Her silent struggle. Duchess Meghan’s private feelings while writing a letter to her father, Thomas Markle, that was later published in a British newspaper, were revealed in new court documents.
According to papers obtained by the U.K.’s Press Association, the 38-year-old royal’s case against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday stems from the outlet’s decision to print a “private and confidential” letter, which was penned at a “time of great personal anguish and distress.”
Meghan’s lawyers claim that the letter included “her intimate thoughts and feelings about her father’s health and her relationship with him at that time.”
The documents allege that the newspaper “chose to deliberately omit or suppress” pertinent sections of the letter in order to alter the meaning behind her correspondence. Her attorneys also claim that Meghan did not receive any warning that the piece was going to be published.
The Duchess of Sussex “intended the detailed contents of the letter to be private, and certainly did not expect them to be published to the world at large by a national newspaper, and without any warning,” the papers claim.
Meghan plans to seek damages for “alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.” The publisher has denied the allegations.
The lawsuit comes after the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline published the letter, written in August 2018, in February.
Prince Harry released a lengthy statement in defense of Meghan amid the legal action earlier this month. “I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long. To stand back and to do nothing would be contrary to everything we believe in. … There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behaviour, because it destroys people and destroys lives,” he said. “Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people. We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this.”
A source told Us Weekly earlier this month that the lawsuit is not “about one negative story or incident.” Rather, it is “an accumulation.”
The insider noted that Harry, 35, is “worried that the recent escalation of press intrusion has an impact on his relationship with Meghan, as well as their relationship with the royal family and the public.”
Meghan, meanwhile, spoke out about her personal battle with becoming a royal in Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. “Not many people have asked if I’m OK, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes,” she admitted.
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The couple tied the knot in May 2018 and welcomed son Archie, 5 months, earlier this year.
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