MEGHAN Markle will face another trial to determine how much money she will receive in her “excruciating” privacy battle.
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, won her privacy battle against the Mail on Sunday in February after releasing excerpts from a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle.
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Meghan Markle won her latest legal battle
She claimed the February 2019 articles misused her private information, infringed her copyright and violated data protection law.
The paper had suggested that she may not be the only author of the letter.
However, that was settled in the High Court earlier this month when Meghan won the final part of her copyright claim.
In a judgment handed down today, Lord Justice Warby reached a decision in a five-day hearing in October to determine the cost while the “excruciating” litigation continues.
He said Associated Newspapers Ltd needed to provide information on “what income it is generating (and) what is it spending and how” prior to the hearing.
It will also deal with a “profit statement” that the publisher created due to a violation of Meghan’s copyright.
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Jason Knauf advised Meghan to point out her father’s illness in the letter
The judge also said Meghan’s “outright” rejection “he helped draft the letter cut the newspaper’s chance of winning.
ANL’s attorneys argued that Jason Knauf was the co-author of the letter, which meant it was owned by the Crown and not Meghan’s copyright.
The court was told, however, that the adjutant “emphatically” refused to take the letter, with his lawyers saying “it was only the letter from the Duchess”.
And Lord Justice Warby said today that Mr Knuaf’s position is “definitive and definitive, not uncertain or preliminary”.
He added: “I feel that there is no longer a realistic prospect that the applicant would fail to prove her full case in relation to the question of liability in legal proceedings.
“You should find out that you are the sole author and exclusive owner of the copyright in the electronic draft (of the letter).
“There is no compelling or other reason to bring this issue to justice.”
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Thomas Markle had suffered a heart attack before Meghan’s weddingCredit: Collect
After the last hearing earlier that month, it emerged that Mr Knauf said that despite her bombings by Oprah Winfrey, she was “extensively protected” by the palace.
The former actress repeatedly slammed Palace aides in explosive Tell-All chat, claiming they “didn’t protect her”.
She also sensationally said they were “unwilling to tell the truth to protect themselves and Prince Harry”.
But Mr Knauf, who resigned as CEO of the Kate and Williams Charity Foundation today, appeared to be denying their claims in official court documents.
In a letter to the High Court, attorneys representing the Crown claimed he had made “extensive efforts” to protect Meghan’s privacy and reputation.
Meghan has successfully won her data protection claim
The adjutant, who now works for Prince William and Kate Middleton, has also “made considerable efforts over many months” to protect Thomas Markle, it said.
The documents state that this was “in addition to the steps regularly taken to object to reporting on the Duchess herself when it was found unfair or untrue”.
In March, Meghan’s attorneys asked Associated Newspapers Ltd to pay her Ā£ 1.5 million legal fees.
But Lord Justice Warby ordered the Mail on Sunday to pay Ā£ 450,000 in costs, with the possibility of more being paid in the future.
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She sued for publishing a handwritten letter she wrote to her estranged fatherCredit: See caption
He ruled in February that the publication of Meghan’s letter to her father was “obviously exaggerated and therefore illegal”.
The judge said, “It was, in short, a personal and private letter.
“Most of the information published concerned the applicant’s behavior, her feelings of anxiety about her father’s behavior, the way she saw it, and the resulting gap between them.
“These are inherently private and personal matters.”
Associated Newspapers Ltd was instructed to print a statement on the front page of The Mail On Sunday and a notice on page three of the paper stating that by posting portions of the letter they “infringed their copyright”.
A statement on Meghan’s victory in her copyright claim, however, has been put on hold while the publisher seeks permission to appeal.
At the original hearing, the court was told that Meghan had sent the letter to her estranged father, 76, in August 2018.
She is said to have felt compelled to write the “painful” letter after they reached the “breaking point”.
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And her attorney Justin Rushbrooke QC described the 1,250 word letter as “a heartfelt request from a tormented daughter to her father”.
The Duchess released a statement after her victory, saying: “With this sweeping win in terms of privacy and copyright, we have all won today.”
An ANL spokesman said they were “very surprised” by the verdict.
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