Meghan Markle Anticipated Her 'Private' Letter To Dad Thomas Would Be Leaked: Report

Meghan Markle allegedly knew that her dad, Thomas Markle Sr., would leak her private letter to him, so she crafted it with public readership in mind, according to a report.

The Duchess of Sussex sued Daily Mail for printing her private letter to her dad after he canceled his attendance to her royal wedding in 2018. However, in a court appeal hearing Wednesday, the defense lawyer revealed the correspondence between Markle and her former communications secretary Jason Knauf. He suggested that she knew her letter would be publicized, so she allegedly "crafted with readership by the public in mind," Page Six reported.

In Knauf's witness statement, he said the duchess "asked me to review the text of the letter, saying 'obviously everything I have drafted is with the understanding that it could be leaked.'" In addition, Markle also asked whether she addressed her father in the letter as "Daddy" so that "in the unfortunate event that it leaked, it would pull at the heartstrings."

Andrew Caldecott, a lawyer for Mail on Sunday, the tabloid Markle sued for publishing her letter to her dad, argued that Knauf's statement proved that Prince Harry's wife's letter was not an "intimate communication for her father's eyes only."

"The letter was crafted specifically with the potential of public consumption in mind because the claimant appreciated Mr. Markle might disclose it to the media," Caldecott told the Court of Appeal.

Knauf denied involvement in Markle's letter to her dad after the lawyers for Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) claimed that he was a co-author of the letter because Markle asked for his input. Knauf "emphatically" denied co-writing the letter but said he provided "general ideas," including the mention of her father's ill health. He stressed that the correspondence "was the duchess' letter alone."

The court decided that Markle was the sole copyright owner. In February, she won her claim for misuse of private information and copyright infringement.

High Court Judge Mark Warby awarded Markle $625,000 in legal costs over her privacy and copyright infringement claim. Associated Newspapers was ordered to pay 90% of Markle's $1.88 million legal expenses. The judge also ordered the publisher to pay the remaining 10% of the duchess' court costs.

In March, the Associated Newspapers was ordered to print a front-page statement admitting that it had infringed Markle's copyright. However, it has yet to be published due to the pending appeal.