Who Is Meghan Markle’s Half-Sister, Samantha Markle?

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle marry at Windsor Palace in May, there's at least one family member who likely won't be invited: Meghan's estranged half-sister, Samantha.

Samantha Markle, who is also known by the name Samantha Grant, is 17 years Meghan's senior; she and her brother are Meghan's half-siblings. To date, she's been the most vocal member of the Markle family, speaking out about her half-sister in the press—a move that may have cost her a relationship with her soon-to-be-royal relative.

The 52-year-old appeared on TLC’s special, When Harry Met Meghan: A Royal Engagement, which aired last December. On that special, she tried to clear the air about Meghan's background, and what she really meant when she called her upcoming book The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister. Despite saying she never means to trash her sister, Grant has criticized Markle in various interviews since that TLC interview.

Here's what we know about her.

SHE AND MEGHAN HAVE THE SAME FATHER.

Samantha and Meghan’s father, Thomas, worked in lighting on television shows like Married With Children. Samantha and her brother, Thomas Jr., are the children of Markle senior's first marriage to Roslyn. His second wife was Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland; Thomas and Doria divorced in 1988, when Meghan was six years old.

Related Article: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Wedding Invitations Are Finally Out

According to Samantha, Thomas Markle's children all got along well. “It was like a gift when Meghan was born because she was so full of life and personality that we became settled as a family, but we became much more lively,” Samantha said in the TLC special. “We were sort of a little family, not as large as The Brady Bunch, but in our minds it was a unique, very beautiful, multicultural and interracial family beginning.”

SHE BLAMES MARKLE FOR NOT SUPPORTING THEIR FATHER NOW.

In an interview with the Australian TV show A Current Affair, Samantha accused Meghan of not using her financial resources to help their father, who reportedly declared bankruptcy in 2016. "Honestly what she could spend in a weekend would greatly help Dad, so that should be a priority," she said.

SHE HIT BACK AT TABLOID REPORTS OF A RAGS-TO-RICHES STORY.

Tabloids on both sides of the Atlantic have reported that Meghan grew up in a rough part of southern California; Samantha said on the TLC special that those stories are inaccurate. “The tabloids wanted to create this ghetto princess story, if you will, which is so far from reality, you know, the African-American, rags-to-riches Cinderella,” Samantha said. “We were raised in a very beautiful upper-middle-class home in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California, nowhere near ‘gangland’ as the tabloids tried to illustrate.”

Samantha has also spoken up about accounts that paint Meghan's family life as less than stable or supportive. "When the media suggested that [her parents] were anything less [than great], and that she was this Cinderella that just rose up out of rubbish or out of nowhere—no, that is rubbish," she told Entertainment Tonight. "Her parents were incredible."

Related article: Here Are The Must-Have Beauty Products Meghan Markle Swears By

SAMANTHA INSISTS SHE DIDN'T SMEAR HER SISTER IN THE PRESS.

Tabloid reports claimed that Samantha called Meghan "narcissistic" and a "social climber," but Samantha insists in the TLC documentary she never said those things. “I was quoted as calling her Princess Pushy. I never said those words,” Samantha said in the TLC special. “The truth is, I never said any such thing and there’s no tape, no recording, nothing in the world that anybody could present to suggest that it was.”

Of course it's worth noting that Samantha told Good Morning Britainthat she's writing a memoir called The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister.That title, she says, is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. "The title is a mockery of the media," she told the Daily Mail. "It wasn’t me who called Meg 'pushy.' It was the tabloid newspapers. She is not pushy. The book isn’t going to be negative—it’s a warm, witty, honoring book—unfortunately, the negative sing-song has gone round the world."

HER BOOK WON'T BE A JUICY TELL-ALL.

Despite the title, Samantha says her book will be nuanced, and not just about Meghan. In that same Good Morning Britain interview, she said her book will be a critical look at race in America.

"The title is true. What is not true is this unbelievable swell that's been created that it's some sort of slamming tell-all. It's only a tell-all in that I [write about] beautiful nuances of our lives, our family home," Samantha told hosts Richard Madeley and Ranvir Singh. "More importantly, it has to do with the interracial evolution of this country through the lens of my life in my family since the civil rights act until present, and how that intersects with the recent events with my sister."

SHE SAID TABLOID REPORTS HAVE STRAINED HER RELATIONSHIP WITH MEGHAN.

In the TLC special, Samantha tearfully explains that the tabloid reports have "created a divide" between the sisters. “It’s been such a whirlwind with us and I’m sad she believed some of the other interviews I did where words I never said were taken out of context, so it’s been a bit since we’ve spoken,” Samantha told Us Weekly.

The two haven't been close for some time now. Samantha told the Daily Mail that they haven't seen each other since 2008, when Samantha graduated from college and Meghan flew in to celebrate. That same year, Samantha was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and she now uses a wheelchair.

SHE SHARED STORIES ABOUT MEGHAN'S ENGAGEMENT LIKE THE REST OF US.

“It was really exciting for me, I am so happy for her,” Samantha told Us Weekly. “It was kind of funny, it was like my boyfriend showed it to me and I was on the phone with my father and I got to let him know too. We didn’t know it was going to come out this soon, so it was nice to wake up to.”

SHE’S NOT SURE IF SHE’LL GET AN INVITE TO THE ROYAL WEDDING.

Samantha said on the TLC special she doesn't yet know if she'll get an invitation to Meghan and Harry’s wedding in May. “I can’t imagine how anyone would anticipate a normal, traditional, royal wedding. I mean they’d probably be watching across the lawn for the Markles to approach—‘oh, good God, they’re coming! Close the curtains! Hide!’” she joked on the TLC special. “It’s just so silly. We’re so normal. And yes, I would love to go, but we have no idea what’s going to happen.”

In March of 2018, the Sun reported that Samantha will be in Windsor on May 19, not as an invited guest of the royal wedding but rather "as a guest of a TV channel."

Related article: The Queen Gives Her Official Consent to Prince Harry & Meghan Markle

This article originally appeared on Town & Country.