The claim came from lawyers for the publishers accused of breaching Meghan’s privacy and copyright by printing the letter she sent to Thomas Markle. They also said she used her friends as unofficial PRs to try to influence the media before the letter was sent to Mr Markle, 76, in 2018.
Later she and Prince Harry co-operated with a book that set out their private thoughts on their family troubles and many other issues in a favourable way.
Meghan, 39, is suing Associated Newspapers over publication of the letter. It laid bare their rift after she complained he had “broken her heart into a million pieces”.
She is expected to take to the witness stand in a sensational £3million trial due to begin on January 11.
The Duchess has run up legal costs of £1.8million and the newspaper a further £1.2million up to and including the seven- to 10-day trial.
It was a total which the paper’s lawyers suggested was disproportionate.
At a preliminary hearing yesterday the publisher sought to amend its written defence to argue that a book about the couple, Finding Freedom, was published with their co-operation.
The book contained details of the letter Meghan sent to her father.
But Meghan’s lawyers insisted that references in the book were simply “extracts from the letter lifted from the defendant’s own articles”.
The publishers argued that Meghan wrote the letter with a view to it being disclosed to the public.
Judge Francesca Kaye said that the £3million costs were “excessive” and that she would rule on the bid to amend the defence at a later date.
