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Although the Duchess had admitted that Mr Knauf, a close confidante who is now the chief executive of the Royal Foundation, "provided feedback" in the form of "general ideas," his solicitors emphatically denied that he was a co-author or had any copyright claim over the contents.
Lawyers for the Queen also stated that copyright did not belong to the Crown, paving the way for the Duchess to secure a full victory on her claim.
Mr Knauf's solicitors insisted in their letter, released by the High Court on Thursday, that he remained "strictly neutral". But they said he wanted to set out "his account of the background to and context of his involvement" in advising the Duchess over the five-page missive.
"From 2016, Mr Knauf led extensive efforts to protect the privacy and reputation of the Duchess and, as and when directed by her, the privacy of her parents," the letter said.
"This included drafting a press statement in November 2016, issued in his own name, condemning racist and sexist coverage of Ms Markle, as she then was, and other regular interventions – directly to media and through the Independent Press Standards Organisation – to request privacy both for her and for her parents."
This support continued "even after the Mail On Sunday reported that Mr Markle had allegedly been cooperating with press photographers" shortly before his daughter married Prince Harry in May 2018.
"Mr Knauf and his colleagues made significant efforts over many months to protect Mr Markle and to object to intrusions into his privacy, in addition to the steps that were regularly taken to object to coverage of the duchess herself, where this was perceived to be unfair or untrue," the letter said.
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