Duchess of Sussex knew private letter might leak
The Duchess of Sussex speculated that referring to her estranged father as "daddy" in a letter to him would "pull at the heartstrings" in the "unfortunate event" that it was leaked, the Court of Appeal has heard.
Meghan, 40, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), which is the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and Mailonline, over five articles that reproduced parts of a "personal and private" letter to Thomas Markle, 77, in August 2018.
Meghan won her case earlier this year after Lord Justice Warby ruled that ANL'S publication of Meghan's letter to her father was unlawful in a summary judgment, avoiding the need for a trial.
ANL is challenging the ruling in a three-day hearing at the Court of Appeal, arguing the case should go to a trial on Meghan's claims including breach of privacy and copyright.
Justin Rushbrooke QC, for Meghan, yesterday described the case as "very straightforward" and said her human rights were "triply engaged" by the publication of part of the letter.
He said: "This was a letter of which extensive contents, about half of it, were first published by the defendant without the consent of the complainant, or even notification."
The court heard 585 out of 1,250 words had been republished in the five articles, in "a plain and serious misuse of her private information", Meghan's barristers said.
In her written evidence to the Court of Appeal, Meghan denied she thought it likely that her father would leak the letter, but "merely recognised that this was a possibility".