The Duchess of Sussex has apologized to a court for neglecting to tell the writers of a book about her that she requested a top staffer to brief them.
After a privacy case appeal hearing her ex-spokesman provided material to the writers of Finding Freedom, she denied purposefully deceiving the High Court.
Meghan handed Jason Knauf briefing points to give with them, according to his testimony.
Associated Newspapers has filed an appeal to overturn a decision to publish a letter from the duchess to her father.
Meghan, 40, won her lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday’s publisher earlier this year, when the High Court ruled that the letter’s publication was illegal.
The legal team for Associated Newspapers is appealing the Court of Appeal’s decision, claiming that this was not only a private and personal letter, but that it was written with the “possibility of public consumption” in mind.
The Sussexes’ representative earlier stated that the couple “did not contribute” to Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s memoir Finding Freedom.
Mr Knauf, the couple’s former communications secretary, said on Wednesday that the book was “discussed on a regular basis” and “talked directly with the duchess several times in person and through email.”
He also talked about setting up a meeting with the writers to provide background information, and stated Meghan had given him some material to share with them, such as how she had “very limited contact” with her half-siblings as a youngster.
Associated Newspapers’ attorneys questioned the extent to which Meghan’s letter to her father, which is at the heart of the matter being appealed, was “private” on the second day of the hearing.
“Obviously everything I have prepared is with the awareness that it may be leaked, so I have been thorough in my word choice,” Meghan said in a text message to Mr Knauf, according to the report.
Emails between Mr Knauf and the Duke of Sussex, outlining the anticipated meeting with the writers and the necessity to keep Prince Harry and Meghan’s involvement hidden, were also included in Mr Knauf’s testimony to the court.
According to the former aide “I completely agree that we need to be able to claim we had nothing to do with it,” Prince Harry said.
“At the same time, providing them the proper context and history would aid in getting some truths out there.”
The duchess agreed that her assistant did offer material to the book’s writers with her knowledge in a witness testimony to the court, but she added the “extent of the information he shared is unknown to me”.
She stated “when I approved the passage… I did not have the benefit of seeing these emails and I apologise to the court for the fact that I had not remembered these exchanges at the time.”
“I had absolutely no wish or intention to mislead the defendant or the court.” she continued