MEGHAN Markle’s ringleader pal “orchestrated” the explosive magazine interview defending the Duchess, a High Court heard today.
Lawyers for the Duchess of Sussex tried to stop the identification of five pals who spoke to People magazine in which news of the letter first slipped out.
Meghan claims revealing their names – known only as Friends A to E – breaches their privacy.
Justin Rushbrooke QC, representing Meghan, told the court today that ‘Friend B’ was the ringleader who “orchestrated” the article.
In a witness statement, Friend C says she would suffer “intrusion into family life” if she was identified, the court was told.
He said: “We say at least four of the five sources have no real role at all on the issue raised by the defendant’s defence regarding the interview with People magazine in the US.
“One of those, and only one on the claimant’s case, made a passing reference to the letter written by the claimant to her father, which lies at the heart of this claim for invasion of privacy.”
The Duchess of Sussex, who was not in court today, has always denied giving her pals permission to defend her to People magazine over bullying she allegedly suffered while a royal.
Meghan is locked in a major legal battle with Associated Newspapers after the Mail on Sunday published a letter from her dad which she claims breaches her privacy.
But the newspaper argued today that publishing the pals’ names would not result in a “breach of trust” because the Duchess was happy with the article.
They added: “Further, it is not suggested by anyone, nor could it be, that the disclosure of sources in this case will lead to any sanctions or reprisals against any friend, as is sometimes the case where sources insist upon confidentiality out of necessity.”
People magazine previously described the Duchess’s five pals as “Meghan’s inner circle – a longtime friend, a former co-star, a friend from LA, a one-time colleague and a close confidante’”.
It is speculated the “close confidante” could refer to former best friend Jessica Mulroney, 40.
They met on the Suits set in 2011, share a love of yoga and spent holidays together.
But they fell out when Jessica had a row with a black Instagram influencer over “white privilege”.
University pal Lindsay Jill-Roth is thought to be the “long-time friend” source in the magazine.
The TV producer, 38, met Meghan at a literature class at Northwestern University more than 15 years ago and asked the royal be maid of honour at her wedding.
The “former co-star” source may be actress Abigail Spencer, 38.
She contributed to Meghan’s lifestyle blog The Tig and was a friend long before they shared the set on Suits.
There are claims the “friend from LA” in the article is pilates instructor Heather Dorak, 40.
Heather has been pals with Meghan for 15 years and described her as “my best friend”.
Actress Sarah Rafferty, 47, may be a source described as a “one-time colleague”.
She appeared in Suits with Meghan and was a guest at the wedding.
The true identity of Meghan’s inner circle were named by the Duchess herself in confidential documents.
Publisher Associated Newspapers say the identities should be made public and argue the Duchess cannot fight for their privacy since she was the one who “freely” named them in court docs.
Lawyers for the newspaper said today: “They gave flattering material to People about [Meghan].
“[She] does not complain about what they did – in fact she appears to commend it.
“The information they disclosed to People was information about the claimant, but is not said by her to be private or information that she seeks to protect.”
The bombshell interview with the US magazine also mentioned how Meghan wrote her estranged father Thomas Markle a letter – which was later published by the Mail on Sunday.
Meghan claimed this was an “unfortunately inaccurate” portrayal of her letter, claiming she didn’t know her friends would go public.
Mr Rushbrooke argued today the friends should be “owed” the same level of protection and anonymity any journalistic sources receive.
HIGH COURT BATTLE
Mr Rushbrooke also hit back at Associated Newspapers’ argument that Meghan had “compromised” her friends’ right to privacy “by putting their names into a public court document”.
He said: “We say, on any analysis, that is actually a grotesque perversion of what’s actually happened.”
Meghan is suing Associated Newspapers over five articles, two in the Mail on Sunday and three on MailOnline, which were published in February 2019 and reproduced parts of a handwritten letter she sent to Mr Markle, 75, in August 2018.
The Duchess is seeking damages for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.
Associated Newspapers strongly denies the allegations, especially the claim that the letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning.
Lawyers for Associated Newspapers have argued that her five pals, brought the letter into the public domain when it was referred to for the first time in the People magazine interview.
Only identified as Friend A, the person who told People magazine about the letter said: “She’s like ‘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’.”
The publisher’s defence document said: “Information in the People interview about the claimant’s relationship and dealings with her father, including the existence of the letter and a description of its contents and the claimant’s father’s letter in response, could only have come (directly or indirectly) from the claimant.”
It added that Mr Markle had revealed the letter to correct the “false” impression Meghan’s friends had given about his actions in their interview.
The Duchess’s legal team have claimed in court documents that she did not know the People Magazine article was due to appear, would not have agreed to the letter’s contents being revealed, and after its publication she phoned Friend A to express “her distress”.
Meghan and her husband Prince Harry are now living in the US after quitting the Royal Family earlier this year.
