It is unclear whether Meghan Markle’s father Thomas will walk her down the aisle on Saturday as planned.
Mr Markle told celebrity news website TMZ, at his home in Mexico, that he had decided not to attend his daughter’s wedding to Prince Harry.
Kensington Palace issued a statement saying it was “a deeply personal moment for Ms Markle”.
It follows reports in the Mail on Sunday that Ms Markle’s father staged pictures for a paparazzi photographer.
The widely circulated photographs showed him being measured for a wedding suit and looking at newspaper stories about his daughter.
He is reported to have said that he did not want to cause his daughter embarrassment by attending the wedding.
Samantha Markle, Ms Markle’s half-sister from her father’s first marriage, has said she hopes her father will still attend the wedding.
She told Good Morning Britain the photographs had been done with “good intention” and that Mr Markle, 73, had suffered a heart attack due to stress.
She said the media had “raked him over the coals” and “distorted his image”.
“He had a moral right to set the record straight and defend himself,” she adde