Meghan Markle says it's untrue that she and Prince Harry didn't consult the Queen before leaving the royal family
- Meghan Markle has denied reports that she and Prince Harry didn't consult the Queen before announcing their "step back" in January.
- In new documents filed by Duchess of Sussex's legal team to support her lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday, Markle said she consulted both the Queen and Prince Charles before resigning.
- "Their decision to step back from official duties... had been discussed in advance with both Her Majesty the Queen and The Prince of Wales (contrary to what has been falsely claimed by the Defendant in its reporting)," a legal representative for Markle wrote.
- This contradicts reports by the Mail Online that the couple "secretly plotted" the decision while in Canada without consulting their team back in the UK.
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The Duchess of Sussex has responded to rumors that the royal family had no idea she and Prince Harry were planning to resign from their senior roles.
In new court documents filed by Meghan Markle's legal team to support her lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday, the duchess says it's untrue that they didn't consult the Queen before announcing their "step back" in January.
"Following their decision to step back from official duties, which had been discussed in advance with both Her Majesty the Queen and The Prince of Wales (contrary to what has been falsely claimed by the Defendant in its reporting), the Claimant is no longer considered as a 'working' member of the Royal Family," a legal spokesperson for the duchess wrote.
It was previously rumored that the Queen was unaware Harry and Markle were going to announce their "step back" at the beginning of the year.
Buckingham Palace issued a short and seemingly abrupt statement following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's announcement on Instagram, saying "these are complicated issued that will take time to work through."
"Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through," the statement read.
"The Mail has been told the couple 'secretly plotted' their decision during their stay in Canada, even conspiring to create a new website independent of the Royal Family and ready to launch it when they returned. This was without the knowledge of their own loyal UK-based press team," the Mail Online reported at the time.
Meanwhile, one royal aide reportedly told BBC News that no members of the royal family had been consulted before the announcement.
The documents were provided ahead of Markle's upcoming court hearing for the Mail on Sunday case, which will be held remotely this Friday.
The duchess is suing the publication after it published excerpts of a private letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
The document also includes transcripts of previously unseen text messages written by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Thomas.
On Monday, Markle and Harry announced they would no longer engage with four of Britain's tabloid newspapers, including the Daily Mail and its counterparts, the Mail Online and the Mail on Sunday.
The couple wrote a letter to each publication, saying they no longer want to aid "clickbait and distortion."
The publications did not responded to Insider's requests for comment regarding the letter.
Read more:
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wrote explosive letters to 4 British tabloids cutting off all contact
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