Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Meghan letter published to 'satisfy curiosity'

The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline published a letter from Meghan Markle to her father to satisfy readers' "curiosity" it had "deliberately generated", the High Court has heard.

The duchess is suing for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement after articles reproduced parts of a letter she sent Thomas Markle.

Their publisher denies the allegations.

It argues the Duchess of Sussex had no reasonable expectation of privacy and anticipated publication of the letter.

Meghan is suing Associated Newspapers after two articles in the Mail on Sunday and three on MailOnline published parts of a handwritten letter to Mr Markle, 75, in February 2019. She has also accused them of data protection breaches.

She claims contents of the letter to her father were selectively edited in a misleading and dishonest manner.

At Friday's virtual preliminary hearing, the publisher's legal team asked for parts of her case to be struck out.

The publisher said Meghan's claim that her father was "harassed" and "manipulated" should not form part of her case and was "objectionable".

Antony White QC, representing Associated Newspapers, told Mr Justice Warby that some of the allegations made by Meghan were irrelevant and not made with a proper legal basis.


'Stir up issues'

He added that the allegations relating to her father were made without any attempt to contact him to see if he agrees with them.

"In this context it appears that the claimant has seen fit to put these allegations on the record without having spoken to Mr Markle, verifying these allegations with him or obtaining his consent (she admits ... that she has had no contact with him since the wedding)," he said.

In court documents prepared for the hearing, Mr White said the duchess alleged the publisher was "one of the 'tabloid' newspapers which had been deliberately seeking to dig or stir up issues between her and her father".

"This is an allegation of seriously improper deliberate, i.e. intentional, conduct to the effect that the defendant's motive was to seek to manufacture or stoke a family dispute for the sake of having a good story or stories to publish," he said.

Mr White told the court that such "complex tests of mental state" of the publisher were "irrelevant to the claim for misuse of private information", and asked the judge to strike out that claim.

He also objected to the duchess's allegation that the publisher "acted dishonestly" when deciding which parts of her letter to her father to publish.

"It is extremely common for the media to summarise or edit documents when reporting current events, and that is not a basis for an allegation of dishonesty," he added.

David Sherborne, acting for the duchess, said the letter had been reported for "the sole and entirely gratuitous purpose of satisfying the curiosity of the defendant's readership about the... private life of the claimant, a curiosity deliberately generated by the defendant".

No attempt had been made to contact the duchess prior to publication in a "deliberate" move "to secure the enormous 'scoop'", he said.

Mr Sherborne argued additional articles published by Associated Newspapers about the duchess should be taken into consideration in support of her privacy action, but not as part of the claim.

He said: "It is very much about the claimant's state of mind."

Mr Sherborne added this was about "the distress she feels about the realisation that the defendant has an agenda and that this is not a one-off" and not about damage to reputation.

It is understood Harry and Meghan, who have relocated to California after stepping back as senior royals, listened to the parts of the hearing.

Associated Newspapers had asked for Friday's hearing to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the duchess's legal team rejected this and said she "considered it was unreasonable to accept the offer".

Instead the hearing was held remotely with Mr Justice Warby sitting in his court in front of several computer screens while counsel called in from elsewhere.

Mr Justice Warby said at the end of the hearing that he would give his ruling on Associated Newspapers' application at a later date, but hopefully within a week.

Last week Harry and Meghan announced they would no longer work with several British tabloid newspapers, including the Mail as well as the Sun, Mirror and Express, over "distorted, false or invasive" stories.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
×