Thelife- The Duchess of Sussex said she felt "unprotected by the institution" during her time as a working member of the
royal family . - In new court documents filed by
Meghan Markle 's legal team for her court case against the Mail on Sunday, the duchess appeared to criticize the Kensington Palace communications team for prohibiting her "from defending herself" against the press. - She added that Kensington Palace would respond with "no comment" when approached with inquiries from the press, rather than to ask Markle for a response herself.
- Markle is taking legal action after the newspaper published excerpts from a letter she wrote to her father shortly after the royal wedding.
- Kensington Palace declined to comment when contacted by Insider.
Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex said she felt "unprotected" from the media scrutiny she faced when she was a working member of the royal family.
In a new court document filed as part of her legal battle against the Mail on Sunday, Meghan Markle's lawyers appeared to criticize Kensington Palace, and implied that they did nothing to assist the duchess during a time of "tremendous emotional distress."
"The Claimant had become the subject of a large number of false and damaging articles by the UK tabloid media, specifically by the Defendant, which caused tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health," a legal spokesperson for the duchess said in the document, obtained by Insider.
"As her friends had never seen her in this state before, they were rightly concerned for her welfare, specifically as she was pregnant, unprotected by the Institution, and prohibited from defending herself," they added.
Markle is taking legal action against the Mail on Sunday over the misuse of private information, infringement of copyright, and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 after it published excerpts of a letter she wrote to her father shortly after the royal wedding.
She received criticism for pursuing the lawsuit, since a friend already mentioned the letter in an anonymous interview with People Magazine before it was ever made public.
The tabloids have accused the duchess of "invading her own privacy" — but Markle denies knowing about her friend's interview with People.
In the court document, Markle's lawyers argue that she would have said this on the record, however she wasn't given the opportunity to do so by her press team.
"The stance of 'no comment' was taken by the KP Communications Team without any discussion with or approval by the Claimant, as is standard practice for Royal communications," the duchess' spokesperson said.
They went on to say that if Markle had "been asked or been given the opportunity to participate, she would have asked the KP Communications Team to say on the record that she had not been involved with the People magazine article, as she had not been."
Kensington Palace declined to comment when contacted by Insider.
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