ROYALSFamily Showdown? Meghan Markle To Find Out If She Will Have To Face Her Father In Court
Duchess Meghan Markle will find out on Thursday, February 11, if she will have to face her father, Thomas Markle, in court.
This comes after the 39-year-old sued Associated Newspapers for invasion of privacy, infringement of data protection rights and copyright infringement after they published a letter she sent to her father in August 2018.
On January 19, Meghan applied for a summary judgment which means the case would not go to trial. If Judge Justice Warby opts for a summary judgment, then she will not have to testify in court — but if the application is denied, then Meghan may have to testify against her father in London’s High Court later this year, The Royal Observer reported.
Four of Meghan's aides — who are dubbed the "Palace Four" — may have to testify: Samantha Cohen, former private secretary to Meghan and Prince Harry; Sarah Latham, their former director of communications; Jason Knauf, communications secretary; and Christian Jones, who was their former deputy communications secretary.
However, the aides will remain “neutral” in the case. "None of our clients welcomes his or her potential involvement in this litigation, which has arisen purely as a result of the performance of his or her duties in their respective jobs at the material time," their lawyers said.
"Their only interest is in ensuring a level playing field, insofar as any evidence they may be able to give is concerned."
Earlier this year, Markle’s attorney Justin Rushbrooke said that the letter was "intrinsically private, personal and sensitive" and the fact that excerpts were published was a "triple-barrelled invasion of her privacy rights."
Antony White, who is representing Associated Newspapers, argued that the letter was written "with a view to it being disclosed publicly at some future point" to "defend her against charges of being an uncaring or unloving daughter," and Markle “must, at the very least, have appreciated that her father might choose to disclose it."
"No truly private letter from a daughter to father would require any input from the Kensington Palace communications team," White argued as Markle allegedly showed the letter to Palace aides before she sent it.
Rushbrooke said that Markle "had a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of the contents of the letter” and it was “a heartfelt plea from an anguished daughter to her father."
Thomas said that he decided to release the letter after he read an article titled "The Truth About Meghan" in PEOPLE magazine. “It was a total lie. It misrepresented the tone and content of the letter Meg had written me in August 2018, [and I] quickly decided I wanted to correct that misrepresentation.”
Thomas then shared the article with the Daily Mail.
"It seemed to me that the article had either been expressly authorized by Meg or she had at the very least known about and approved of its publication," Thomas said. "It was a criticism of me. The letter didn’t say she loved 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 signaled the end of our relationship, not a reconciliation."
