Kensington Palace advised Meghan Markle include a reference to ill-health of her father Thomas in a letter to him, court hears
- Jason Knauf suggested Meghan should mention father’s condition, court told
- Senior courtier gave Duchess of Sussex ‘general ideas’ in drafting the missive
- She accepted his advice when she came to handwriting final version, court told
The Duchess of Sussex was advised by Kensington Palace to include a reference to her father’s ill-health in a letter to him, a court heard today.
Senior courtier Jason Knauf suggested Meghan should make mention of Thomas Markle’s condition when he gave her ‘general ideas’ in drafting the missive.
She accepted his advice when she came to handwriting her final version of the letter, the High Court was told.
Senior courtier Jason Knauf (pictured) suggested Meghan should make mention of Thomas Markle’s condition when he gave her ‘general ideas’ in drafting the letter, the court heard
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex speak to Oprah Winfrey in an interview first aired on March 7
Meghan sued The Mail on Sunday for breaching her privacy and infringing her copyright by publishing extracts from the note, which she sent to Mr Markle after he was unable to attend the 2018 royal wedding.
In his ruling in February, the judge handed victory to the duchess on privacy and most of the copyright claim but ordered a trial for later this year to determine whether the Kensington Palace press office’s involvement in helping Meghan draft the letter meant Mr Knauf, the communications secretary, could be considered its co-author.
However, yesterday the court heard that while Mr Knauf had given her ‘general ideas’ he had not supplied ‘actual wording’, and therefore did not regard himself as having any claim to copyright.
His lawyers said: ‘In our client’s view, it was the duchess’s letter alone.’
Meghan brought a copyright claim against Associated Newspapers Ltd over the publication of a ‘personal and private’ letter to her estranged father Thomas Markle (pictured together)
Lord Justice Warby (shown above in a court sketch from March) gave a summary judgment ruling in her favour, meaning she has now won her case on both privacy and copyright
Andrew Caldecott QC, representing the newspaper, said in written submissions that it was a matter of regret that Mr Knauf’s lawyers had not said he was not an author of the letter before the summary judgment hearing in January.
After being told his position, the Mail on Sunday swiftly decided to drop its challenge to Meghan’s case on copyright.
Lord Justice Warby gave a summary judgment ruling in her favour, meaning she has now won her case on both privacy and copyright. He also ordered the Mali on Sunday to pay her legal costs.
The newspaper – the Daily Mail’s sister publication – is appealing against the February rulings.
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