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It’s a case of poor timing for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as court papers filed by Associated Newspapers yesterday allege that Meghan asked her close friend Jessica Mulroney to influence the tone of a newspaper article based on an interview with her former business advisor, Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne. It comes after the couple wrote on their Sussex Royal website that they would only be working with select journalists from ‘credible’ organisations in the future, rather than adhering to the Royal Rota system of royal correspondents.

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The papers form the basis of the publishing house’s defence against the royal couple, after they pursued legal action against the Mail on Sunday late last year for its publication of a private letter from Meghan to her father, Thomas Markle, after their wedding in May 2018. The couple are suing the paper on the basis that these were private correspondence that served no public interest, and posed breach of privacy, copyright and data protection.

Jessica Mulroney and the Duchess of Sussex Getty Images

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Now Associated Newspapers are claiming that the Duchess was ‘well versed in the art of attempting to manipulate what was written about her’, releasing documents that show her confidante, stylist and close friend Jessica Mulroney attempting to change the tone of a piece commissioned by the Mail on Sunday.

The papers state that the Duchess 'caused or permitted a close friend to seek to influence what is published about her in the media'. This came after Kate Mansey, the writer, contacted Meghan’s press secretary Jason Knauff about the contents of the interview with Ms Nelthorpe-Cowne. Following this, it says, ‘“It is to be inferred that on the same date the Claimant [Meghan Markle] passed this message to Jessica Mulroney with a request that she [Ms Mulroney] intervene to try to ensure a more favourable article was published, because on April 7 2018 Ms Mulroney wrote to Ms Nelthorpe-Cowne putting pressure on her to withdraw or change statements she made.”’

Following this, Mr Knauff was informed of Ms Mulroney's actions, and reportedly told the Mail on Sunday that he would ensure ‘this does not happen again’.


The documents also allege that Meghan shared the contents of her private letter to her father with People magazine via her friends, prior to the Mail on Sunday publishing them. The paper’s defence lawyers have asked for ‘disclosure’ of all of Meghan’s communications that show her intervening with the media, permitting friends to influence what was published about her.

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