Meghan Markle Admits To Leaking Personal Information To ‘Finding Freedom’ Authors After Previous Denials
New court documents have revealed that Meghan Markle leaked personal information, via a friend, to the authors of the Sussex biography Finding Freedom. The revelations were disclosed by Meghan’s legal team as part of the court case between the duchess and Associated Newspapers Limited.
According to The Telegraph, the duchess’s lawyers said that Markle decided to leak details of a personal letter she was sending to her father to Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, who published Finding Freedom this past August. Meghan reportedly believed that the media had “misrepresented” her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, and had a friend give an overview of the missive to the writers.
“The Claimant was concerned that her father’s narrative… would be repeated… 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 documents claimed, per a tweet posted by ITV’s Lizzie Robinson.
Meghan’s lawyers also admitted that Jason Knauf, who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of The Royal Foundation, offered feedback for the letter and that Meghan sought advice on what to write from other senior officials.
The new disclosure has quickly received harsh reactions and critique from royal watchers in the United Kingdom as the duchess’s legal team had claimed as recently as September that Meghan never cooperated with the authors of Finding Freedom.
“The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book,” stated Justin Rushbrooke, one of Meghan’s attorneys, per The Guardian.
He added that Scobie and Durand “were not given the impression that the claimant wanted the contents of the letter to be reproduced in the book.”
The new documents appear to contradict those claims, and social media users were quick to accuse the Sussexes of lying about their involvement.
Meghan/her legal team have created a serious credibility issue with the courts and the public. They lied, no question. Plus, by admitting she used friends to tell her story w/ the book, it makes it entirely more plausible she used them with other media and the People Mag article.
— Royal Tea (@UKRoyalTea) November 18, 2020
It remains to be seen how much more publicity the trial will bring as it continues. Associated Newspapers has argued that Meghan had wanted the letter to become public knowledge and used five friends to bring up the topic in a flattering People Magazine article.
The negative feedback comes after the Sussexes have been attempting to revamp their image after a close source revealed that they were realizing they were no longer “the golden couple” of the monarchy. Part of this process has included hiring Silicon Valley stars Christine Weil Schirmer and Toya Holness to begin a new public relations strategy.
