JULY 2, 2020
Court documents say the Duchess of Sussex felt “silenced” amid “false” stories.
Newsweek reports that court documents say the Duchess of Sussex faced “false and damaging” articles while “pregnant, unprotected by the institution” of monarchy and “prohibited from defending herself.” Her lawyers also said “everyone felt silenced” after friends and family were told they could not speak to journalists regarding untrue claims about her.
“[Meghan] had become the subject of a large number of false and damaging articles by the UK tabloid media, specifically by the defendant [the publisher of the Mail on Sunday], which caused tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health,” the documents read. “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.”
Meghan also said in her filing that she was unaware that her friends would speak out to defend her in People magazine last year, did not know about the article until the day it was published, and didn’t know which anonymous friends spoke to the magazine until later.
The Duchess is suing the publisher of Mail on Sunday regarding a letter she sent her father about his actions surrounding her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018, and has accused the paper of “humiliating” him.
The court documents echo a candid interview Meghan gave last year, in which she said she was not “OK” following months of negative press during and after her pregnancy. “Look, any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable,” she said at the time. “So that was made really challenging. And then, when you have a newborn … especially as a woman, it’s a lot. And also, thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK. But it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
Courtesy/Source: InStyle
