Meghan’s father starts evidence
The Duchess of Sussex's letter to her estranged father “signalled the end of our relationship”, Thomas Markle has told the High Court.
Meghan, 39, is suing the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and Mailonline over a series of articles which reproduced parts of the handwritten letter sent to 76-year-old Thomas Markle in August 2018.
She is seeking damages for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act over five articles, published in February 2019, which included extracts fromthe"privateandconfidential" letter to her father.
Her lawyers say the publication of an "intrinsically private, personal and sensitive" letter was a "plain and serious invasion" of her privacy and argue Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) has "no prospect" of defendingherprivacyandcopyright claims.
However, ANL claims Meghanwrotetheletter"witha viewtoitbeingdisclosedpubliclyatsomefuturepoint"inorder "to defend her against charges of being an uncaring or unloving daughter".
The duchess is applying for "summary judgment", a legal step which would see those parts of the case resolved without a trial, in relation to her claims for misuse of private information and breach of copyright.
Inawitnessstatementfiledby ANL'S lawyers for the hearing, which started on yesterday, Mr Markle said the suggestion by a "longtime friend" of his daughter in an interview with People magazinethatmeghansentthe letter to "repair our relationship" was false.
He also claimed he had to "defend himself " against the People article, which he said had "vilified me by making out that I was dishonest, exploitative, publicity-seeking, uncaring and cold-hearted".
Mr Markle said in his statement: "The letter was not an attempt at a reconciliation. It was a criticism of me.
"Theletterdidn'tsaysheloved me. It did not even ask how I was. It showed no concern about the fact I had suffered a heart attack and asked no questions about my health.
"It actually signalled the end of our relationship, not a reconciliation."
Mr Markle criticised People for suggesting "I was to blame fortheendoftherelationshipas Ihadignoredher",saying:"that was false. I had repeatedly tried to reach her after the wedding but I couldn't find a way of getting her to talk to me."
Headded:"untilireadthearticle in People magazine I had never intended to talk publicly about Meg's letter to me.
"The content of that article caused me to change my mind.
"It was only by publishing the text of the letter that I could properly set the record straight."
Anl'sbarristerantonywhite Qcearlierarguedthatmeghan's admission she had "a fear" that her letter to her father might be intercepted showed that "she must, at the very least, have appreciated that her father might choose to disclose it".
Mrwhiteargued:"mrmarkle has a right to tell his story of his relationship and communications with his daughter."
The remote hearing before Mr Justice Warby is due to last two days and it is expected he will reserve his judgment to a later date.