Thomas Markle filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, accusing the paparazzi agency that staged his snaps made before the wedding of his daughter Meghan and Prince Harry of violating their contract and thus ruining his relationship with Meghan.
The lawsuit, according to The Daily Beast, was filed with the LA Superior Court and seeks £740,000 ($1 million) in damages from the agency Coleman-Rayner.
Thomas told Channel 5 in a documentary released after the wedding, that Mark Coleman and Jeff Rayner convinced him to pose for pictures to be released just before the royal event, and he agreed to do it, thinking it would improve his image.
"I didn't do this for money, I did this to change my image. I was presented as a hermit hiding out in Mexico but obviously, that was a mistake and went wrong", he said.
Markle is said to have only agreed to do the photoshoot on the condition that the pictures were to be approved by him before publication. However, that never happened, the lawsuit claims, as cited by the outlet.
The contract with the paparazzi agency also allegedly envisaged a $1,500 cash payment and a 30-percent share of future sales of the images.
The staged photoshoot didn't improve Markle's image though, but only appears to have worsened it, since the snaps depict him doing menial tasks like taking out the garbage, running with small weights, theatrically getting fitted for a tuxedo and reading a book about the United Kingdom. Shortly after the publication of the photos, reports emerged suggesting that Markle had collaborated with the paparazzi to stage the photos.
Given that Thomas ended up not attending the royal wedding, Meghan appeared to "ghost" him, with reports suggesting that the two were no longer on speaking terms. Her father has accused the couple of being fixated on money, lamenting that the boycott has been going on "for almost four years - it's crazy".
"We should grow up, talk, make up for the sake of the children right now and for ourselves", Thomas said.