The Mail on Sunday's publisher has been accused in legal documents of "harassing, humiliating, manipulating and exploiting" the Duchess of Sussex's "vulnerable" father.

A court hearing also heard claims by Meghan's lawyer that a series of articles by Associated Newspapers were "intended to portray her in a false and damaging light".

He spoke of her distress at the realisation that the publisher had "an obvious agenda" and what she faced "was not a one-off."

The duchess is suing Associated Newspapers for alleged privacy breaches after The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline published sections of a letter she had written to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in 2018.

The first hearing in the legal action was held on Friday at the High Court, with proceedings being held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.


It provided an opportunity for the publisher's legal team to request parts of the duchess's case be "struck out", ahead of a full trial on the issues.

Legal representatives and journalists reporting on the case dialled in remotely, while the judge, Mr Justice Warby, sat in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Both Meghan and Harry were expected to listen in from Los Angeles to part of the virtual proceedings.

Image: The case revolves around a letter the duchess wrote to her father, Thomas Markle

Appearing via video, Antony White QC, for Associated Newspapers, said lawyers for Meghan had made "further assertions of improper, deliberate conduct".

In a reply to the publisher's defence, the media group is accused of "harassing, humiliating, manipulating and exploiting" Mr Markle, who is described as "vulnerable", Mr White said.

He said those allegations relating to Mr Markle "appear to have been put on to the record without the claimant (Meghan) having contacted her father to see if he agrees with them".

Mr White also took issue with the duchess's claim that the publisher "acted dishonestly" when deciding which parts of her letter to her father to publish.

He added: "It is extremely common for the media to summarise or edit documents when reporting current events, and that is not a basis for an allegation of dishonesty.

"It is open to the claimant to say, as she does, that the presentation of the letter was misleading - which is firmly denied - but there is no basis for her to allege that anyone working for the defendant was dishonest in the drafting and editing process."

David Sherborne, counsel for Meghan, opened his case saying it is "important to bear in mind" that the case is about privacy, adding that this is "not surprising" given that the publisher "disclosed to the whole world the detailed contents of a private letter of a daughter to her father".

Mr Sherborne claimed Associated Newspapers had "harassed" Mr Markle adding that it had "finally manipulated this vulnerable man into giving interviews" which he later described as "lies".

The lawyer added: "It is the defendant's actions in stirring up, creating this dispute that they use as justification for publishing the contents of the letter."

He also argued that additional articles should be taken into account in support of her privacy action, which were "intended to portray her in a false and damaging light".

Mr Sherborne said: "That is what we are talking about. The distress she feels at the realisation that the defendant has an obvious agenda and that this is not a one-off."

The hearing was scheduled to last a day and it is likely the judge will deliver a written judgment on a later date ahead of a trial.

On Monday, ahead of the hearing, text messages between Harry and Meghan and her father were released in court documents put forward by Meghan's legal team.

The defence issued its central argument in January, stating: "The contents of the letter were not private or confidential, self-evidently or at all."

No trial date has yet been set.