Meghan Markle's niece begs family to stop attacking the actress ahead of royal wedding

Meghan Markle's niece has come to the defence of the royal bride-to-be and has asked the family to stop attacking her.

On Saturday, Noel Rasmussen, 19, pleaded with her squabbling relatives to stop sniping at Meghan. She warned them they are “ripping the family apart” by tearing into Meghan over not getting invites to the wedding.

She went on to call on all members of Meghan's family to call a truce and get behind her on her big day next month, whether they’re at Windsor or back home in America.

“Things have been crazy ever since Meghan and Prince Harry got together, but I think it will die down and I hope these wounds are healed,” Noela said.

She added: “It’s in Meghan’s nature to be a good person and she won’t want any bad feelings. I think she is doing the best she can in the public eye.

“I’ve always really looked up to her, like a big sister I never had. She took me shopping for kids books and clothes. She taught me how important it was to read books. She’s kind, genuine, very thoughtful and warm.”

Noela says she’s been “embarrassed’ by the way some of her relatives have treated Meghan – especially her mum, Samantha, 53.

Samantha is always in the news calling out her younger half sister. Just last week, she told Prince Harry to “man up”. She's also been known to accuse Meghan of abandoning her family.

Noela, who has not spoken to her mother for four years, says: “My mom has got to stop what she’s doing.

“I think she likes the attention being Meghan’s sister gives her. She likes the spotlight and the 15 minutes of fame and somewhere deep down she probably is hurt that she didn’t get an invite to the wedding.

“There’s a select few in the family – like me and my young cousins Thomas III and TJ – who haven’t asked for anything. It’s the older ones who have been causing the war of words which is ripping the family apart. It seems like they’re the ones expecting handouts and favours.

“But why should Meghan do that? It’s not fair to her.”

But Samantha isn't the only family member calling Meghan out. On Thursday, Meghan Markel's half brother, Tom Markle Jnr, 51, criticised Meghan for failing to invite him to her wedding. He also claimed the US actress lost touch with relatives when she became a Hollywood star and accused her of forgetting “her flesh and blood”.

But Noela, an anthropology student in Albuquerque, New Mexico, says: “It’s understandable where Uncle Tom’s emotions are coming from as that is his sister after all, but I don’t think Meghan has ever thought of herself as above anyone else.”

She last saw Meghan at her mum’s graduation ceremony in 2008. “It was great of her to make an effort and visit Albuquerque all the way from LA. At the time her career was taking off and she was busy, but she still made time for us. I didn’t think then she thought of herself as a star in the making.

"Now she’s going to be a good wife and mom and a great ambassador for America.”

Noela says she really hopes her grandfather, also called Tom, goes to London and walks his daughter down the aisle. And she believes her half-sibling Ashleigh Hale – a lawyer based in Virginia – may secretly have an invitation.

Noela says: “I know that Ashleigh and Meghan have been close so it would not surprise me at all.”