Prince William Likely Approved Aide Jason Knauf's Involvement In Meghan Markle Lawsuit: Royal Expert

Prince William was likely behind his staff's move to release a statement in Meghan Markle's lawsuit against a publication, according to a royal expert.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex opened up about their relationship with the royal family in Vol. II of "Harry & Meghan," released Thursday. American journalist and author Christopher Andersen shared his thoughts with Us Weekly after watching the final three episodes.

"The Sussexes get the final word when ... they issue a formal statement saying, 'Oh no, we never authorized him to issue this information,'" the "King: The Life of Charles III" author said Thursday. "So it's another swipe at William."

He claimed that the mention of the lawsuit made it "rather obvious" that the tension between the royal siblings is "a chasm that isn't going to be breached at any time soon."

Andersen hinted that Prince William could have pulled the strings when his aide Jason Knauf got involved in Markle's legal battle against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of Mail on Sunday. The Duchess of Sussex sued the outlet for publishing the five-page letter she wrote to her estranged dad Thomas Markle in 2019. She won the case.

In episode 6, the royal couple revisited the incident.

"When we were just about to go the court of appeal, a senior member of [William's] team [Knauf] came forward to give his witness statement, which wasn't required, and sadly there's just no way he could have done that without the authority of his bosses," Markle's lawyer, Jenny Afia, claimed in a confessional.

The documentary showed the Sussexes getting frustrated with Harry telling his wife, "Let me deal with it." She replied, "It's your brother. I'm not gonna say anything about your brother, but it's so obvious."

As the drama played out in the series, Prince Harry argued that it was suspicious Knauf was referred to as a "former aide of Meghan and Harry" rather than a current employee of his brother, Prince William.

"It's even more obvious that they'll try and cover it up," he said, criticizing the way the palace works with the U.K. press. "That's why I'm now living in a different country. Because all the comms teams basically, like, try to outdo each other, but this is the contract. The symbiotic relationship between the two institutions working the best that they can."

Andersen agreed with Afia and Markle that the Duke of Cambridge was probably involved in Knauf's move to release a statement amid the lawsuit.

"I mean, my guess is it would've had to have been approved by him," Andersen said, claiming that the heir to the throne may have wanted to "undercut" his younger brother for leaving his senior duties. "I can't see how that kind of statement could have been made without William."

In Mr. Knauf's statement, he claimed that Markle drafted the letter with "the understanding that it could be leaked" and even considered calling her father "Daddy" because it would "pull at the heartstrings" in the "unfortunate" event it would be made public.

"The Duchess wanted to make sure that if the letter became public it would assist with setting out her perspective on the problems with her father's behavior," Mr. Knauf said in a statement, Town & Country reported. "In the messages on 24 August she said she felt 'fantastic; after writing it and added that: 'And if he leaks it then that's on his conscious(sic) but at least the world will know the truth. Words I could never voice publicly.'"

In Knauf's witness statement, he said he wanted to adopt a "position of neutrality" between Markle and the newspaper in the privacy case.

He also denied Prince Harry and Markle's claim that his statement had something to do with Prince William.

"In response to allegations that Mr. Knauf submitted a voluntary witness statement in connection with the Daily Mail litigation with the consent of Prince William's office, a representative for Mr. Knauf sent the following statement. 'These claims are entirely false,' a statement shown in the documentary read. "Mr. Knauf was asked to provide evidence by both the Duchess of Sussex and Associate Newspapers. He was advised by counsel that evidence in his possession could be relevant and he then provided this directly to the court, staying neutral in the process."

All six episodes of "Harry & Meghan" are currently streaming on Netflix.