Meghan Markle is expected to expose her emails, calls, texts, and WhatsApp messages.
As part of her millions of dollar lawsuit against British tabloid publisher, Associated Newspapers Ltd. (ANL), Meghan Markle will need to hand over six months’ worth of texts, call logs, emails, and WhatsApp messages in court.
The Duchess of Sussex is suing the publishers of British tabloids MailOnline and Mail on Sunday after publishing parts of a handwritten letter sent to her dad in 2019.
According to ANL’s representatives, the 39-year-old’s letter to her dad is not considered private because some parts of it have been referenced in an article published by People magazine.
Last year, five of Meghan Markle’s friends spoke to the outlet anonymously to defend her.
According to the former “Suits” star, she didn’t know that her friends gave an interview until the article was published.
ANL’s new defense
On Monday’s pre-hearing, ANL’s representatives requested to change their defense.
They allege that Meghan Markle “cooperated with the authors of the recently published book ‘Finding Freedom‘ to put out their version of events.”
Moreover, the British tabloid’s legal team requested that the Duchess hand over call logs, photos, emails, texts, and WhatsApp messages following the People magazine article’s publication.
These messages are expected to “shed light upon the claimant’s attitude to the letter and her privacy,” lawyers for ANL said.
Master Francesca Kaye ruled in favor of ANL and demanded that Meghan hand over all relevant messages, emails, and call logs six months after Feb. 10, 2019 – the date the People magazine article was first published.
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Meghan, Prince Harry no involvement in ‘Finding Freedom’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s biography Finding Freedom was released in August. Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand said that the couple didn’t cooperate in the book’s making.
However, the two acknowledged that they have spoken to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on a few occasions.
Because of that, ANL built an argument that Meghan wrote the letter to her dad, Thomas Markle, “with a view to it being read by third parties and/or disclosed to the public, or knowing that this was very likely.”
They further claimed that the mom-of-one used her friends to be her PR people to influence the media.
Antony White QC, who represents ANL, said in written submissions, “The book sets out in great detail the claimant’s feelings on a variety of personal matters, relationships, and events, and attributes multiple quotes to her about her feelings.”
However, Meghan’s legal reps responded by saying that Finding Freedom only quoted parts of the articles’ letter.
Justin Rushbrooke QC said on behalf of Meghan, “The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book.”
ANL denied Meghan Markle’s allegations, particularly her claim that the letter was edited to change its meaning. The publisher said they would gladly contest the case.
A trial date has been set for January 2021.
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