The father of Meghan Markle, the new Duchess of Sussex, is opening up about how he wished he could have walked her down the aisle, his first interactions with Prince Harry, and his daughter’s decision to get married for a second time.

In a 30-minute tell-all interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Thomas Markle reflected on how he felt watching the ceremony from thousands of kilometres away due to his poor health.

“The unfortunate thing is, I am now a footnote in one of the greatest moments in history rather than the Dad walking her down the aisle,” he told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Monday.

Meghan Markle announced on May 17 that her father would not be able to attend the wedding in a statement from Kensington Palace, citing his need to “focus on his health.” 

The 73-year-old double Emmy award-winning former lighting director is reported to have suffered a heart attack days before the wedding. Prince Charles was widely celebrated for walking Meghan Markle to the altar in his place.

The conversation turned to how Markle learned about his daughter’s connection to Royal Family. He spoke about how Meghan revealed the identity of her then-boyfriend over the phone, insisting they refer to Prince Harry as “H” to conceal his identity.

“The first phone calls were ‘Daddy I have a new boyfriend.’ And I said, ‘That’s really nice.’ And then the next call was like, ‘He’s British.’ And I was like, ‘That’s really nice.’ And eventually the third time around was like, ‘He’s a prince.’ At that point, she said ‘It’s Harry,’” Markle recalled. “She said, ‘Of course we’ll have to call him ‘H’ so no one knows that we are talking about Harry. It’s ‘H.’”

Markle, who has yet to meet Prince Harry face-to-face, said their initial phone conversations were “very comfortable,” even when delving into controversial subjects such as Brexit and U.S. President Donald Trump.

“He said, ‘Hello Thomas.’ I said, ‘Hi Harry.’ It became a conversation back and forth, mostly about politics. He was asking me how I was feeling that day. I was telling him how unhappy I was with the president, with the idea of Trump,” he said.

When asked by TV host Piers Morgan if he believed Prince Harry supported the U.S. president, Markle replied, “I would hope not now, but at the time he might have been.”

“He said, ‘Give Donald Trump a chance.’ I sort of disagreed with that. I still like Harry. That was his politics. I have my politics,” Markle said.

He added that Prince Harry sounded “open to the experiment” of Brexit.

Markle appeared relaxed as he spoke about his daughter’s decision to get married for a second time.

“My daughter is very intelligent. She knows how to choose who she wants to be with. She’s a smart girl, and she made a good pick didn’t she?” he said. “My daughter has been a princess since the day she was born.”