Duchess Meghan has shared confronting new evidence in her court case against the Mail on Sunday, and it’s brought to light some of the harsh realities she has faced as a royal.
The royal has taken Associated Newspapers, publisher of Mail on Sunday, to court over an article it previously published containing a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018.
The court battle is currently underway, with new evidence coming to light as Meghan’s lawyers fight back – and some of it has taken fans by surprise.
In new evidence provided by Meghan’s side, the five friends who gave an unprecedented interview to PEOPLE magazine last year in her defence, as she was continuously scrutinised by the media, have been revealed to the courts.
In documents obtained by the Daily Mail, it is understood that the friends include “a longtime friend, a former co-star, a friend from LA, a one-time colleague and a close confidante”.
In addition, new evidence stipulates that Meghan felt “unprotected by the Institution” while she was pregnant with her first child, Archie Harrison.
In the evidence, Meghan claimed that she felt “tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health”.
“As her friends had never seen her in this state before, they were rightly concerned for her welfare, specifically as she was pregnant, unprotected by the Institution, and prohibited from defending herself.”
The Duchess also aimed to clear up some of the claims against her in the legal proceedings, saying that her May 2018 royal wedding, which she claimed raised more than $1 billion in tourism revenue, far outweighed any contribution of taxpayers money towards the security necessary during the globally televised event.
“Any public costs incurred for the wedding were solely for security and crowd control to protect members of the public, as deemed necessary by Thames Valley Police and the Metropolitan Police,” the court submission explained.
Her lawyers also said that the wedding was not publicly funded, rather, it was “personally financed by HRH The Prince of Wales”.
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With the above information now coming to light, it becomes clearer as to why Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry made the explosive decision in the first place to step back in their roles as senior royals.
Given Meghan’s feelings of unease as she remained under a spotlight throughout her pregnancy, the stress caused from the Mail publishing her letter to her father likely exacerbated things further.
The court proceedings are continuing to play out at present with new evidence set to come to light over the coming weeks.