Meghan Markle’s red carpet show of defiance

Meghan Markle looked the picture of Hollywood glamour last week, as she attended a gala event in New York City to celebrate Veterans Day in the US and Armistice Day in the UK alongside husband Prince Harry. But the shine quickly faded from the couple when, just hours later, it was revealed that the Duchess had been forced into a humiliating apology after admitting she’d misremembered information in her ongoing privacy case with the Mail On Sunday following a series of sensational revelations.

Back in 2018, the Duchess of Sussex sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) for publishing parts of a “private and personal” letter to her father Thomas Markle. In May this year, the court ruled in Meghan’s favour.

In bombshell testimony to the court, though, Meghan and Harry’s former communications secretary Jason Knauf said 40-year-old Meghan had been fully aware that he was passing information to the co-authors of biography Finding Freedom – despite the Duchess saying that she “did not contribute” to the book. Jason’s statement was backed up with multiple emails and texts.

Meghan responded to the shocking revelations in a statement, saying, “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 a palace 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.”

In his testimony, Jason – who now works for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – claimed that the book written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand was “discussed on a routine basis”, including “directly with the Duchess multiple times in person and over email”. Jason – who said he regretted not giving evidence in court earlier, after Meghan and Harry won their privacy case – shared emails that showed Meghan was asked directly about involvement in the book, including Jason advising her “that we do not ask your friends to directly engage with [the authors]”, adding, “I think it is important we can say hand on heart they had no access, just in case it goes into any difficult territory.”

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To add to the scandal, the emails also appeared to show that Prince Harry was fully aware of what was taking place, with the emails revealing he had said, “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.”

Referring to the letter itself – which was written to Meghan’s father a few months after her wedding to Harry – Jason alleged that the Duchess had specific reason for calling her father “Daddy” in the emotional correspondence. He said in his written statement, “She also asked a specific question regarding addressing Mr Markle as ‘Daddy’ in the letter… [saying], ‘Given I’ve only ever called him Daddy, it may make sense to open as such (despite him being less than paternal), and in the unfortunate event that it leaked, it would pull at the heartstrings’.”

Jason also shared a very revealing text from the Duchess that read, “Everything I have drafted is with the understanding it could be leaked.” Another text said, “Honestly, Jason, I feel fantastic, cathartic and real and honest and factual, and if he [Thomas Markle] leaks it, then that’s on his conscience and then at least the world will know the truth. Words I could never voice publicly.” Meghan faced a huge backlash from royal fans after the news emerged, as they took to social media to express their feelings about the situation, with many believing the new revelations weakened the couple’s claims against the Mail On Sunday.

This difficult time for the couple comes in the same week that they faced more pressure to pull their big-money deal with Netflix, after Jemima Khan revealed that she had withdrawn her contribution to The Crown, because of its portrayal of her close friend, the late Princess Diana. Speaking in an interview last week, the screenwriter said she’d taken on the job, as it was, “really important to me that the final years of my friend’s life be portrayed accurately and with compassion, as has not always happened in the past”. She then went on to say, “When I realised that particular storyline would not necessarily be told as respectfully or compassionately as I had hoped, I requested that all my contributions be removed from the series, and I declined a credit.”

Netflix responded with a statement saying Jemima was “part of a wide network of well-informed sources who have provided extensive background information to our writers”, but denied she had ever been “contracted as a writer on the series”.

And while royal fans have urged Harry to take a stand against Netflix and their portrayal of his mother, an insider tells heat it’s unlikely to happen. “He doesn’t see how him signing a deal with Netflix makes him responsible for what they put out – he has nothing to do with this. Prince William is livid about it and feels that no company should cash in on his mum’s name, but Harry won’t be told what to do and feels he has to do whatever it takes to provide for his family. Netflix have been very supportive of him and Meghan. He’s been accused of putting money over everything and having no morals when it comes to this, but he says that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Read more in the latest issue of heat magazine – OUT NOW.