In an astonishing witness statement released by London’s High Court yesterday, Thomas Markle said he wanted to correct the lies levelled against him by Meghan’s friends in a US magazine article. He also claimed she showed no concern for him and shut him out after he suffered a heart attack.
Thomas, 76, said: “The letter was not an attempt at a reconciliation. It was a criticism of me.
“The letter didn’t say she loved me. It did not even ask how I was.
“It showed no concern about the fact I had suffered a heart attack and asked no questions about my health. It actually signalled the end of our relationship, not a reconciliation.”
Meghan, 39, is suing the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline for breach of privacy and copyright over a series of articles that reproduced parts of the handwritten letter she sent to her father in August 2018.
She is applying for “summary judgment” to try to win the case without a full trial, which could cost both sides a combined £3million in legal fees.
In his statement Thomas said he went to the Mail On Sunday and gave it extracts of the letter to publish in February 2019 because he wanted to correct a false version of events he believed could only have come from Meghan.
He said the suggestion by a “longtime friend” of his daughter in an interview with the US magazine People that Meghan sent the letter to “repair our relationship” was false.
He also claimed he had to “defend himself” against the article, which he said had “vilified me by making out that I was dishonest, exploitative, publicity-seeking, uncaring and cold-hearted”.
Thomas added: “When I read the article ‘The Truth About Meghan’ in People I was shocked by what it said about me.
“It was a total lie.
“It misrepresented the tone and content of the letter Meg had written me in 2018.
“I quickly decided I wanted to correct that misrepresentation.
“It seemed to me that the article had either been expressly authorised by Meg or she had at the very least known about and approved of its publication.
“I believed, and still believe, that Meghan wanted her account of the letter to be published. The sources for the article were said to be Meg’s ‘best friends’.
“It seemed to me she must have used these friends to pass information to the press, information that she wanted published, including information about the letter she had obviously told them she had written.
“I did not think her friends would have disclosed information about the letter unless she had asked them to.”
“The article also referred to my letter back to Meg, which only she would have known about.”
Last year Meghan, who now lives in California with her husband Prince Harry, 36, and their 20-month-old baby son Archie, called for the full trial – due to take place in the High Court this month – to be delayed until the autumn for confidential reasons.
