Thomas Markle tells TMZ he cannot attend royal wedding due to heart surgery

Programming note: No royal wedding invitation? Not to worry. You can stream every moment on your mobile phone, laptop, or wherever you get CNN, starting at 5 a.m. ET on Saturday, May 19.

Hours after telling TMZ he wanted to walk his daughter down the aisle, Thomas Markle said he will have heart surgery Wednesday morning and cannot attend Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, the US-based celebrity news site reported.

According to TMZ, Thomas Markle said surgeons will clear blockage in his heart, repair damage and put in a stent.

Earlier in the day, Markle told TMZ he wanted to walk his daughter down the aisle as she marries Prince Harry at Saturday’s royal wedding.

1. Samantha Markle interview with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain 2. Express.co.uk 3. ITV "Good Morning Britain" 4. London 5. SOT Samantha: I think he (dad) had a right to defend himself. They have an obligation, an ethical obligation, to allow me to be portrayed as I am. Living a healthy lifestyle. Not caught in an unflattering positions as media vultures have done. Piers: There's no bigger media vulture with is wedding than you, is there Ms. Markle. You've got the galls to come on here and talk about media vultures. You've got a book called 'The diary of Princess Pushy Sister'. You've been trashing her for 2 years you little vulture.

Related article Meghan Markle's half-sister says father had heart attack

“I hate the idea of missing one of the greatest moments in history and walking my daughter down the aisle,” he said, according to the first TMZ report.

Markle has been involved in controversy since it was revealed he allegedly staged a series of photos captured by an American paparazzo.

According to the TMZ report, Markle thinks that staging the photos was “stupid” but not a serious transgression.

The first report said Markle was in the hospital after reportedly being treated for a heart attack a week ago.

Meghan Markle's father, Thomas Markle Senior, works up a sweat as he gets into healthy shape ahead of the Royal Wedding. The retired Hollywood lighting director, 73, is reportedly planning to walk Meghan down the aisle when she and Prince Harry exchange vows on May 19.

Related article Opinion: Thomas Markle is being vilified for one reason: he's American

CNN has reached out to Thomas Markle for comment over phone and over email but has yet to receive an answer. When asked about the TMZ report, Kensington Palace declined to comment.

Meghan Markle’s half-sister, Samantha Markle, recently said she was the “culprit” who urged their father to stage the photos in an ill-fated bid to improve his image. She said her father had “suffered at the hands of the media” and had decided “enough is enough.”

LISBURN, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 23: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit the Eikon Centre and attend an event to mark the second year of the youth-led peace-building initiative 'Amazing the Space' on March 23, 2018 in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Related article How Meghan Markle will use her royal voice

Thomas Markle is a former lighting director who worked on popular TV shows “Married with Children” and “General Hospital,” according to the Internet Movie Database. He met Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, at a Hollywood studio in the late ’70s and the pair split when their daughter was still young.

CNN also contacted General Hospital in Rosarito, Mexico, where Markle is thought to have stayed previously, but officials would not say whether he is there.