Family At War! Thomas Markle Reveals He Leaked Meghan Markle's Letter Because He Felt 'Vilified,' 4 Palace Aides Will Now Testify In Her Court Case

Things are getting worse and worse between Thomas Markle and his estranged daughter, Meghan Markle. 

While speaking to the U.K. High Court earlier this week, Thomas, 76, said the reason why he released the handwritten letter that Meghan, 39, had written him in 2018 is because he felt “vilified” after a PEOPLE article described their tense relationship. 

“When I read the article ‘The Truth About Meghan’ in People magazine, I was shocked by what it said about me,” he said. “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.” 

In the article, Thomas claims Meghan "authorized" five of her friends talk to the outlet about her strained relationship with her father as well as the letter she had written him. 

“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 added. “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.”

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Thomas shared the letter with the Daily Mail so that he could tell his side of the story. “Until I read the article in People magazine I had never intended to talk publicly about Meg's letter to me,” Thomas said. “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 and show that what People magazine had published was false and unfair ... I had to defend myself against that attack.

“The text of the letter proves that what was said in People magazine about the letter was wrong. It 'dissolves' what was said about me in that article. Readers had to see the letter for themselves — then they would know they were getting the truth,” he said. 

The Suits alum is currently suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ALN) for publishing the letter she wrote to him in August 2018. She is currently seeking a summary judgement in her case, which if her request is granted, she will not have to present her case in court at all. 

Meghan said that she suffered an “assault” on her private life when the letter was published. However, the newspapers deny they unlawfully published the contents of the letter. 

Meanwhile, four of Meghan’s closest aides — who are dubbed the "Palace Four" — are set to testify in her court case: Samantha Cohen, former private secretary to Meghan and Prince Harry; Sarah Latham, the couple’s former director of communications; Jason Knauf, who was the communications secretary; and Christian Jones, their former deputy communications secretary. 

Lawyers for the aides said they would remain “neutral” in the court 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," the lawyers said. "Nor does any of our clients wish to take sides in the dispute between your respective clients."

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"They have no interest in assisting either party to the proceedings," the lawyers added. "Their only interest is in ensuring a level playing field, insofar as any evidence they may be able to give is concerned."

The lawyers said the aides could potentially “shed some light” on “the creation of the letter and the electronic draft”; “whether or not the claimant anticipated that the letter might come into in the public domain”; and whether or not Meghan "directly or indirectly provided private information, generally and in relation to the letter specifically, to the authors of Finding Freedom."

However, if the summary judgement is approved, the four aides would not have to provide any evidence. 

Meghan has also been accused of helping Finding Freedom authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, with their book.

"[Meghan] was concerned that her father's narrative in the media that she had abandoned him and had not even tried to contact him (which was false) would be repeated, when in fact she had tried to call him, and text him, and had even written a letter to him to try to persuade him to stop dealing with the media; and he had written back to her,” a court filing read. 

"Accordingly, she indicated to a person whom she knew had already been approached by the authors that the true position as above (which that person and several others who knew the Claimant already knew) could be communicated to the authors to prevent any further misrepresentation,” the files stated. 

Scobie “confirmed in his witness statement that neither he nor his co-author met with or interviewed the Claimant or her husband for the Book."