Duchess Meghan and father Thomas Markle: What really happened before the royal wedding?

Despite what Meghan Markle's estranged family members are saying about her to the media, she has indeed attempted to mend fences with her father, Thomas Markle.

Though the father-daughter pair didn't have a close relationship for years, Meghan wanted Thomas to be able to walk her down the aisle when she married Prince Harry last May. What happened next was heavily documented in the media: After being exposed for taking fake, paid paparazzi photos getting ready for his daughter's wedding, Thomas was embarrassed and said he wouldn't attend the wedding. After a change of heart, he then suffered a heart attack.

SEE ALSO: Meghan Markle's friends slam 'global bullying' of duchess in new interview

The Duchess of Sussex's estranged half-sister, Samantha, has been outspoken in the press about the incident, claiming that Meghan left her father to suffer and didn't care about his wellbeing. In People's latest cover story, Meghan's close friends vehemently deny her allegations.

"Meg and Harry were still so focused on getting [Tom] to London," one of her longtime friends said. "At no point was there talk of, 'Now that we know he lied, he's in trouble.' Tom wouldn't take her calls, wouldn't take Harry's calls."

"The next morning when the car got there [to take him to the airport], he wouldn't get in," the friend continued. "Meg heard he had a heart attack and she's calling and texting, even up to the night before the wedding. It was like, 'Please pick up. I love you, and I'm scared.' It was endless."

In the end, Meghan's father was unable to fly to England for her wedding, and Prince Charles graciously stepped in to walk her down the aisle at St. George's Chapel. The next day, the newly-minted royal wrote a letter to her father hoping to mend things between them.

"After the wedding she wrote him a letter. She’s like, 'Dad, I’m so heartbroken. I love you. I have one father. Please stop victimizing me through the media so we can repair our relationship,'" the friend revealed. "Because every time her team has to come to her and fact-check something [he has said], it’s an arrow to the heart."

SEE ALSO: Thomas Markle reacts to daughter Meghan's wedding: 'I wish I were there'

"He writes her a really long letter in return, and he closes it by requesting a photo op with her. And she feels like, ‘That’s the opposite of what I’m saying. I’m telling you I don’t want to communicate through the media, and you’re asking me to communicate through the media. Did you hear anything I said?'" Meghan's friend recalled. "It’s almost like they’re ships passing."

Though it appears as though their relationship is permanently damaged by the international scandal, Thomas isn't cut off from his daughter, as he's been claiming in the media. As the duchess' friends put it, if he truly wanted to get in contact with his daughter, he could.

"He knows how to get in touch with her. Her telephone number hasn’t changed," another friend revealed. "He’s never called; he’s never texted. It’s super painful, because Meg was always so dutiful. I think she will always feel genuinely devastated by what he’s done. And at the same time, because she’s a daughter, she has a lot of sympathy for him."

"She absolutely loves her father but feels betrayed," another friend told ET.