Has there been any breach of the privacy of Meghan Markle?
British justice delivers its decision Thursday, December 2 in the appeal trial opposing the wife of Prince Harry to a British tabloid, which she had condemned for the publication of a letter written to her father.
The editor of the
Mail on Sunday
, the Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) group had challenged in the Court of Appeal in London a February court ruling that the publication of Meghan's letter was
"manifestly excessive and therefore illegal"
, and therefore violated his privacy.
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In this letter to her father published in 2018, shortly after her marriage to Prince Harry, the 40-year-old ex-American actress asked her father Thomas Markle, 77, to stop talking and lying in the media about their broken relationship.
The
Mail on Sunday
had been ordered to report on the front page of its legal defeat, and its publisher to pay 450,000 pounds (530,000 euros) to the Duchess of Sussex for her legal costs.
But the mass-circulation tabloid argued in its appeal reviewed in November that she wrote the letter knowing it could be disclosed.
The Court of Appeal delivers its decision at 10 a.m. (local and GMT).
"Madame Étourdie"
In order to support his claims, the
Mail on Sunday
highlighted during the appeal hearings the testimony of Jason Knauf, the couple's former communications secretary, now based in California. This former assistant said that the draft letter had been written with in mind
"that she could escape"
. In written testimony, Meghan refuted this claim, saying she didn't think her father would leak the letter she said portrayed him in an unfavorable light. It was only a
"possibility,"
she said.
Bringing water to the mill of the tabloid which wants to demonstrate that Meghan Markle regularly sought to influence public opinion, Jason Knauf also said to have provided on behalf of Meghan and Harry private information to the authors of the unofficial biography of the royal couple ,
Finding Freedom
("Harry and Meghan, free").
According to him, the book project was
"discussed routinely"
and
"directly with the Duchess, in person and by email"
.
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Meghan Markle acknowledged this latest information and apologized for misleading the court by not having clarified at first instance. She argued, however, that the information shared with the perpetrators was
"a far cry from the very detailed personal information"
that the
Mail on Sunday
had published. But this backpedaling earned her the mockery of the tabloids, the Sun nicknamed her
"Madam Stunned"
, in reference to the series of children's books
Monsieur, Madame.
Prince Harry, 37, sixth in the order of succession to the British crown, has repeatedly denounced media pressure on his couple and made it the main reason for his withdrawal from the royal family, effective since April 2020. He and his wife have filed several lawsuits against the British tabloids.