I mentioned that news. I am not seeing how MOS was right since they actually published the letter before Finding Freedom existed. Well over a year in fact. It was already in the public domain due to them. Meghan didn't object to her friend but it was already out there and that still has nothing to do with copyright.
As for the rest of the book they still deny talking or working with them. Nor do that even know what was said by the people they claimed to collaborate with on the book. Stated again in these documents.
Also they claimed members of KP wrote the letter with Meghan. That is not true per these documents either. In fact quite the opposite. What was stated was that Meghan was following protocol, wrote it on the suggestion of senior royals, and Knauf looked over before sending it out. As that is his job.
But you are right we are not lawyers. Curious if the trial will continue come January,.
Sorry ACO I think this is bigger news:
Meghan Markle admits giving personal information to the authors of Finding Freedom
In new court documents, the Duchess says she gave her own version of events to someone to be communicated to the authors
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...-giving-personal-information-authors-finding/
So, MoS was right... man.
I think she just lost her case.
But i'm not a lawyer, so..
ETA, Jack Royston tweeter account:
Legal documents released as part of Meghan's High Court privacy battle with the publishers of the Mail on Sunday also revealed deep divisions between the Sussex's and the Royal Family over the couple's roles.
Meghan claims she was "unprotected by the institution" of the Royal Family while she was pregnant and left unable to defend herself against alleged press intrusion.
The documents state she was unable to carry out paid work, while other royals such as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were allowed to do so.
Then on different snapshot (from Jack Royston’s twitter):5. As stated at paragraphs 5.2 and 5.3 above, neither the Claimant nor her husband co-operated with the authors to put out “their version of events” by means of the Book, nor did they meet with the authors, nor were they interviewed for the purpose of the Book, whether formally or informally. The Claimant was concerned that her father’s narrative in the media that she had abandoned him and had not even tried to contact him (which was false) would be repeated, when in fact she had tried to call him, and text him, and had even written a letter to him to try to persuade him to stop dealing with the media; and he had written back to her. 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. She does not know what extent or in what terms this one item of information concerning her communication with her father was shared with the authors.
And another one from Victoria Murphy on T&C as posted by AC21091968 (post #1871) and quoted in post #1894 by ACO previously:2. Given the Claimant’s level of distress surrounding the form, frequency and content of the media coverage concerning her father, and as the newest member of the Royal Family who wanted to follow protocol, the Claimant sought advice from two senior members of the Royal Family on how best to address the situation.
3. In accordance with the advice that she had received from the two members of the Royal Family, the Claimant decided (in about the first week of August 2018) to write a private letter to her father in an attempt to get him to stop talking to the press.
4. Once it had been decided that the Claimant would write to her father, the Claimant informed Mr Knauf. Mr Knauf was not only a trusted advisor, who had spoken to the Claimant’s father repeatedly, particularly in the lead-up to the wedding, and was aware of the state of his health, but was also responsible for reporting (as was required by palace protocol) the fact that the Claimant was going to write to her father to more senior people in the Royal household, all of whom had to be kept appraised of any public-facing issues (the media spectacle surrounding Mr Markle being one such issue).
My take: some time in summer 2018 Meghan approached two senior royals for advice (my guess on Charles and Camilla, since the Cambridges were most likely in Anmer or in Mustique). Whatever the advice was, she then decided (in about the first week of August 2018) to write a letter and once the draft was done, she showed it to Harry and Jason – whom as Communications Secretary, supposedly it’s his job to check incoming and outgoing letters thus his ‘feedback’ would be something more within working capacity, not the content itself. Therefore, this letter is Meghan’s and Meghan’s alone (copyright wise).“Once it had been decided that the Claimant would write to her father, the Claimant informed Mr Knauf. Mr Knauf was not only a trusted advisor, who had spoken to the Claimant’s father repeatedly, particularly in the lead-up to the wedding, and was aware of the state of his health, but he was also responsible for reporting (as was required by palace protocol) the fact that the Claimant was going to write to her father to more senior people in the Royal households, all of whom had to be kept apprised of any public-facing issues (the media spectacle surrounding Mr Markle being one such issue),” the filing reads.
It continues, saying that Meghan “shared a draft of that Draft with her husband and Mr Knauf for support, as this was a deeply painful process that they lived through with her” but that, while Mr Knauf provided feedback, he did not provide “actual wording” as “this was a personal letter from father to daughter.”
“For the avoidance of doubt neither Mr Knauf (nor anybody else) created any part of the Electronic Draft or the Letter. The Claimant, and the Claimant alone, created the Electronic Draft, which she then transcribed by hand to her father as the Letter.”
12. Ms Hartley describes Mr Markle as “an important witness”. I had wondered quite how important Mr Markle’s evidence really was to the defence case. It was not immediately obvious to me why he was considered to be important. Mr White QC accepted, in the course of his submissions, that any impression the public might have gained, from earlier reporting about this case, that it involves in substance a family battle between a daughter and her father would be inaccurate. He gave two main reasons why Mr Markle’s evidence matters. First, he said that the claimant had chosen to plead that a number of the allegations in the articles, reflecting Mr Markle’s version of events, are false. In addition, submits Mr White, Mr Markle’s Article 10 rights require consideration, so that “his reasons for bringing the Letter to the paper and seeking to have it published” are of importance. It seems that the defendant’s position is that Mr Markle’s reaction to the People article, the inferences he drew, and his feelings about these matters, are relevant to an assessment of the Article 10/Article 8 balance.
13. This second strand of reasoning will need some further thought at some stage in this case. The defendant has argued, successfully, that its own state of mind and motives are wholly irrelevant to liability and damages for misuse of private information, the tests being objective. Although the defendant’s motives for reproducing the Letter have been identified as a topic for disclosure, that is in relation to the fair dealing defence only. It is not immediately obvious how Mr Markle’s thoughts and feelings come into play.
14. At any rate, Mr Markle’s subjective thoughts and feelings do seem to be, on any objective view, a relatively minor aspect of the case overall. It is not suggested that Mr Markle’s evidence on those topics is an essential component of the defence case. More importantly, as Mr Mill QC has observed, there is no suggestion that Mr Markle would not be available to give evidence later next year. There is, in particular, no medical evidence suggesting that a delay would make his availability less likely. And the defendant accepts that it has a signed statement from Mr Markle. There is, I would add, no apparent impediment to the defendant taking a deposition or other form of independently recorded statement from Mr Markle in advance of the revised trial date, or to his giving evidence by video-link if not well enough to travel.
The whole thing gets murkier and murkier by the day. I do wonder if it occurs to Meghan and Harry that if they had let this go none of these revelations would have come out and the letter probably would have been forgotten by most people by now.
Really why would Meghan need help to write a letter to her father? She Meghan is NOT a dumb person ,so she don't need the input from anyone who worked for her.
To me, this is not about "Meghan is NOT a dumb person" this is about exercising judgement judiciously, or not.
They would have been far better off to never have started this mess in the first place.
I agree with you on this. If you're going to hang your underwear out to dry in the backyard, expect the neighbors to see all the holes in them.
They would have been far better off to never have started this mess in the first place.
I think a fair few of us had voiced that opinion at the time.
IMO a great deal if this mess is down to Meghan not being properly prepared or briefed if you want to put it that way in how the RF operate.
That is not her fault but IMO it is Harry, he knows how the family work all the rules , the protocol, who can earn money etc etc.
Jason didn't write any part of the letter.
“For the avoidance of doubt neither Mr Knauf (nor anybody else) created any part of the Electronic Draft or the Letter. The Claimant, and the Claimant alone, created the Electronic Draft, which she then transcribed by hand to her father as the Letter.”
This seems to be the new angle to try to state Meghan didn't hold copyright. We shall see how this plays out.
Really why would Meghan need help to write a letter to her father? She Meghan is NOT a dumb person ,so she don't need the input from anyone who worked for her.
Maybe now people will appreciate why the royals in the most part follow the " never complain never explain ". guideline.
IMO a great deal if this mess is down to Meghan not being properly prepared or briefed if you want to put it that way in how the RF operate.
That is not her fault but IMO it is Harry, he knows how the family work all the rules , the protocol, who can earn money etc etc.
He is wealthy in his own right , doesnt need to earn money and to see in writing that Meghan is complaining that other family members can earn money but they couldn't is frankly embarrassing.
Or maybe it was their desire to not follow royal advisors that they then brought in PR machines etc who did not appreciate how the royals do things.
It is all a mess.
Do people who aren't the sussex squad seriously think the royal family would not have put her through lessons on protocol and the proper way to be right from the get go?
They literally contacted her after her photo op with the H&M necklace and said, we recommend to try and not draw too much attention, let it ride out.
She was 36 when she said yes and married in, not a naive 19 year old!! If she didn't bother doing her HW while they were still dating that's on her!
I'm not quite sure where to put this post. Prince Harry became paranoid & suspicious of friends from the phone hacking scandals according to The Times. He is also claiming damages of more than £200,000.
Phone hacking stories left Prince Harry paranoid and suspicious
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...rince-harry-paranoid-and-suspicious-rqr879b0n
Dumb move about the third party. Giving the go ahead to talk to Scobie and not clarifying is bad optics. It still doesn't let the tabloids off the hook or the royals. They were wrong. Now Dad is not being required to testify; testimony is viewed as unimportant.