Meghan Markle’s Father Speaks Out About Releasing Private Letter: ‘I Have To Defend Myself’
Oct 10, 2019 by apost team
Earlier this month, the Duchess of Sussex launched legal action against UK based media Associated Newspapers, citing the “misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018” as their claims against the publishers.
The lawsuit is related to a private letter Thomas Markle, Meghan Markle’s father, shared with British tabloids earlier this year. In response to the lawsuit, Thomas Markle has spoken to the Daily Mail once more in an attempt to justify his decision to publically share his private correspondence with his daughter.
Thomas Markle spoke to the Daily Mail to explain his reasoning for releasing the letter to the media. The 75-year-old alleged an anonymous friend of the Duchess misrepresented the contents of the letter when speaking to People Magazine.
“The letter was presented in a way that vilified me and wasn’t true,” he explained.
“It was presented as her reaching out and writing a loving letter in the hope of healing the rift, but the letter isn’t like that at all. I have the right to defend myself.”
apost.com
Back in February, an anonymous acquaintance of the Duchess, only identified as a “longtime friend” by People, spoke to the publication about Meghan Markle’s complicated relationship with her father.
“After the wedding, she wrote him a letter. She’s like, ‘Dad, I’m so heartbroken. I love you. I have one father. Please stop victimizing me through the media so we can repair our relationship,’” she said.
“Because every time her team has to come to her and fact-check something [he has said], it’s an arrow to the heart. He writes her a really long letter in return, and he closes it by requesting a photo op with her. And she feels like, ‘That’s the opposite of what I’m saying. I’m telling you I don’t want to communicate through the media, and you’re asking me to communicate through the media.”
At the beginning of this month, the Duke of Sussex issued a statement announcing his wife’s pursuit of legal action against the British publishing association the Associated Newspapers, which owns the likes of the Daily Mail, Sunday Mail, Metro and more.
The Duke condemned what he called “relentless propaganda” against Meghan and even drew comparisons to the way the media treated his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
“Up to now, we have been unable to correct the continual misrepresentations - something that these select media outlets have been aware of and have therefore exploited on a daily and sometimes hourly basis,” he said.
In addition to Meghan Markle’s lawsuit, Prince Harry has reportedly launched a seperate legal claim against British tabloids News Group, the Sun, and the Mirror Group in relation to alleged phone hacking.
According to the Guardian, the time period in which the Duke’s phone was hacked was not specified in the legal proceedings, although it is likely to be a historical occurrence. Should the case be taken to court, the trial is not likely to take place before October 2020.
Do you think Thomas Markle’s reasoning justifies his actions? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!