The Duchess of Sussex has won the remainder of her copyright claim against the Mail on Sunday over the publication of a letter she wrote to her estranged father.
Meghan, 39, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Mail On Sunday and MailOnline over a series of articles which reproduced parts of a handwritten letter sent to Thomas Markle, 76, in August 2018.
She claimed the five articles, published in print and online in February 2019, misused her private information, infringed her copyright and breached the Data Protection Act
Lord Justice Warby granted summary judgment in Meghan’s favour today, May 5, after the Queen’s lawyers said the letter is not owned by the Crown.
By Press Association 2021
Meghan
The Duchess of Sussex’s former communications secretary “led extensive efforts” to defend her reputation and “protect her father from media intrusion”, according to a letter sent to the Mail On Sunday’s lawyers.
Jason Knauf “repeatedly” spoke to Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle and directly contacted media organisations to “object to intrusions into Mr Markle’s privacy” from 2016, his lawyers said in a letter last month.
Mr Knauf also advised that “a reference to Mr Markle’s ill-health be included” in a letter sent by the duchess to her father in August 2018, which his solicitors described as “only a very minor suggestion”.
Getty
“The majority of what was published was about the claimant’s own behavior, her feelings of anguish about her father’s behavior, as she saw it, and the resulting rift between them,” said Judge Warby. “These are inherently private and personal matters.”
The judge also noted that the duchess “had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private. The Mail articles interfered with that reasonable expectation.”
Lawyers for ANL had argued that the letter’s copyright belonged to the Crown, but attorneys representing
Queen Elizabeth II refuted that. The assertion was even made that former Kensington Palace communications chief
(Facundo Arrizabalaga/PA)
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The Duchess of Sussex’s former communications secretary “led extensive efforts” to defend her reputation and “protect her father from media intrusion”, according to a letter sent to the Mail On Sunday’s lawyers.
Jason Knauf “repeatedly” spoke to Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle and directly contacted media organisations to “object to intrusions into Mr Markle’s privacy” from 2016, his lawyers said in a letter last month.
Mr Knauf also advised that “a reference to Mr Markle’s ill-health be included” in a letter sent by the duchess to her father in August 2018, which his solicitors described as “only a very minor suggestion”.
Jason Knauf repeatedly spoke to Meghan s estranged father Thomas Markle, his lawyers said in a letter
Duchess of Sussex s former communications secretary is also said to have directly contacted media firms
He advised that a reference to Mr Markle s ill-health be included in a letter sent by Meghan to her father
But Mr Knauf did not suggest any specific wording and did not draft letter to Mr Markle, his lawyers said
It comes despite Meghan claiming palace failed to protect her and were willing to lie to protect other royals