AceShowbiz - Meghan Markle's father has broken his silence about why he decided to publish the private letter which his daughter sent to him earlier this year. In a new interview, Thomas Markle, 75, revealed to the Mail on Sunday that he wanted to keep the letter private until he felt he was being besmirched.

"I decided to release parts of the letter because of the article from Meghan's friends in PEOPLE magazine," he shared to the publication which was sued by Prince Harry. "I have to defend myself. I only released parts of the letter because other parts were so painful. The letter didn't seem loving to me. I found it hurtful."

"When I opened the letter I was hoping it was the olive branch I'd longed for," he continued. "I was expecting something that would be a pathway to reconciliation. Instead it was deeply hurtful. I was so devastated I couldn't show it to anyone -- and never would have, had it not been for the PEOPLE magazine piece which meant I had to release portions to defend myself."

In the said PEOPLE story, five of Meghan's friends said numerous things in defense of the former "Suits" actress as well as her highly scrutinized life. It included a story about how it was hard for Megan to send her estranged father a long letter expressing her hurt and for him to write back "requesting a photo op."

"He writes her a really long letter in return, and he closes it by requesting a photo op with her," the alleged friend claimed. "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. Did you hear anything I said?' It's almost like they're ships passing."

This arrives after Meghan and Harry took legal action againsts the Mail on Sunday and its parent company Associated Newspapers "over the intrusive and unlawful publication of a private letter written by the Duchess of Sussex, which is part of a campaign by this media group to publish false and deliberately derogatory stories about her, as well as her husband," according to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's law firm in a statement.

The statement continued, "Given the refusal of Associated Newspapers to resolve this issue satisfactorily, we have issued proceedings to redress this breach of privacy, infringement of copyright and the aforementioned media agenda."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Mail on Sunday later responded, "The Mail on Sunday stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously. Specifically, we categorically deny that the Duchess' letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning."