'm sure the world can say, 'Oh, Samantha is slamming the royals.' Well, the royals had generations of scandal in their own family," Samantha told The Sun. "You've got inbreeding, you've got substance abuse, you've got alcohol abuse, you've got infidelity. On what grounds could the royals feel that the Markles are somehow not worthy? That's the pot calling the kettle black."