Four Former Royal Aides to Meghan Markle to Testify in Trial

Four former staff members of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have indicated their intention to give evidence in the case brought by Meghan against Associated Publishers, the BBC reported (opens in new tab). The Duchess of Sussex is suing the publishers of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online over five articles (opens in new tab) excerpting private letters from Meghan to her father, Thomas Markle, seeking damages for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.

The royal aides at issue include Samantha Cohen, former private secretary to Meghan and Harry; Sarah Latham, former communications director for the Sussex couple; Jason Knauf, who served as communications secretary; former communications Christian Jones, who served as Acting Secretary of Communications. Jones had just resigned as Private Secretary to Prince William (open in new tab) and took over after the Sussexes retired as senior royals.

Lawyers for the aides, known as the "Palace Four," said in a letter that they would remain "neutral" in the trial. 'None of our clients welcome your involvement in this litigation. None of our clients wish to take sides in the dispute between your respective clients. All of our clients are strictly neutral."

"The aides do not intend to assist either party in this proceeding. Their sole interest is to ensure a level playing field as far as any evidence they may be able to provide."

In their letter, the aide's attorneys said that the letter may "shed some light" on three issues related to Meghan's letter to her father: "the production of the letter and the electronic draft," "whether the claimants anticipated the letter would be in the public domain," and whether Meghan "generally and, in particular, whether she provided personal information directly or indirectly to the authors of Finding Freedom in connection with the letter."

The Duchess of Sussex's lawyers have requested summary judgment, which would dismiss Associated Newspapers' defense and prevent the case from going to trial. However, Associated Newspapers' attorney, Antony White, said the letter from the aides' lawyers "effectively requires a trial to investigate," as reported by Sky News (opens in new tab). The publishers claim that Meghan consulted with the press about the letter to her father and wrote it "with a view to public disclosure at some point in the future."

Meghan's lawyer, Justin Rushbrook, responded that the letter contains "co-authors [of Meghan's letter] who . contains absolutely no information to support the defendant's version of events regarding the allegations, and there is no indication that evidence will be presented to support the defendant's version of events if this case proceeds to trial."

He argued that "the letter is not a statement of fact, but a statement of fact, and that it is not a statement of fact.