In a surprising turn of events, Meghan Markle apologized to the Court of Appeal yesterday for failing to disclose her involvement in briefing the authors of the biography, Finding Freedom.
The Duchess of Sussex had previously denied cooperating with the writers of the book, but it was revealed that she had indeed provided detailed instructions to her then Communications Secretary, Jason Knauf, regarding what information to share with the authors.
On December 10, 2018, Meghan emailed Knauf a comprehensive briefing note, which included reminders about her strained relationship with her family and her version of the tiara incident involving the Queen.
This contradicted her previous claims of not feeding information to the authors.
It was only after Knauf’s statement to the court that Meghan acknowledged her involvement, stating that she had forgotten about the exchanges at the time.
In response to Knauf’s statement, Meghan issued a written statement to the judges, accepting that he did provide information to the authors with her knowledge.
She expressed regret for not remembering the exchanges and clarified that she had no intention of misleading the court.
However, she emphasized that she had not seen the specific emails until recently.
The Court of Appeal has been presented with a collection of emails and text messages exchanged between Meghan, Prince Harry, and their palace advisors from August to December 2018.
One email from Meghan to her communications chief in August 38 mentioned the need to brief someone named Mr. Scobie.
Additionally, Knauf advised against putting the authors in touch with Meghan’s friends, suggesting that he meet with them himself.
In an email to Prince Harry, Knauf shared the topic areas that the authors wanted to discuss and sought the Duke’s opinion on sharing them with Meghan.
Harry responded affirmatively, stating that they should be able to deny any involvement.
Knauf then proposed meeting with the authors to provide factual accuracy and context.
Later that evening, Meghan thanked Knauf for the information and suggested that he share some background reminders with the authors during their meeting.
She provided a list of questions and topic areas, along with briefing points she wanted to be conveyed.
Exhibited in court, her email indicated her willingness to fill in any other gaps if necessary.
During a subsequent email exchange, Prince Harry asked Knauf if he planned on giving the authors an idea of what Meghan had endured over the past two years, including media scrutiny and cyberbullying.
He expressed his desire for the authors to hear firsthand from someone who had experienced it.
Knauf responded affirmatively, stating that he had never stopped sharing such information.
The revelations in court have shed new light on Meghan’s involvement in the creation of Finding Freedom.
While she has apologized for not disclosing her actions earlier, she maintains that she did not intentionally mislead the court.
The Court of Appeal will now consider the emails and text messages as part of the ongoing legal proceedings.
