While denying that she had direct contact with authors of the book, the Duchess of Sussex's lawyers admit that she did provide personal information to a person involved in the writing of the tell-all.

• Nov 19, 2020

AceShowbiz - Meghan Markle has revealed the extent of her role in the creation of unauthorized biography "Finding Freedom". Although the Duchess of Sussex's legal team has denied that she or Prince Harry ever spoke or collaborated with authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand on the biography, they do admit that the former actress provided her personal information to a person involved in the writing of the tell-all.

In court documents filed with the High Court on Wednesday, November 18 and obtained by E! News, Meghan's lawyers state that she provided the information to a friend because she was worried about the false narrative that claimed she had abandoned her father Thomas Markle, "when in fact she had tried to call him, and text him, and had even written a letter to him to try to persuade him to stop dealing with the media; and he had written back to her."

"Accordingly, she indicated to a person whom she knew had already been approached by the authors that the true position as above (which that person and several others who knew the Claimant already knew) could be communicated to the authors to prevent any further misrepresentation," according to the filing. The lawyers insist though, "[Meghan] does not know to what extent or in what terms this one item of information concerning her communications with her father was shared with the authors."

In the documents, it's also revealed that Meghan had a discussion with Prince Harry and Communications Secretary Jason Knauf regarding the contents of the leaked letter she sent to her father, but not as part of a "media strategy." Once it had been decided that Meghan would write to her father, she informed Jason, who also had to report it to more senior people in the Royal households as was required by palace protocol.

The documents that were submitted on Wednesday were in response to the Associated Newspaper, the parent company of The Mail on Sunday, which Meghan is suing for breach of privacy, infringement of copyright and breach of data protection for publishing extracts of the letter she sent to her father. The Mail on Sunday previously argued that Meghan and Harry waived their right to privacy when they allegedly collaborated with the "Finding Freedom" authors on the book's contents.

Denying their involvement in in the making of the book, reps for the couple said back in July, "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to Finding Freedom. This book is based on the authors' own experiences as members of the royal press corps and their own independent reporting."