Judge: Book can be used in royal case

LONDON — The publisher of Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper can use the contents of a recent behind the scenes book about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in its legal defense for an invasion of privacy lawsuit brought by the duchess, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Judge Francesca Kaye gave Associated Newspapers Ltd. permission to amend its defense to add “further particulars” relating to the book “Finding Freedom,” which was published last month.

The former Meghan Markle, 39, is suing the publisher over five February 2019 articles in the Mail on Sunday and on the Mail Online website that published portions of a handwritten letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, after her marriage to Harry in 2018.

Associated Newspapers is contesting the claim in London’s High Court. Its lawyers argue that Meghan made personal information public by cooperating with the authors of the book “in order to set out her own version of events in a way that is favorable to her.”

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

Meghan’s lawyers deny that she collaborated with the book’s authors, ELLE and Oprah magazine contributor Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie, royal editor for Harper’s Bazaar.

A full trial in Meghan’s lawsuit against Associated Newspapers is due to start in January.