Meghan Markle’s lawyer has revealed that she’s ‘ready to take the stand’ in her High Court battle Associated Newspapers.
The Duchess of Sussex is suing Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the UK Mail on Sunday, for printing a “private and confidential” letter to her estranged father Thomas Markle.
Meghan’s legal battle against the publisher officially kicked off on Friday, as the first High Court hearing took place via video link – due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the hearing, Meghan’s barrister David Sherborne, who previously acted as Princess Diana’s lawyer, confirmed she’s willing to give evidence in court – if the case eventually goes to trial.
He said: “The defendant [Associated Newspapers] wants to cross-examine her [Meghan] as to whether that belief is reasonable or not – and they can do that.”
This means Meghan could come face-to-face with her estranged father Thomas Markle, who is reportedly prepared to give evidence against his daughter in court.
The Duchess of Sussex is suing Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the UK Mail on Sunday, for printing a “private and confidential” letter to her estranged father.
Meghan’s father received the letter in August 2018, months before sections of it were published in the UK Mail on Sunday and on the MailOnline in February, 2019.
The handwritten letter was “obviously private correspondence” which detailed Meghan’s “deepest and most private thoughts and feelings about her relationship with her father.”
Meghan’s legal team have claimed that the newspaper “chose to deliberately omit or suppress” parts of the letter, which “intentionally distorted or manipulated” it’s meaning.
The Duchess’ lawyers have also said that had the letter been published in full, it would have “undermined the defendant’s intended negative characterisation of the claimant”.
The mother-of-one is seeking damages from Associated Newspapers Ltd for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.
Associated Newspapers have denied Meghan’s claims, and have defended the document’s publication by suggesting Meghan put the letter in the public domain by allegedly telling friends about it – who later spoke to People magazine.
Thomas Markle previously said he felt pressured to share the letter with the press, after it’s contents were allegedly misrepresented in the People article.
The 75-year-old told The Mail On Sunday: “I have to defend myself. I only released parts of the letter because other parts were so painful. The letter didn’t seem loving to me. I found it hurtful.”
In response, Meghan has insisted that she was unaware five close friends were planning to speak to People magazine about her strained relationship with Thomas, for an article published in February 2019.
According to the documents, Meghan’s friends discovered she was distressed about the situation with her father when they visited her in London, but the Duchess maintains she didn’t know they were going to speak to the press about it.
The People magazine article, which was published on February 18, 2019, referred to letters exchanged between Meghan and her father Thomas.
The documents state: “It is admitted that People magazine, a US title, published articles based on interviews given by five unnamed friends of the Claimant in its 18 February 2019 hard copy and online edition and that these interviews contained the text quoted therein.”
“It is further admitted that in the course of these lengthy articles, a brief and passing reference was made to the Letter (as well as the response from the Claimant’s [Duchess of Sussex] father [Thomas Markle].”
“This reference was neither the main focus nor any substantial part of the articles. Further, it did not contain the detailed contents of the Letter and insofar as it purported to summarise the Letter and the Claimant’s [Duchess of Sussex] purpose in sending it was completely wrong.”
The documents also state: “In fact, the Claimant [Duchess of Sussex] did not know that a number of her friends agreed to give an interview about her to People magazine.”
“As she later discovered, following visits to see her in London at the beginning of 2019, some of her close circle of friends became extremely concerned at the aggressive attacks upon her in the media and the palpable and profound impact which this was having upon her, especially as she was vulnerable as well as heavily pregnant at the time.”
“As a result, one of her closest friends decided that they should help by arranging to give anonymous interviews to this American magazine whose Editor was a very good friend of hers in which they might explain what the Claimant [Duchess of Sussex] was truly like (as opposed to the tabloid portrayal of her).”
The court documents also included a series of text messages Meghan and her husband Prince Harry sent her father, days before they got married in May 2018.
The Duchess included the text messages in court documents, to prove that she tried to reach out to her father numerous times before their wedding.
During Friday’s hearing, Meghan’s lawyer accused The Mail On Sunday of “humiliating” her father Thomas by exposing his staged paparazzi photos – just days before her wedding to Prince Harry.
Meghan’s legal representative also claimed the newspaper deliberately caused tension between her and her father, causing a rift in their relationship – which had previously been “particularly warm”.
The publisher has denied Meghan’s claims, and they have made an application to “strike out” parts of her case before a full trial.
At the end of Friday’s six-hour long hearing, Mr Justice Warby said he will give his ruling on Associated Newspapers’ application at a later date.
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