Meghan Markle has issued an apology to the High Court for ‘forgetting’ that she asked a senior aide to speak to the writers of a biography about her.
A spokesperson for Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, previously said that the couple had not contributed to Finding Freedom, written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
The Duchess of Sussex previously sued the Mail on Sunday’s publisher Associated Newspapers Limited for reproducing parts of a “private letter” she sent her father Thomas Markle in 2019.
Meghan Markle court case
Earlier this year, the court ruled in favour of Meghan and said the publication of the letter was “unlawful”.
Read more: Meghan Markle dealt new blow in her privacy legal case
However, new evidence from Meghan and Harry’s former communications secretary, Jason Knauf, may change the ruling.
He claims the duchess was aware her dad may share the letter with the media.
Meanwhile, this week, the court heard that Mr Knauf provided information to Mr Scobie and Ms Durand for Finding Freedom.
In a witness statement, Mr Knauf said the book was “discussed on a routine basis”.
He added that it was discussed “directly with the duchess multiple times in person and over email”.
Mr Knauf also claimed Meghan had given him several briefing points to share with the authors.
One included was that she had “very minimal contact” with her half-siblings during her childhood.
Meanwhile, emails became released as part of his statement which showed Mr Knauf had emailed Harry to discuss the book and to say he would meet Scobie and Durand.
According to Mr Knauf, the Duke of Sussex replied: “I totally agree that we have to be able to say we didn’t have anything to do with it.
“Equally, you giving the right context and background to them would help get some truths out there.”
Now, Meghan has issued a witness statement and apologised for ‘misleading’ the court about whether Mr Knauf had provided information.
What has Meghan said?
The mother-of-two said: “I accept that Mr Knauf did provide some information to the authors for the book and that he did so with my knowledge, for a meeting that he planned for with the authors in his capacity as communications secretary.
“The extent of the information he shared is unknown to me.
“When I approved the passage…I did not have the benefit of seeing these emails and I apologise to the court for the fact that I had not remembered these exchanges at the time.
“I had absolutely no wish or intention to mislead the defendant or the court.”
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In addition, Meghan said she would be happy to refer to the exchanges with Mr Knauf if she had been aware of them at the time.
However, she added that they were “a far cry from the very detailed personal information that the defendant alleges that I wanted or permitted to put into the public domain”.
ED! has contacted reps for the Duchess of Sussex for comment.
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