Duchess of Sussex ‘left unprotected’

Court papers tell of ‘emotional distress’

ROYAL: The Duchess of Sussex was left “unprotected by the Institution” of the monarchy when attacked by the media and “prohibited from defending herself”, according to leaked court documents.

The papers form part of Meghan’s legal action against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline.

THE DUCHESS of Sussex was left “unprotected by the Institution” of the monarchy when attacked by the media and “prohibited from defending herself”, according to leaked court documents.

The papers form part of Meghan’s legal action against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline over articles which featured parts of a “private and confidential” letter from the duchess to her estranged father Thomas Markle.

In the documents, seen by the PA news agency, the duchess’s five friends who spoke to a US publication criticising her father, are not named but referred to as A-E, although they are identified in an undisclosed confidential schedule.

And the papers claim the duchess’s royal wedding generated a tourism revenue of more than £1bn for the public purse.

“The Claimant had become the

subject of a large number of false and damaging articles by the UK tabloid media, specifically by the Defendant, which caused tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health,” said the court papers.

They added: “As her friends had never seen her in this state before, they were rightly concerned for her welfare, specifically as she was pregnant, unprotected by the Institution, and prohibited from defending herself.”

The five close friends of Meghan – with friend A personally known to Mr Markle for more than 20 years – were interviewed but not named in a People magazine article – something Meghan was not involved with, the papers stated.

In the article, published in February last year, they spoke out against the bullying the royal said she has faced.

The report also highlighted Meghan’s handwritten letter to her father, with a confidant telling the American publication about its content: “She’s like, ‘Dad, I’m so heartbroken. I love you. I have one father. Please stop victimising me through the media so we can repair our relationship’.”

Associated Newspapers denies allegations made by the Duchess, including it had an “agenda” of publishing intrusive or offensive stories about her.