MEGHAN Markle’s dad said “the truth is coming out” after email exchanges shown to a court revealed the duchess had briefed her press secretary before sending dad Thomas a letter involved in her High Court privacy case.
The Duchess of Sussex’s former press secretary revealed the email exchange over a letter Meghan wrote to estranged father Thomas, 77, after her wedding.
Knauf claimed Meghan said she would refer to him as “daddy” because it would “pull at the heartstrings” if leaked.
Mr Knauf’s 23-page statement also revealed Meghan and Harry had briefed him on what to say to the authors of Finding Freedom – the ‘unauthorised biography’ about them – despite insisting they did not cooperate.
Thomas Markle told GB News: “Finally the truth is coming out.
“Thank God for Jason Knauf, I’d be happy to invite him over here and take him to Sizzler – we’ll enjoy a steak and a nice little dinner together.
“He’s certainly putting things in the right perspective.”
Meghan apologised to the court after her attempts to influence Finding Freedom were revealed, saying she simply forgot.
The duchess had won her long-running High Court privacy case against the Mail on Sunday for publishing extracts of a letter sent to her dad – but the newspaper is appealing.
Meghan told the court this week: “I did not have the benefit of seeing these emails and I apologise to the Court for the fact I had not remembered these exchanges at the time.
“I had absolutely no wish or intention to mislead the defendant or the Court.”
Among the emails released on Wednesday was an account of Meghan choosing her wedding tiara with the Queen – attributed to a “palace aide” in Finding Freedom when it was released last summer.
In another exchange Harry told Mr Knauf: “I totally agree that we have to be able to say we didn’t have anything to do with it. Equally, you giving the right context and background to them would help get some truths out there.
“The truth is v much needed and would be appreciated, especially around the Markle/wedding stuff but at the same time we can’t put them directly in touch with her friends.”
Harry also emailed Mr Knauf to wish him “good luck” before his briefing with the authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in December 2018.
Meghan, 40, even wrote five bullet points and 31 “reminders” she says “may be helpful to have”.
In her statement to court, Meghan admitted Mr Knauf “did provide some information to the authors for the book” and “did so with my knowledge”.
It comes after a string of vocal denials of collaboration via her spokesmen and lawyers.
Court documents submitted on Meghan’s behalf signed by her lawyer Justin Rushbrook in her High Court privacy hearing in September 2020 said: “The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors of the book.”
When Finding Freedom was published, a spokesman for the couple told the Press: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute.”
