LONDON 鈥� A lawyer for the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper said Wednesday that the Duchess of Sussex had no reasonable expectation of privacy for a letter she sent to her estranged father after her marriage to Prince Harry.
Arguing against the duchess鈥� privacy-infringement claim in a London court, attorney Antony White said 鈥渋t鈥檚 to be inferred that the letter was written and sent by the claimant with a view to it being disclosed to third parties and read by the public.鈥�
He said ex-employees of Meghan and Harry would be able to shed light on the creation of the letter when the case comes to trial.
The former Meghan Markle, 39, is suing publisher Associated Newspapers for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement over five February 2019 articles in the Mail on Sunday and on the MailOnline
Associated Newspapers is contesting the claim, and a full trial is due to be held in the autumn at the High Court. In hearings this week the duchess is seeking a summary judgment that would find in her
Meghan鈥檚 lawyer, Justin Rushbrooke, argued Tuesday that that the publisher had 鈥渘o real prospect鈥� of winning because 鈥渋t鈥檚 a very straightforward case about the unlawful publication of a private letter.鈥�
Rushbrooke said Meghan鈥檚 five-page letter, sent in August 2018, was 鈥渁 message of peace鈥� intended for her father alone.
But the
鈥淲hy was the Kensington Palace communications team involved at all in the wording of the letter if it was a wholly private letter?鈥� White said.
He said a full trial would be able to hear important evidence from former palace employees about how the contested letter was written.
Lawyers representing four former Kensington Palace staffers, including ex-communications secretary Jason Knauf, said in a letter submitted to the court that 鈥渙ne or more of our clients鈥� would be able to provide insight on 鈥渨hether or not the claimant anticipated that the letter might come into the public domain,鈥� and whether or not Meghan 鈥渄irectly or indirectly provided private information鈥� to the authors of a book about her and Harry, called 鈥淔inding Freedom.鈥�
Meghan, an American actress and star of TV legal drama 鈥淪uits,鈥� married Harry at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son, Archie, was born the following year.
A year ago, Meghan and Harry announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. They recently bought a house in Santa Barbara, California.
Judge Mark Warby said he would give his ruling on the application for summary judgment 鈥渁s soon as possible.鈥�
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Follow all AP developments on Prince Harry and Meghan at https://apnews.com/hub/prince-harry and https://apnews.com/hub/meghan-markle
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
