Meghan’s lawyers deny she worked with book authors

Lawyers for a British newspaper publisher that is being sued for invasion of privacy by the Duchess of Sussex argued that she made personal information public by cooperating with the authors of a book about her relationship with Prince Harry.

The former Meghan Markle is suing the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline website over five articles that published portions of a handwritten letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, after her marriage to Harry in 2018.

Meghan, 39, is seeking damages from publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and data protection breaches.

Associated Newspapers is contesting the claim.

At a hearing yesterday at the High Court in London, the publisher sought to amend its defence in light of a book about the couple published last month.

It said the book – Finding Freedom – “contains a great deal of detailed information about (Meghan’s) personal life, including a number of passages referring to her relationship and communications with her father, and a section referring to the letter which is at the heart of this case.”

Antony White, the lawyer for Associated Newspapers, said in written submissions that the book appeared to have been written with Meghan and Harry’s “extensive cooperation”.

Meghan’s lawyers denied that she cooperated with the authors of the book, Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie.

“The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book,” Meghan’s lawyer Justin Sherbrooke said in a written submission.

Yesterday’s court session was the latest preliminary hearing in the high-cost, high-profile case.

A full trial is currently scheduled to begin in January.

Following an earlier hearing in May, a judge dismissed parts of Meghan’s claim, including allegations that Associated Newspapers acted “dishonestly” by leaving out certain parts of her letter to her father.