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Meghan Markle admits she provided information to authors of Finding Freedom via a third party

Meghan Markle has admitted she provided information to the authors of Finding Freedom via a third party.

Amid her ongoing legal battle against Associated Newspapers, court documents have revealed the Duchess of Sussex allowed a friend to speak to the book’s authors.

It’s understood the friend confirmed that she had written a letter to her father Thomas Markle, after he claimed he had had no contact with his daughter since the royal wedding.

Meghan’s lawyers have said she shared the information because she was concerned about her father’s narrative in the media that she had “abandoned him”.

Credit: WENN.com

In court documents, Meghan’s lawyers state: “Accordingly, she indicated to a person whom she knew had already been approached by the authors that the true position as above (which that person and several others who knew the Claimant already knew) could be communicated to the authors to prevent any further misrepresentation.”

“She does not know to what extent or in what terms this one item of information concerning her communications with her father was shared with the authors.”

The Duchess has repeatedly insisted she never spoke to the authors, but Meghan’s legal team have said she does not know if the Kensington Palace Communications team provided any information on her behalf.

Meghan is suing Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the UK Mail on Sunday, for printing a “private and confidential” letter she sent her estranged father Thomas Markle in 2018.

(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The mother-of-one is seeking damages from Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.

The latest filings are in response to a court ruling, which will allow Associated Newspapers to rely on Finding Freedom as part of its case.

As part of their defence, Associated Newspapers have accused Meghan of co-operating with the book’s authors – claiming she breached her own privacy by doing so.

Anthony White, the lawyer for Associated Newspapers, said in written submissions that the book appeared to have been written with Meghan and Prince Harry’s “extensive cooperation.”

ANL’s legal team argued the book “contains a great deal of detailed information about (Meghan’s) personal life, including a number of passages referring to her relationship and communications with her father, and a section referring to the letter which is at the heart of this case.”

Court submissions claim that if Meghan “provided extensive cooperation to the authors and permitted a detailed account of her private life, relationships, thoughts and feelings to be published, including references to her relationship and communications with her father, it is difficult to see how she can complain that the Letter should not have been published because ‘it contained the Claimant’s deepest and most private thoughts and feelings.’”

Responding to ANL’s application, Meghan’s lawyers denied that she co-operated with authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand on Finding Freedom, which was published in August.

In a written submission, Justin Rushbrooke QC said: “The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book.”

Omid Scobie also submitted a witness statement to the High Court, and denied allegations that Meghan helped with the book.

Meghan was scheduled to appear in court for her lawsuit against the publisher in January 2021, but the trial has now been delayed by nine months.

Last month, Mr Justice Warby granted an application from the Duchess of Sussex to postpone the trial on “confidential” grounds.

The delay has sparked rumours Meghan may be expecting another baby with Prince Harry.

The couple are already parents to a son named Archie, who they welcomed in May 2019.

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