Jason Knauf is the former communications secretary for the Duke of Sussex and Duchess.
Meghan Markle’s ex-communications chief at Kensington Palace, came forward with texts and emails to support her privacy case against MailOnline and MailOnline. He was said not to have given evidence in the High Court’s victory without her being tried. The Court of Appeal was informed.
Jason Knauf divulged bombshell messages which contradict her claims that a correspondence she sent her father following the royal wedding was confidential and that she had never cooperated with the writing of Finding Freedom biographies for her parents. This was revealed in court.
Mr Knauf, who now works for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, was said to have changed his mind because he had been ‘deprived’ of the chance to give evidence at a trial after she won a summary judgment earlier this year.
The royal aide’s decision to intervene emerged at the appeal by the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline against a ruling earlier this year that it unlawfully breached Meghan’s privacy by publishing extracts from her letter to Thomas Markle.
Meghan told Mr Knauf in texts that she had been ‘meticulous’ about every word of the letter sent to her estranged father with the ‘understanding it could be leaked’ and chose to call him ‘daddy’ to ‘pull at the heart strings’ if it became public.
Emails sent by the Duchess of Sussex raise questions about her “credibility” and expose her hypocrisy. They also briefed journalists about her half sister and held a private meeting between the Queen and two journalists before she married Prince Harry.
Following the filing of Mr Knauf’s statements to court, the Duchess Of Sussex had to apologize. She said she’d ‘forgot’ her correspondence with him over three-months in 2018, and then told the judges that she had no intention to mislead.
An oral statement of a solicitor on behalf of Associated Newspapers [ANL]The statement, which was released today, stated that Ms. Knauf and the other Kensington Palace staff members who were working for Meghan decided to stay neutral in the first High Court case. But, after Meghan’s High Court wins in February, and May, they had changed their stance.
Keith Mathieson of Reynolds Porter Chamberlain was a partner. In July, ANL received a statement from a “confidential Source” that said Mr Knauf ‘now regretted not providing witness statements to us.
According to him, “It was indeed true that Mr Knauf had been denied the opportunity to give evidence in a trial. He now wanted to make a witness statement for the parties to ensure that their evidence would be taken into consideration as part of the appeal.”
ANL appealed, claiming that the ex-actress wrote the document with ‘public consumption and mind’. ANL claims that Jason Knauf was the Duchess, her former royal communications chief and who is now employed by Harry’s brother Prince William “contradicts” the evidence presented to the judge in his favor earlier this year.
Meghan Markle sues Associated Newspapers Limited [ANL]Over a number of articles that reproduced portions of her letter to Thomas Markle (pictured together in August 2018).
Andrew Caldecott QC represented Associated Newspapers Limited. He said that Thomas Markle’s father faced ‘nasty, untrue’ allegations in an article by People magazine. The publication was published in the US. It was in the public’s interest to rectify them.
Details of a private meeting Meghan had with Queen Elizabeth about the ‘tiara incident.’ This was revealed to Finding Freedom authors.
She claims Meghan collaborated with authors of “Finding Freedom” and cites evidence from Jason Knauf (her former aide).
Yesterday, Finding Freedom was informed by the Duchess and Prince Harry about their private meeting.
Andrew Caldecott QC stated that messages and emails sent by Jason Knauf raise questions about Meghan’s ‘credibility.
Caldecott: Mr Knauf asserts the Duchess Sussex He replied that she had sent him an email with “a number of headings she obviously wants to be discussed during the meeting between Mr Knauf & the authors”.
The email she sent was two pages long and stated that “Please let me know if I need to fill in any additional blanks”.
Mr. Caldecott stated that Mr Knauf had spoken to Meghan about the book in multiple conversations. He also said the evidence indicated Meghan was not shy about sharing private information with the authors. This refers to information she shared about Samantha and her relationship.
Mr Caldecott added that there was an element in hypocrisy in this situation. Meghan gave details of a private conversation with the Queen regarding the “tiara incident”, referring to claims that Meghan wanted to wear an Emerald tiara. But the Queen chose a Diamond tiara that she had worn since 1932.
According to some reports, the Duchess of Sussex had her heart set on an emerald-colored tiara but she was informed that it was not allowed because they might be Russian.
According to royal insiders, the Queen told Harry that she had stepped in for Harry and said: “She gets the tiara given by me.”
He described the allegation by saying: “In spite of his daughter being constantly dutiful, supporting him through with amazing generosity, he first cold-shouldered them at the wedding. It was one of the most significant parts of her entire life.
“He responded in a self-centered and cynical manner to her love letter, ignoring her requests for reconciliation.
Contrary to the People article, he said that Meghan’s letter to Markle was not loving or generous.
“When we get to the first allegation that she cold-shouldered her during the wedding… we know this is false,” continued the barrister.
Caldecott, QC stated that the People magazine article on the Duchess was ‘a misleading gloss on her letter to her father’.
He said, “Either you believe in freedom to express yourself or not.” Thomas Markle is the victim of a royal attack in People magazine… this is his answer.
“If you look at the People article, we don’t know if the claims were authorized by the claimant.
“It’s perfectly normal for Mr Markle assume that the claimant is responsible.”
After Suits’ former star claimed her bombshell message to Jason Knauf helped her case, it was after she called for the judges not to grant the appeal.
Justin Rushbrooke QC her lawyer said that Meghan’s correspondence was confidential and made public without her consent. According to him, the text and email contents sent to Mr Knauf did not change that.
She said that her text showed she considered the letters confidential. The evidence she relies on now is not likely to show that anything else than the fact that she thought it was possible. [it would be released]This is the best. They are not going to be changed by it. She acknowledges the possibility her father might leak the letter. This is all it does. It strengthens her case, as it undermines any claim that she wants it to be released.
Meghan claimed previously that Prince Harry was not cooperative with the authors of the sensational biography. In a series email over three months, she said she had forgotten’ to give the aide details about what she would reveal when she sat down with her.
She had sent Mr Knauf (her former communications secretary, who is now working for William and Kate) a detailed note on December 10, 2018. It included some background information and reminders about her estranged relatives and her account of the events surrounding the Queen’s tiara accident.
Rushbrooke stated that he was astonished at the amount of information Rushbrooke was willing to share about his father. The letter contains no information about him. It’s not something she is willing to do. Each aspect was anodyne, and all of them are in the public domain.
“The whole case regarding her work with authors is a complete sham. He was hired to handle media queries. They [the Sussexes]They were more than happy to share background information with him. The letter contained no details. It was the ideal opportunity to provide detail, but they did not’.
Meghan Markle sent a senior royal adviser to tell him she had written every word of her letter to Thomas. She understood it could be leaky and decided to call Thomas ‘daddy to pull at the heartstrings’ in the event it was made public.
Jason Knauf’s explosive emails and text messages with the Duchess Of Sussex raise serious questions about her credibility and expose her hypocrisy. This included briefing journalists about her half sister and private meetings with the Queen about the tiara she chose to wear.
But in her written evidence to the Court of Appeal, also published yesterday, Meghan denied she thought it likely that Thomas Markle would leak the document, but had prepared for the possibility. “To make it clear, I didn’t want any of this to be published,” she said.
Former Kensington Palace spokesperson for the Sussexes, now working for the Duke and Duchess, shared email messages Prince Harry sent him, stating that his ex-actress wife was supportive of briefing the authors on Finding Freedom.
Five of their friends decided to “help” by anonymously giving interviews to People magazine. The magazine has over 35 million readers around the world. Meghan says she did not know about it
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have repeatedly denied contributing to the book – but emails revealed that Harry told Mr Knauf that briefing the authors would ‘help to get some truths out there… especially around the Markle wedding stuff’.
According to court hearings, the Duchess of Sussex had sent a draft of her letter to Kensington Palace senior aides before she sent it shortly after Prince Harry and Meghan got married.
In one text to Mr Knauf in August 2018, Meghan told him: ‘Everything I have drafted is with the understanding it could be leaked, so I have been meticulous in my word choice. Please let me know if you see anything that could be considered a problem.
Then she told him, “Given how often I called him daddy throughout my life, it might make sense for me to call him that even though he is less paternal than him.” In the event that it did leak, it pulled at her heart strings. All the rest of it is in line with factual facts, and does not seem manipulated or litigious. This is a simple appeal to peace, and reminds us of the truth.
A fourth text was written by her.
In his written evidence, Mr Knauf stated that she asked her a question about addressing Mr Markle by the name ‘daddy. She said that although he is less paternal than me it might make sense for him to be addressed as such. And in the unfortunate case it was leaked it could pull at your heartstrings.
Mr Knauf stated that Meghan “deliberately finished each page half-way through a sentence, so that no page could falsely be presented as the ending of the letter”.
“In the unfortunate event that the information was released, she desired the entire narrative in the letter to her be understood and shared,” he said.
He said that she had felt “fantastic” after having written it. And that, if he does leak it, then it’s his responsibility but the truth will be known to the rest of the world. These are words I would never speak publicly.
The evidence presented by Mr Knauf also refutes Carolyn Durand’s claims that she collaborated with Omid Scobie, Carolyn Durand and Finding Freedom authors. Their controversial biography unleashed a new wave of revelations about the Sussexes’ strained relationship with the Royal Family and Megxit.
Mr Knauf has handed over messages that show Meghan gave him briefing notes in advance of a meeting with authors, including a a number of subjects she would be willing to help them on.
Meghan wrote, “Given our cooperation with this obviously authoritative biography. I must share. If this individual is considered to be an authority, and tweets the following, I won’t feel comfortable sharing. [reference to a screengrab]Please contact us. Could we have a discussion? If there are any discussions about moving forward with them, I believe he should be back-briefed immediately.
After Mr Knauf set up the meeting with Scobie and Durand, he emailed Harry to say: ‘Morning sir. The following are the topics Omid and Carolyn would like to address. These topics are yours to decide whether you wish to share them with the Duchess. Please let me know your thoughts. They will be seeing me this week in order to provide context and factual accuracy’.
Harry responded, “I think definitely share it with the Dukess and make to her the suggestion that I have here. Her support will be unconditional and she’ll be completely understanding. I also agree with the fact that it is important to admit we had nothing to do. You have all the background, context, and support to share some of your truths. We appreciate your honesty, particularly around Markle’s wedding. However, we cannot put her in touch directly with her closest friends.
In September, the Sussexes were photographed in New York.
Meghan then sent an email to Mr Knauf containing a “number of headings that she obviously wants to be addressed at the meeting between Ms Knauf and authors”, ANL’s Qc Mr Caldecott stated.
The email she sent was two pages long and stated that “Please let me know if I need to fill in any additional blanks”.
Mr. Caldecott claimed that Mr Knauf said he spoke to Meghan about this book several times. The evidence also showed Meghan was a ‘not shy about providing private information to authors’.
“There’s an element of hypocrisy there,” Mr Caldecott stated. He also said that Meghan shared details about a private meeting she had with Queen Elizabeth over the “tiara incident”. This refers to media reports that Meghan wanted an emerald-colored tiara. However, the Queen selected a diamond tiered tiara that her grandmother Queen Mary had worn in 1932.
Harry and Meghan ignored the pleas from senior royals for permission to travel to America and talk to their father.
Meghan successfully argued that her claim to privacy was violated by the Mail on Sunday publishing excerpts of a letter she wrote her father Thomas Markle
According to Court witness statements, Harry and Meghan refused to go to America to get rid of the plot with Thomas Markle.
Jason Knauf claimed that Meghan chose to send the Mail the Sunday letter her estranged father gave her, partly to please her husband’s family.
M. Knauf wrote that he received a number of text messages from the Duchess on 22 Aug 2018. They were about a letter they had written to their father.
“She referred to the conversations The Duke had with his other family members, who supported a direct approach to speaking to Mr Markle. She also suggested that he visit Markle. This was not supported by the Duke and Duchess.
She wrote to her assistant, “The catalyst to my doing this was seeing how much pain it is causing H” – H refers to Harry.
Mr Knauf stated that this was in contrast to her motivations about possible communication to her father, which she expressed during earlier discussions with me and the senior Royal household staff trying to help her.
“The Duchess stated that she wrote the letter to show The Duke and his family that they were taking action to prevent Mr Markle’s continued engagement with the media. She added that ‘…while unlikely perhaps it will also give my father a moment to pause’.
In her own statement, Meghan addressed these allegations. According to her, “Senior family members and their advisors have expressed concern at the public attacks and expressed desire for them to be stopped.”
‘I was particularly sensitive to it because I just got married to the family and was keen to please them.
“It’s true that the situation (as I stated in my messages to Mr Knauf), was placing significant pressure on my spouse (both from his family and externally), and that it made me feel strongly that I had to take action.
“I thought that my efforts to stop my dad talking to media would fail, but at least my spouse could tell my family that it was something I tried to do.”
Meghan apologizes to the court: Meghan tells her sorry that she didn’t disclose how she assisted her brief Finding Freedom authors
Meghan Markle apologized to the Court of Appeal that she failed to report discussions with Jason Knauf in order to inform the authors of Finding Freedom.
The Duchess was unable to recall or find the emails in her last witness statement that was published yesterday.
Also, it claims that Mrs. Knauf’s emails help her case.
“I didn’t have the opportunity to see these emails, and I apologize to the Court that I did not remember these exchanges at the moment.”
I stated that it was not my intention or desire to deceive the Court or the defendant. These exchanges were made at the time I served the Re-Amended Reply. I was aware of them and would have been happy to refer to them, as they support my case strongly.
She said that she did not refer to Mr Knauf’s background information as “reminders” but that it was also information that he had previously requested from me, dating back to 2016, when he asked me to provide a timeline for my family in order to be able to communicate with the media.
The Duchess also stated that she didn’t believe her father would leaked a handwritten note from her, stating in her written statement.
Meghan stated that Thomas Markle was unlikely to leak the document in her written evidence before the Court of Appeal. But, she did acknowledge the possibility.
She explained that although we recognized that nothing was impossible in our extraordinary circumstances and that we needed to protect ourselves against any potential disclosures of the contents of the letter’s contents we did not believe my father would be able to sell or leak it, as that would have tarnished him.
She added, “He had not contacted me since the week before our wedding. But it seemed extremely unlikely that he would divulge the contents. They contained unpleasant truths and would thus negate any falsehoods that the media had assigned to him.
“The letter’s main purpose was to urge my father not to talk to the media.
“To clarify, I did NOT want any of the information to be made public. However, I wanted to reduce the possibility of it being misunderstood or altered in any way that it might be used.
When the 2018 letter was sent, Mr Knauf was the communications secretary for both the Sussexes and the Cambridges. The Royal Foundation is the main charity organization of The Cambridges. He will be retiring at the end.
On behalf of the Court of Appeal, it is being asked to reverse Mr Justice Warby’s summary judgement and to send the case for a full trial. The duchess of Cambridge would then be expected to be cross-examined.
Meghan’s legal team opposes the appeal. It argues that Mr Knauf reached the right conclusions based on the evidence presented to him. The legal team also objected to Mr Knauf’s evidence being introduced and said that Meghan would also like to present new evidence if the court accepted his statement. The court was able to hear her 23-page testimony.
According to her lawyers, the letter she wrote to Mr Markle was “self-evidently meant to be kept secret” and Mr Justice Warby had “meticulously evaluated the factors” and was entitled to draw the same conclusions. With a possible decision at a later date, the case is expected to continue through Thursday.
“If you don’t plan on telling them, could I?”Prince Harry asked his aide to brief Finding Freedom authors
Prince Harry requested Jason Knauf to personally brief Finding Freedom authors, according to witness statements filed at Court.
Mr Knauf stated that the Duke of Sussex sent him pointers via email before a meeting of two hours with Omid Scobie (author) and Carolyn Durand (author).
He stated, “Are they planning to give them a rough idea about what she has been through in the past two years?” There has been media assault, cyber bullying of a different kind, puppeteering Thomas Markle and many other things. Even if the victim doesn’t want to use it they need to be told what it was like by someone who has been there. Even if they don’t intend to tell them, could I?
Mr Knauf said he replied by saying ‘Of course – I’ve never stopped!’ Harry replied, “Ofcourse – I have never stopped!” You have my best wishes!