MEGHAN Markle’s senior aide told her to reference her estranged dad’s ill-health in her “deeply personal” letter to him, a court heard.
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, was advised by communications secretary Jason Knauf to mention Thomas Markle’s health.
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Her dad suffered a heart attack before Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018, which he did not attend.
Court documents released at Meghan’s latest legal battle state: “Mr Knauf suggested that a reference to Mr Markle’s ill-health be included.
“The Claimant accepted this advice, but Mr Knauf did not suggest any
specific wording.”
Meghan sensationally won her privacy row against the Mail on Sunday in February after it published extracts of the five-page letter to her dad.
She claimed the articles in February 2019 misused her private information, infringed her copyright and breached the Data Protection Act.
But the paper had suggested that she may not have been the only copyright owner of the letter.
But this was settled in the High Court yesterday as Meghan won the final part of her copyright claim.
ANL had said it believed Mr Knauf was a co-author of the letter, which it argued meant the letter belonged to the Crown.
But the court was told the aide “emphatically” denied co-writing the letter, with his lawyers saying “it was the duchess’s letter alone”.
Ian Mill QC, for the duchess, said that the Keeper of the Privy Purse’s lawyers had written to Meghan’s solicitors “disclaiming any claim to copyright on behalf of the Crown”.
In written submissions, Mr Mill also said that Mr Knauf’s lawyers confirmed he did not write the letter to Mr Markle and “it has never been his belief that he was an author”.
In March, her lawyers demanded Associated Newspapers Ltd pay Meghan’s £1.5million legal fees.
But Lord Justice Warby ordered the Mail on Sunday to pay £450,000 in costs, with the possibility of more to be paid in the future.
He ruled in February the publication of Meghan’s letter to her father was “manifestly excessive and hence unlawful”.
The judge said: “It was, in short, a personal and private letter.
“The majority of what was published was about the claimant’s own behaviour, her feelings of anguish about her father’s behaviour, as she saw it, and the resulting rift between them.
“These are inherently private and personal matters.”
Meghan was granted a summary judgment – meaning she won her privacy claim without a trial where she would have come face-to-face with her dad.
She also won most of her claim the publication of the letter breached her copyright.
But the issue of whether she was the “sole author” of the letter – or whether Jason Knauf, formerly communications secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, was a “co-author” – still needed to be determined.
LEGAL BATTLE
Associated Newspapers Ltd were ordered to print a a statement on the front page of The Mail On Sunday and a notice on page three of the paper stating it “infringed her copyright” by publishing parts of the letter.
But a statement regarding Meghan’s victory in her copyright claim has been put on hold while the publisher seeks permission to appeal.
At the original hearing, the court was told Meghan sent the letter to her estranged dad, 76, in August 2018.
She was said to have felt forced to write the “painful” letter after they reached “breaking point”.
And her lawyer Justin Rushbrooke QC described the 1,250-word letter as “a heartfelt plea from an anguished daughter to her father”.
Releasing a statement after her victory, the duchess said: “For today, with this comprehensive win on both privacy and copyright, we have all won.”
A spokesperson for ANL said they were “very surprised” by the ruling.
