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Meghan, 39, the wife of Queen Elizabeth's
grandson Prince Harry, is suing publisher Associated Newspapers
after its Mail on Sunday tabloid printed extracts of the
handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas
Markle, in August 2018.
She has asked a judge to rule in her favour without need for a
potentially embarrassing trial, with her lawyers telling the
High Court on Tuesday that publishing the "intrinsically
private, personal and sensitive letter" was a plain breach of
her privacy to which there was no viable defence.
The paper argues that the duchess intended the letter's contents
to become public and it was part of a media strategy, pointing
out she had admitted in court papers discussing it with her
communications secretary, Jason Knauf.
Antony White, the paper's lawyer, on Wednesday told a second day
of remote hearings on Meghan's request for a summary judgment in
the case that any involvement of royal aides in drafting the
letter "cries out for investigation".
"Why was the Kensington Palace communications team involved at
all in wording the letter?" he said.
A lawyer representing four senior former aides, including Knauf,
said they would be prepared to give evidence at a trial, and one
or more "would be in a position to shed some light" on some of
the contested issues.
This included the creation of the letter, whether or not Meghan
anticipated it would become public, and whether she was directly
or indirectly involved in providing private information to
authors of a recent biography, their lawyer said in a legal
letter that was made public on Wednesday.
None "wished to take sides in the dispute", the letter said,
adding: "Our clients are all strictly neutral."
The judge, Mark Warby, said he would deliver his ruling on
whether he would give a "summary judgement" in Meghan's favour
at a later date, saying he aimed to get a draft verdict to the
parties within two weeks, although it would not be made public
at that stage.
The trial was due to start last week but was delayed until late
2021 at Meghan's request last year because of a confidential
reason, when her lawyers also said they would seek a summary
judgment.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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