The Duchess of Sussex's father has threatened to take her to court to see his grandchildren

He told Fox News: "We shouldn’t be punishing [Lili] for Meghan and Harry’s bad behaviour.

"Archie and Lili are small children. They’re not politics. They’re not pawns. They’re not part of the game. And they’re also royal and entitled to the same rights as any other royal...

"I will be petitioning the California courts for the rights to see my grandchildren in the very near future."

The retired lighting director also mocked Harry's recent announcement that he'll release his memoir next year,insisting that "after three sessions with the psychiatrists and Oprah Winfrey", the prince wouldn't "have too much more to tell."

Thomas previously revealed he only discovered he had become a grandfather again when he heard the news "on the radio".

He said: "I haven't spoken to her [Meghan] since two days before they got married ... no phone calls, I just heard it on the radio...

"I'll be very disappointed that I don't get to hold my granddaughter."

Thomas is still bemused as to why Meghan, 39, decided to cut off all contact with him.

Although the proud father accepts he made an error of judgment when he staged paparazzi photos of himself getting a suit and shopping before the nuptials in May 2018, he insists he has done nothing so bad that Meghan should choose to be completely estranged from him.

He said: "I've made mistakes. I apologised a hundred times for it ... If I had done something terribly wrong, that would be fine, but I haven't."