MEGHAN Markle could come a face to face with her father for the first time since 2015 in a British courtroom.
Thomas Markle revealed yesterday why he felt forced to release details of a private letter the Duchess of Sussex sent to him – which is now at the centre of bitter legal battle.
Sources close the estranged father said he is ready to travel to the UK to defend his action.
An insider told The Mirror: “It is tragic how Tom didn’t come to Meghan’s wedding yet his first brush with anything royal could be in one of Her Majesty’s courts.
“Tom speaking out to defend his actions [over the letter] shows his intent, he is adamant he was justified.”
Last week, Prince Harry announced his wife had launched legal action against the Mail on Sunday after alleging the paper had “unlawfully” published a letter from between her and her father.
Meghan has insisted the letter – which detailed her pain at their estrangement since the Royal Wedding – was private.
The potential court case is another twist in the relationship between the 38-year-old and the retired Hollywood lighting director.
Mr Markle, who lives in Rosarito, Mexico, pulled out of walking Meghan down the aisle in May last year in the 11th hour after reportedly having a heart attack.
The 75-year-old was hospitalised days after he was exposed for faking pictures with the paparazzi.
Mr Markle has not seen his daughter in person since 2015 and has not met his son-in-law Harry or grandson Archie.
Law firm Schillings, representing the Duchess, said she had filed a High Court claim against the paper and its parent company Associated Newspapers over the alleged misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Mr Markle received the handwritten five-page letter in August 2018 through Meghan’s California business manager Andrew Meyer and had vowed to keep it private.
But it is suggested she put it in the public domain herself by telling friends about it and giving them the nod to go public.
The pals then briefed journalists at celebrity magazine People, with one of them going into details about the letter.
And, if the Duchess is called as a witness in court, she may have to swear on oath she did not give her friends permission to discuss the letter.
In court, privacy arguments could centre on the People story in February when five pals were cleared to give Meghan’s side of her fall-out with Mr Markle.
One refers to the letter, saying she asked him to stop victimising her through the media.
Yesterday, Mr Markle told the Mail on Sunday he provided some of the letter’s contents to defend himself after Meghan’s friends described the letter and kind and loving.
He said: “I decided to release parts of the letter because of the article from Meghan’s friends in People magazine.
“I have to defend myself. I only released parts of the letter because other parts were so painful. The letter didn’t seem loving to me. I found it hurtful.”
The legal proceedings in the Chancery Division of the High Court are being privately funded by Harry and Meghan.
A Mail on Sunday spokesman said: “The Mail on Sunday stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously.
“Specifically, we categorically deny that the Duchess’s letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning.”
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