MEGHAN Markle has “gone worrying quiet” and is “struggling to cope,” a relative has claimed.
The Duchess of Sussex, 38, is said to be “struggling” as their royal rift is played out in a legal battle.
Documents filed by Meghan’s lawyers in the High Court recently revealed she felt she had been left “unprotected” by the Royal Family while pregnant with son Archie.
The papers related to an ongoing legal battle with the Mail on Sunday over an article which published extracts of a letter she sent to her dad Thomas.
The relative of Meghan’s, who did not want to be named, also revealed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new life in Los Angeles was taking its toll on Prince Harry who is said to be missing the close bond he once had with his brother Prince William.
The relative told the Sunday Mirror: “She has gone very quiet. I think she is likely to be feeling extremely low and probably struggling.
‘FEELING EXTREMELY LOW’
“The legal battle and the increased tension it’s created with the royals due to the information that’s coming out has to be putting a lot of strain on them both.
“Meghan’s been a lot more distant and introverted over the last few weeks – her family is worried. And Harry must be tormented by his fractured family ties.
“He was particularly down on William’s birthday on June 21.”
It also emerged in the court papers Meghan had named five friends who gave an interview to US People magazine defending her and criticising her father.
But she denies authorising them to do it.
Meghan has also claimed she was the subject of a number of damaging and distressing articles, with Kensington Palace ordering her to say nothing but “no comment”.
Her legal document stated: “As her friends had never seen her in this state before, they were rightly concerned for her welfare, specifically as she was pregnant, unprotected by the Institution, and prohibited from defending herself.”
The Mail on Sunday published extracts from a letter Meghan had written to her father in August 2018.
It was written three months after he was unable to walk her down the aisle following a heart attack.
Meghan has claimed the letter was private.
The newspaper has denied the allegations, saying Mr Markle wanted its content published to correct any false impression her friends had given about what it contained when they gave their magazine interviews.
Meghan has identified one of her five pals, Friend A, as the person who told People magazine the letter said: “Dad, I’m so heartbroken. I love you. I have one father.
“Please stop victimising me through the media so we can repair our relationship.”
Meghan claimed this was an “unfortunately inaccurate” portrayal of her letter, claiming she didn’t know her friend would go public.
The Duchess recently “cut ties” with her friend Jessica Mulroney after she became caught up in a race row.
The pair had been friends for years, ever since they met in Canada when Mulroney, 40, introduced the then TV star to Toronto’s social set.
Mulroney and her three kids played a prominent role in Meghan’s royal wedding at Windsor Castle in 2018 when she married Prince Harry.
She became embroiled in a war of words with lifestyle blogger Sasha Exeter, who claimed Mulroney had taken offence to her ‘generic call to action’ asking white influencers to speak out amid the Black Lives Matter protests.
Mulroney was forced to publicly apologise after Exeter accused her of exhibiting “textbook white privilege behaviour”.
