Meghan Markle’s Letter to Father Was Written With Public Consumption in Mind, Court Hears

In 2019, the Duchess of Sussex and her husband Prince Harry filed a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited over what they described as the unlawful publication of Meghan’s letter to her estranged father Thomas. Earlier this year, the High Court sided with the duchess, but ANL has appealed the verdict.

Meghan Markle's letter to her father Thomas was "written with public consumption in mind", the UK Court of Appeal has heard. Lawyers for Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) said they had obtained new evidence from Jason Kauf, who served as communications secretary to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

The evidence suggests that Meghan Markle wrote a letter to her father knowing that it might be leaked to the media. In February, the High Court ruled that the duchess' privacy had been violated after the Mail on Sunday published excerpts from her letter to Thomas Markle. Andrew Caldecott, who represents ANL, argues that the new evidence has cast doubt on the verdict.

"We read the judgment as implicitly accepting that the letter was crafted as an intimate communication for her father's eyes only. The fundamental point turns out to be false on the new evidence. The letter was crafted specifically with the potential of public consumption in mind because the claimant appreciated Mr Markle might disclose it to the media", he said.

Argument With Father and Leaked Letter

The relationship between Meghan Markle and her father Thomas is said to have soured in 2018, prior to her wedding with Prince Harry. Thomas arranged a photoshoot with a tabloid, showing him getting prepared for her ceremony.

He said that he did this in order to improve his image, as previously the media had published photos of him doing menial tasks. He admitted to having lied about the photoshoot to the couple, telling them he had no agreement with the tabloid. Soon after the rift, Thomas Markle suffered a heart attack and missed the wedding.

Since then, relations between the two have remained tense, with the 77-year-old accusing his daughter of ghosting his family. Meghan Markle has written a letter to her father, calling on him to stop attacks on the couple in the media.

“Your actions have broken my heart into a million pieces not simply because you have manufactured such unnecessary and unwarranted pain, but by making the choice to not tell the truth as you are puppeteered in this. Something I will never understand", Meghan wrote.

"You haven’t reached out to me since the week of our wedding, and while you claim you have no way of contacting me, my phone number has remained the same. If you love me, as you tell the press you do, please stop. Please allow us to live our lives in peace. Please stop lying, please stop creating so much pain, please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband", the duchess went on.

Thomas Markle leaked the letter to the Mail on Sunday. According to lawyers for Associated Newspapers Limited, he did so because he considered an article in People Magazine, in which Meghan Markle’s friends painted him in an unflattering light, "a serious attack on him". In the article, one of the royal’s friends mentions a letter she wrote to her dad.

QC Andrew Caldecott said the article in People Magazine suggests that the Duchess of Sussex "no longer had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the text of the letter bearing in mind among other things that it was written with public consumption in mind, as at least a possibility".

The court hearing will continue for two days, with the judges expected to give their ruling at a later date. Meghan Markle’s legal team has voiced opposition to the appeal as well as to the introduction of the new evidence. Her lawyers said that if the court accepts it, the Duchess will also wish to present new evidence.

The Sussexes have long criticised UK tabloids for invading their privacy as well as for writing fake reports about them. In an infamous interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey earlier this year, Prince Harry said that the couple’s decision to step down from their senior roles in the royal family and move to the United States was partly motivated by toxic and racist treatment of Meghan by the UK press.