In 2021, the Mail appealed the judge’s summary judgment in the case involving their publication of the Duchess of Sussex’s letter to her father. Just as the Mail only published selected edits from Meghan’s letter, the appeal was based on selected edits from communications between Meghan and Jason Knauf, who was then the top communications guy at Kensington Palace. In 2018, Meghan had sent a draft of her letter to Thomas Markle over to Jason to look over for any traps in case Thomas Markle leaked it. Then in 2021, Knauf cherrypicked those selected (and edited) communications and turned them over to the Mail’s lawyers. At the time, Knauf was working solely for Prince William and Kate. There was absolutely no way that Knauf would have worked AGAINST Meghan’s case and provided evidence to the Mail without William’s approval. Even the royal rota people said that at the time. It was all so unnecessary too, because the emails and texts ended up having absolutely zero to do with the case, it was just another attempt for Jason and William to screw over Meghan and Harry. Here’s how that whole incident went down in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan:
In episode six of the couple’s Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, British lawyer Jenny Afia recalled the case being appealed by the company in 2021, despite a judge stating they weren’t required to go to trial. During her interview on the program, Afia explained that a witness statement and leaked text conversation between Meghan and her former press secretary, Jason Knauf, about the letter in question, threw a spanner in the works of the case.
She went on to air her belief that Prince William would have been aware of Knauf coming forward, with Harry and Meghan later agreeing in tense scenes.
“When we were just about to go to the court of appeal, a senior member of the Duke of Cambridge’s team came forward to give this witness statement, which wasn’t required,” Afia said. “And sadly, there’s no way he could have done that without the authority of his bosses.”
A news snippet from royal editor Chris Ship then rolled, with Ship explaining: “The Mail on Sunday was arguing all the way through this that actually this letter wasn’t private because (Meghan) shared a draft with her former press secretary, and she shared some text messages with him… Even during the course of those text messages, Meghan said ‘obviously everything I’ve drafted is with the understanding that it could leak’”.
The episode then cut to footage of a stressed Meghan claiming it’s “so obvious” that Prince William had played a part in Knauf coming forward, seeing as he was William’s own press secretary at the time.
“It’s your brother, I’m not going to say anything about your brother but it’s so obvious,” Meghan is seen saying in a huff.
Harry added: “What’s even more obvious is the fact that they’re trying to cover that up … Again, ‘Jason, the former aide of Harry and Meghan,’” he said, referring to the fact that there had been no mention of the aide’s connection to William. “That’s why I’m now living in a new country … This is the contract, the symbiotic relationships between the two institutions working the best way they can,” he fumed, referencing his previous explanation that the royals and the British press have a close working relationship.
Meghan won the case against Associated Newspapers in December 2021, with footage in tonight’s final episode of the Netflix docu-series depicting the Duchess in tears of joy while receiving the news. As for the impact of the witness statement, lawyer Jenny Afia said: “The witness statement had no legal significance on the case whatsoever, other than to actually vindicate a lot of what Meghan had been saying, about how the letter was never intended to be published. But it was filed because the impact on Meghan’s reputation was potentially damaging.”
Meghan was disgusted by Knauf’s actions in turning over evidence against her, and she was disgusted that William was so clearly directing staff to work against her and Harry. I wish Harry and Meghan had said more about this, because this was really major. They had someone going on the record to HELP THE MAIL. Prince William’s senior staffer gave evidence to help the Mail and hurt Meghan… and no one asked him to.
Some of the final images of the series were of Knauf’s comments to Netflix, in which he claims that Jenny Afia’s comments are false and that he was asked by Meghan and the Mail to “provide evidence” in the Mail’s appeal and that he stayed “neutral” in the process. Then Netflix shows Meghan’s response, which is that she never asked Knauf to provide testimony or evidence, and that he was not neutral when he was working for William and Kate and providing evidence specifically to “help” the Mail’s case.
Photos courtesy of Netflix, Avalon Red, Instar.
North America Rights Only – London, UK -20211017- The 2021 Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at Alexandra Palace -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William -PHOTO by: INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing 
EMBARGOED UNTIL 2100BST – Chief Executive of the Royal Foundation Jason Knauf holds a speech as he attends the first ever Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday 17th Oct, 2021. Created by Prince William and The Royal Foundation, The Earthshot Prize has led an unprecedented global search for the most inspiring and innovative solutions to the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet.,Image: 638402769, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Alberto Pezzali / Avalon 
North America Rights Only – London, UK -20211017- The 2021 Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at Alexandra Palace -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William -PHOTO by: INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcHFnZYFxe8OumqGdo6isrrHGoZinq4%2BhrrjFxKuWo5mjpLugt82arJ%2BXl5bDpqvAmK6irJ6awLSr0q2YrZ2dmru1q9OolqGdnKWstbTEmKSaoZxk