Duchess Meghan has been fighting the press for months and vehemently denies being involved in the “relentlessly flattering” biography “Finding Freedom”. Your e-mails now put your statements in a new light.
While Duchess Meghan, 40, is doing one appointment after the next in New York, everyone in the UK seems to be turning against her. After her former communications secretary Jason Knauf submitted a few e-mails to the court on November 10, 2021, which prove Meghan’s collaboration with the authors of her biography “Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family”, the whole now had to Correspondence of the Duchess with the palace advisor about the biography as well as the explosive letter to her father Thomas Markle, which was published by the British “Mail on Sunday”, will be disclosed in court. The excerpts from the e-mail correspondence were published by various British media.
Read the most important e-mails about the biography “Finding Freedom” here
August 30, 2018: Duchess Meghan to Jason Knauf
In that email, Duchess Meghan refers to a tweet that mentions Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie as her stylist. He reposted the tweet – which obviously annoyed Meghan.
“You know how frustrating I personally find the ‘stylist’ narrative (as it is the only thing I seem to have control over – my personal styling), but since we are being asked to partner with this apparently authoritative biography , I feel uncomfortable doing this when this person is seen as an authority and tweets the following, Can we make an appointment to talk? I think he [Omid Scobie] must be informed again as soon as possible if there is to be a discussion about further cooperation with them. “
September 12, 2018: Jason Knauf to Duchess Meghan
Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand have actively reached out to friends of Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry to get more information for their book. Meghan wanted to prevent that and proactively ask her friends not to participate in the biography under any circumstances. Jason Knauf saw it differently and answered the Duchess the following:
“Hi ma’am – we’ve done this before when we expected a bio to be hostile, but I don’t think it appropriate in this case to put out a proactive note and ask people not to cooperate. You will almost certainly go back to Carolyn and Omid, and even if put in a friendly way, I think it could change the nature of the project significantly. “
November 12, 2018: Duchess Meghan to Jason Knauf
The publication of the biography is getting closer and closer – and Duchess Meghan is concerned about her mother Doria Ragland, 65, because of the media coverage.
“Would you have some time to chat this afternoon? I’d like to discuss a few things about the Omid Scobie book (and its scope), but most importantly, work out a plan of action to keep my mother safe from these outrageous photographers.”
November 19, 2018: Duchess Meghan to Jason Knauf
Duchess Meghan wants to make sure what is written in the new biography and what is not. However, until November 10, 2021, she vehemently denied that she was actively involved in the selection of topics. This email now shows that the Duchess of Sussex was well disposed towards the author Omid Scobie as long as she agreed to the subjects.
“Has Omid contacted you with an overview of what he intends to cover in the book? If so, please let me know in a separate email so that I can decide accordingly whether I should invite him over report a royal engagement? “
December 10, 2018: Prince Harry interferes
Jason Knauf has received the topic overview from the authors and forwarded it to Duchess Meghan. He also offers the Duchess to meet Scobie and Durand. This email was also sent to Prince Harry.
“Attached are the areas Omid and Carolyn would like to discuss with me. I advise you not to ask your friends to speak to them directly. I think it is important that we can honestly say that they are had no access just in case it goes into a difficult area. […] If you agree, I’ll be with you later this week [Omid Scobie und Carolyn Durand] meet to explain the factual background and create a more up-to-date context. Of course, if you still feel that a person or two should speak to you on your behalf, we will arrange that. “
Prince Harry agrees with Jason Knauf and answers the communications secretary promptly.
“I totally agree that we need to be able to say that we had nothing to do with it. If you give them the right context and background it would help shed some truths. […] The truth is badly needed and would be very welcome, especially in the context of the Markle wedding, but at the same time we cannot talk to her directly [Meghans] Connect friends. “
Now Duchess Meghan interferes. She got the list of all questions and even answered them.
“Thank you for the information below – if you sit down with you, it might be helpful to have some background, so I’ve included it just in case. I know you know this area better than most others, but I help where I can. I appreciate your support – please let me know if I have any further gaps to fill in. “
Prince Harry reacts to this. An important topic seems to be missing from the list.
“Also, do you plan to give them a rough idea of what they have been through in the past 2 years? Media onslaught, cyber-bullying to a different extent, Thomas Markle as a puppeteer, etc. Even if they are [Omid Scobie und Carolyn Durand] choose not to use it should they hear from someone who was in the thick of it as it was. If you [Meghan] so not going to tell them, may I ?! ”
December 13, 2018: Jason Knauf to Duchess Meghan
After Meghan emailed Jason Knauf her answers, the PR expert met with the “Finding Freedom” authors. In this mail he reports to the Duchess about the meeting.
“I had almost two hours with Omid and Carolyn yesterday. I went through everything with them. They will fine-tune the book for the pre-baby time and it will be very positive. They primarily focus on the US market and will.” position it as a celebration for you that will correct the balance sheet in many ways. I will keep in close contact with you. “
Duchess Meghan has to apologize
It has now been proven that Duchess Meghan was very much involved in the biography “Finding Freedom”. In a statement to the court, the 40-year-old explains why she has vehemently denied this before – and apologizes. “In view of the information and documents provided by Mr. Knauf, I accept that Mr. Knauf provided the authors of the book with some information and that he did so with my knowledge. […] I apologize to the court for not remembering this exchange at this point. I had absolutely no desire or intention to mislead the defendant or the court. ”
Read the most important e-mails about Duchess Meghan’s letter to her father here
Duchess Meghan and her father Thomas Markle have had a tense relationship since the paparazzi scandal after their dream wedding. Markle repeatedly opens up to the press and shares intimate details about his world-famous daughter. Meghan wanted to end that with a personal letter in 2018.
August 22, 2018: Duchess Meghan to Jason Knauf
“The trigger for me to do this is to see how much pain this H [Harry] caused […], although unlikely, it may give my father a moment to pause too. […] Of course, I’ve written everything I’ve written with the knowledge that it might leak, so I’ve chosen my words carefully, but please let me know if anything strikes you as a burden. […] Since I’ve always called him ‘Daddy’, it might make sense to open the letter that way (although it’s less than paternal) and in the unfortunate event it leaked it would hit a nerve. “
August 24, 2018: Jason Knauf to Duchess Meghan
Jason Knauf has checked Meghan’s carefully written letter and is now giving her feedback.
“I’ve dealt with every detail that could be tampered with … And if he did [Thomas Markle] lets it leak through, that’s up to him, but at least the world will know the truth. Words I could never say publicly. ”
How will the court judge?
As if Duchess Meghans had suspected it, excerpts of her letter were published by the British “Mail on Sunday”. The Duchess sued against this – and won. But the publishing house Associated Newspapers is contesting this decision. At a new hearing on November 10th, Andrew Caldecott’s attorney accused the Duchess of writing the letter knowing that it would most likely be made public. That this was the case is now shown by the Duchess’ new emails. So far, the court has not yet commented on the further proceedings.
Sources used: telegraph.co.uk, The Washington Post, dailymail.co.uk