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Jason Knauf, the Duchess of Sussex’s ex-head of communications, said in a statement that she did “cooperate” with the authors of Megxit book Finding Freedom. This would fly in the face of the numerous denials by the Sussex camp – who insist that the novel was unauthorised.
Yesterday the Court of Appeal heard that the 40-year-old’s account was “materially false” and “raises questions about her credibility”.
Mr Knauf was Prince Harry’s communications secretary for four years and then Meghan’s following their marriage.
It has since emerged that he reported bullying allegations against Meghan by palace staff.
Meghan has always strenuously denied the claims and said they were part of a “smear campaign” against her.
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The letters she sent to her father were published to show that some of the claims in the article were wrong, the paper claims.
Andrew Caldecott QC, for the newspaper, also told the hearing that the letter was “was crafted specifically with possibility of public consumption in mind”.
And he claimed Mr Knauf’s statement will directly contradict her claims she never cooperated with Finding Freedom authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
Mr Caldecott told the court: “At about the same time the People article appeared — it is actually slightly earlier — the claimant cooperated with the authors of the book, later entitled Finding Freedom, through her communications secretary Mr Knauf in autumn and winter 2018.
“The claimant expressly denied any such cooperation in her pleaded case with one minor exception.
“That is now contradicted evidence of Mr Knauf.”
Mr Caldecott said: “The first point we make is this, we read the judgment as implicitly accepting the letter was crafted as an intimate communication for her father’s eyes only, that is how the claimant’s case was put before the judge both in writing and orally.
“That fundamental point turns out to be false on new evidence.”
He added: “The claimant’s pleaded case can be seen to be materially false in important respect by reference to contemporaneous documents.”
And he said this raises “questions about her credibility”.
In written submissions to the High Court hearing in February, Justin Rushbrooke QC, for Meghan, said: “The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs.”
Meghan is opposing Mr Knauf’s statement being introduced and is opposing the appeal.
In a statement to the New York Times, the Duchess said: “It’s an arduous process. At a certain point, no matter how difficult it is, you know the difference between right and wrong.
“You must stand up for what’s right and that’s what I’m doing.”
Mr Knauf was Harry’s communications secretary for four years from February 2015, and Meghan’s following the pair’s marriage.
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