In February, Justice Warby ruled in the Duchess of Sussex’s favor in her summary judgement against ANL, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. The lawsuit was mostly about the Mail’s publication of a letter Meghan sent to her toxic father, but the Mail’s lawyers managed to draw out the drama for two and a half years as they spun wilder and wilder conspiracies and used the court case to smear Meghan even more. Soon after the judge ruled in Meghan’s favor, he also ruled that the Mail would have to cough up nearly $2 million in legal fees and then on top of that, the Mail would have to pay damages. There was one outstanding piece of business before the court: who truly owned the copyright on the letter? The Mail claimed that the letter was basically written by a committee of Jason Knauf and various senior palace aides. So that was the business at hand yesterday, determining who owned the copyright. And once again, Meghan won.
Meghan Markle just won the latest round of her two-and-a-half-year legal battle against Associated Newspapers — publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online — over the publication of a handwritten letter to her dad, Thomas Markle, 76. A remote hearing at the High Court in London on Wednesday ruled that Meghan, 39, owns the sole copyright to the letter, which she sent to her dad in August 2018, just three months after her wedding to Prince Harry.
Lawyers for Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) had previously claimed that former Kensington Palace communications chief Jason Knauf owned part of the copyright as he had seen an early version of the letter and played a role in its drafting. That assertion was dropped on Wednesday, however, after it was revealed that Knauf had “emphatically” denied co-writing the letter. Lawyers representing “the Keeper of the Privy Purse, acting on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen” also told Meghan’s lawyers they “did not consider the Crown to be the copyright owner.”
“Mr. Knauf did not draft, and has never claimed to have drafted, any parts of the electronic draft or the letter,” Meghan’s lawyers stated in official court documents released Wednesday, adding that the Duchess of Sussex wrote the letter using the Notes application on her iPhone “around the first week of August 2018.”
It did, however, reveal that Meghan had shared the draft with Prince Harry and Jason Knauf “for support, as this was a deeply painful process that they had lived through with her and because Mr Knauf was responsible for keeping the senior members of the royal household apprised of any public-facing issues.” While Knauf provided “general ideas” suggesting that the Duchess include a mention of her father’s ill health in the letter, the correspondence “was the Duchess’s letter alone,” the documents add.
Meghan first sued Associated Newspapers in September 2019 for publishing extracts of the “private and confidential” letter to her dad in five articles published both in print and online in February 2019. In March, Warby also awarded Meghan $625,000 in legal costs over her privacy and copyright infringement claim against Associated Newspapers, as part of a wider judgment ordering the newspaper group to pay 90% of Meghan’s estimated $1.88 million legal expenses for the case.
On Thursday, Warby added to this by ordering the Mail to pay the remaining 10% of Meghan’s court costs.
Associated Newspapers lawyer Andrew Caldecott did not oppose Wednesday’s ruling. In a written submission he added that it was “a matter of regret” to the newspaper publisher that Knauf had not previously clarified his role in the drafting of the letter. Caldecott added that once the publisher had become aware of Knauf’s declaration their legal team had “swiftly recognized the impact of the information” and indicated that it would not oppose a judgment.
Some day, Netflix will have to do some kind of six-part docu-series on what actually happened in the summer of 2018, with Thomas Markle blanketing British talk shows and British media, and then the letter, and then months of lies, and then a protracted court case starting in 2019. I would be willing to bet that Jason Knauf is a certified moron who thought he could pull something shady with Thomas Markle, and then thought he could leak to the Mail and help their legal defense, all to screw over Meghan. Anyway, Meghan stays winning. When is the Mail going to give her the front-page all-caps apology for all of their bullsh-t? The judge ordered it.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Maybe she will write a book about her experience. The dm would melt down.
How dare she write a book about letters when she has never been a letter!
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
@ Alexandria, you made may day
This made me LOLZ
Comment of the week.
I honestly feel like she will. But not anytime soon. Maybe in 10-15 years.
Because I am petty, I’d like her book about royal life to come out about 3 days before William gets invested as Prince of Wales.
@Lady D, this is beautiful. I want this for you. I want this for all of us. Let’s prayer circle it to get it to the heavens.
Lady D, touché!
Im so happy that this is finally a done deal. I won’t forget Knauf tho. And he could and should have clarified this a lot sooner. And lets not forget those palace 4 that were willing to testify for MoS.
Jason Knauf is the slimy Charles Colson of PWT’s letter-gate, an ambitious, self-aggrandizing, amoral liar, but in the end, unlike the Watergate crew, unwilling to perjure himself in court.
I think that this outcome is partially due to the Oprah interview, when Meghan made it clear that she kept records of correspondence. Those staffers may have realized that their usual nasty tittle-tattle, which the tabs cheerfully publish nearly every day, could get them in serious trouble.
➕💯 ME and TOLLY. I agree with both of you. I think Jason is one nasty piece of work and WAS willing to go there in court until Meghan said — in front of millions — that she kept a paper trail. I almost wish he would have — gone there —- and perjured himself and Meghan had brought receipts to bring him down once and for all in a court of law.
Now let’s see where his ‘bullying’ claims end up. Funny we hear nothing anymore about how Meghan was such a bully to KP staff. The Cambridge’s and Jason led that charge and now all we get is silence. Must be Meghan has got receipts on that too and they know it.
I so wish she’d sue his ass.
Does he still work for the royal family?
@Onerous down thread provides a link to a Twitter series on the Jason Knauf’s role in all this that includes his role protecting the Royal Bank of Scotland in a major communications role during the Great Recession and how it screwed over small businesses ruining many lives.
Manufacturing has been pulled back by the Queen post Oprah
He was going g to claim he had written it
Yay!!!
Jason must have got slapped by the Queen!
Um….no. Betty had nothing to do wth this.
Man, the relationship between the royals and the press is so toxic and this is proof of it. It sounds like Associated Newspapers really thought that Knauf would lie to the court for them, and he didn’t, so here we are. I wonder if Meghan’s lawyers contacted him and were like, “if you lie to the court about this we’re not going to hesitate to call you out for perjury.”
I’m really really curious how broken it is the unwritten contract between those tabloids, Jason and the palace now. Jason probably reassured ANP that he’d got their backs… to be stabbed. Now he’s backing off, soo..
I think Jason got in over his head. Everyone did, except Meghan of course. They all thought she would back down and were aiding the DM in their defense not too long ago. Why didn’t Jason deny copyright ages ago when he knew he had nothing to do with it? Especially as that was a huge part of the Mail’s defense. What was up with the palace four who were just aching to give evidence and “level the playing field” for the DM? Something isn’t right and I think the Daily Heil will want some payback. They got played and may pay big money with Meg asking for an accounting of profits.
What I want to know is what happened to the 3 or 4 staffers who had information about ‘the letter’ and couldn’t wait to get on stand and talk about it. This was one of the arguments the Associated Newspapers lawyers presented in Court when they argued against the Summary Judgement.
Lest we forget, Knauf is chief executive of the Cambridge’s Royal Foundation, which describes itself as “the primary philanthropic and charitable vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge”. So he’s so far up Keen and Mean’s a$$es he can see daylight out their nostrils. This has Jason’s sticky fingers all over it — he’s clearly covering for the Cambridges and rewarded well for the task, but none of them have continued leaking about Meghan’s alleged “bullying” of staff and guaranteed we’ll see it quietly fade into nothing. They know Meghan and Harry have kept meticulous and irrefutable records and won’t hesitate to reveal the level of perfidy at high levels.
Is he really? Welp, if you lie down with dogs…
The issue of Jason possibly co authoring only came up in November 2020, well after the lawsuit had been commenced. So why did Jason decide to feed information to Mail on Sunday at that time and get their editor to believe that Meghan didn’t write that letter herself? Jason dragged in 4 palace staffers for absolutely no reason, especially because some were hired at KP after the letter was sent.
William is definitely involved in this and now he owes a Mail on Sunday editor big time because the editor ultimately swore a false affidavit to the court based on Jason’s info. (He’s the only possible palace source)
Remember when we used to call him Poor Jason? Wanker.
Maybe we should start calling him something like “Jerk Jason” lol. Seriously though we felt bad for him for working with the Cambridges, turns out he’s just as bad as they are.
Water always seeks its own level
I keep accidentally writing “Jason Not” and I think we should keep it as a nickname.
Like, Jason has proof he wrote that letter (Not). Jason says he can prove Meghan is a bully (Not). Jason seems nice to work with (Not).
Meghan. Yass girl, you show them why not to play stupid games with you. So happy with this outcome for Meghan.
As for Jason, well what a complete about face after all this time that this case has been going on. I wonder if MoS and the broader carnival of RR clowns will turn on him now. And I wonder if Meghan can now sue Jason himself next 🤔
I hope so. And I refuse to give Jason any benefit of the doubt. At some point, in his life, he thought going to work for the royal family was a good idea. And then he revealed himself to be REALLY full of himself. I think at some point, he thought he was going to ingratiate himself into the royal family, and they would, what? Adopt him as the son they always wanted?
History is RIFE with the details on how this family turns on every single person, even when they are married. Queue Henry VIII remembrance, with WillNot signing a letter, that says his family has always been magnanimous and not at all racist. And clearly they don’t want to chop of heads…unless you are Meghan.
That kid needs to get a real job, in a real corporation, and give up the ghost.
Glad that this case is going to be officially closed and she can move on after spending 1.5 years on it.
And look. It seems Jason decided to tell the truth *eye roll*. Guess going to court isn’t such a good idea is it Jason. Nor is it a good idea for the royals to set the precedent that their employees can claim copyright on written things.
And if I was the judge and I could legally do it, I would slap the MoS with extra damages for wasting my time.
@Sofia
and continue to fine the Mail thousands of $$$ (or in this case £££} every day till they issue the all caps apology. But then that’s how very petty I am
That assertion was dropped on Wednesday, however, after it was revealed that Knauf had “emphatically” denied co-writing the letter. Lawyers representing “the Keeper of the Privy Purse, acting on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen” also told Meghan’s lawyers they “did not consider the Crown to be the copyright owner.”
Why was this not stated earlier? Looks to me like a somebody lied. Either Jason trying initially claim copyright to help MOS or MOS for using this angle as some sort of defense without jason’s knowledge. Seems like the Queen had to swoop in and play cleanup cause either way there was no way that guy would’ve been able to prove he had part ownership.
This notion of betty’s minions swooping in & “saving the day”/”helping Meghan case” is so much poppycock. One cant just claim copyright….even a legit copyright holder. So betty’s privy keepers couldnt go to court & claim any portion of copyright ownrship without proof. So there nothing else they couldve done but deny any claims to copyright WHICH THEY COULDVE DONE AT THE VERY OUTSET OF THIS MESS. But the palaces & their puppetmaster, the BM, were all hoping M wd drop this case. Theyre all only now realizing tht theyre f*cking with the wrong woman.
Jason’s balls remain in a vice, however, because Schillings is pursuing tht bogus defamation claim of bullying by M.
I wonder if charlie has found those evidence paoers yet, as BP had washed their hands of it & passed it on to CH.
Stay tuned….
It feels a little like the Paul Burrell case where the Queen swooped in at the last minute with her recollections of his saying he was putting Diana’s things away for safety…
In both cases, it saves the RF from having the curtains pulled back on their shenanigans.
I think they were all gambling on a show trial to humiliate Meghan and when the judge put a stop to that, they had no option but to admit the truth. It was very clear from the beginning that the Palace Four had nothing to offer as their legal letter was very vague and had no relevance to any parts of the trial. I think DM foresaw the eventual loss but thought it would be a dragged out affair where they could make money on the publicity alone. Obviously, they gambled and lost.
Agreed. Flames of the court of public opinion would have been fanned against Meghan to the point where the truth would be a distant memory.
Yes, the Mail wanted to turn Meghan’s case against them into a show trial. They never had any evidence to justify their defence. Their argument was that the evidence for their claims would emerge as witnesses were questioned in the course of a trial. Which breaks fundamental principles of justice.
The ‘Palace Four’ were offered as ‘impartial witnesses’ whose role would be to assist the court. Justice Warby insisted they must apply to be joined to the case as witnesses for either the plaintiff or the defendants. It was obvious that the Mail wanted them as defence witnesses and that KP wanted to assist the Mail while maintaining an image of impartiality.
Meghan has asked for disclosure of the profit made by the Mail in publishing her private correspondence. This will form the basis of compensation.
The Palace will not emerge from this unscathed. No amount of PR is going to cover up what they’ve tried to do.
I think the queen’s lawyer saying the Crown does not have copyright to the letter was the deciding factor for the judge. The Fail’s lawyers have egg on their faces and they probably feel Knauf (and KP) hosed them. A revenge story is on the way methinks.
getting my popcorn ready…
The crown had a very loose claim to that letter and they would have needed to enter as either a claimant or respondent in the trial over the copyright of a personal letter between a daughter and her father. The judge had already decided that Meghan had won her case, he just needed to see if the crown was part of the DM’s shenanigans. I do wonder if the DM would retaliate against KP or Jason directly. That anonymous source either screwed them or the editor straight up lied to the court.
Myra’s legal analysis here is spot on. We may find out quickly that the “anonymous source” screwed them if the DM decides that it’s time for Knauf to join Meghan as the UK’s national pinata. Even more interesting: will the DM go cold on House Cambridge? There’s no way that Knauf was operating without William’s knowledge and approval. Will the Fail’s fellatio fest with the Cambridges finally falter? Tune in next week!
What a bunch of incompetent, petty assholes. Christ, it’s the Trump administration, only with negligible stakes.
Wowza, Ms. Lindsay….”the National piñata” 🪅 is such a spot on description of Meghan’s treatment in Britain.
“Fail’s fellatio fest with the Cambridges” We know this is true, everyone saw the love letter Wooten wrote to William.
It was not the deciding factor, the Crown didn’t write or own the letter, they just didn’t want their arses drag into court to prove it.
A few weeks ago the Crown saying they had evidence, when Meghan’s lawyers asked for it, crickets.
They promised the MOS help and couldn’t deliver.
Jason is the one behind the bulling claims, saying workers told him they were bullied, all of sudden the same workers are claiming, they didn’t not asked him to filed claims.
Just sad that they had to drag out the lies by not coming forward months ago, like any one who didn’t have an agenda and a hand in perpetuating the lie they were profiting from would.
Their guilt and conspiracy against Prince Harry and Meghan the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is undeniable and criminal.
The fact that Mr. Knauf is still employed by KP says he felt safe delaying the truth, and his actions were sanctioned by the Cambridge’s and Firm.
In a real organisation Knauf would either be handing in his resignation or he would be fired.
Let’s be honest, that probably applies to most of the staff and ‘courtiers’ in that place.
Any organisation that tells you you’re so lucky to work there (usually alongside not getting paid much for the privilege) is not a place you want to work in my experience.
In a real organisation, when two people quit, it gets on with business as usual. The royal offices are all crazy.
You’re assuming that Knauf’s behavior has been unauthorized. I don’t think that’s the case. I think William (and possibly Kate) knew and approved of what he was doing, and now that the gig is up, William has to protect Knauf. Otherwise Knauf will have some serious incentives to go public with what would be the most sensational story since Meghan came on the scene: FFK authorized and encouraged palace staff to lie about and trash the Sussexes to the media. H&M would be largely vindicated, William would be vilified, the whole UK narrative would be turned upside down, Charles and the Queen would look dreadful, and it would be open season on House Cambridge in the UK and international press.
If William authorized Knauf’s machinations, then William has put that little shitweasel in a catastrophic bind. Cover for William, and get the full Meghan media treatment and resulting reputational destruction as the DM takes its revenge via countless stories about Knauf’s background maneuvers. Or roll on William, and be royally blackballed among the Tories permanently. I just wish William would face similar consequences proportional to his role in this debacle.
It’s this. There is no way that he was doing this on his own. He’s William’s rep, and either directly, or indirectly, this goes above his pay grade.
Agree. Just on the basis of Occam’s razor there’s no way a comms secretary gets to smear a Duchess and wife of a blood prince without the approval of someone more senior than those being smeared. Just. Not. Possible. The Palaces are ALL about hierarchy.
Agreed
Yes, and as a reward for Jason’s smear tactics and keeping schtum about it, he’s currently chief executive of the Cambridge’s Royal Foundation. The Cambridge’s ham-fisted attempts to discredit the Sussexes have once again back-fired spectacularly, and if they have two brain cells to rub together they’d do best to go quiet, heads down and work hard instead of all this cloak and dagger bullsh*t.
Jaded: the Cambridges really are spectacularly bad at the cloak-and-dagger shit. Fortunately for them, the UK tabloid-reading public is spectacularly bad at detecting even the most inept cloak-and-dagger shit.
You’re right – today Baldemort’s two brain cells should be telling him that he flew his raggedy-ass wax wings way too close to the sun, and that he should lay low for the foreseeable future and be grateful that House Cambridge incurred far less damage than they might have.
Does that sound like William to you?
Lindsay, would this be a good time for Knauf to leave the UK and come back to the US. Then get a book deal to tell all? If it sells well, he wouldn’t need to be worried about being blackballed by the royals. Is this something he would do?
Ooh, Saucy, that is a very intriguing idea! I’d forgotten that shitweasel is one of ours. Coming back to the U.S. and then selling the story to the highest bidder is certainly a plausible option; I have no idea if that specific trashbag would be inclined to go that route. Jut having that route available gives him leverage. Good thinking!
Knauf did all of this because of William. So he will never be fired. Keep in mind that he was press Secretary until he was made president of the foundation, which is a nothing job. And Knauf is getting paid well to be president, six figures for sure.
So really all this can be traced to William and for the moment Knauf will be quiet because he’s got a pretty good gig.
Others like Christian Jones were moved out of KP circles with a job they aren’t experienced enough to get normally. But moving them out of the circle means they weren’t directly involved in the smear.
Meanwhile we know Knauf and Wootton are friends from university back in New Zealand. And Knauf has right wing US links so the chances he’s a white supremacist are very high.
Nic919, But if this gets too much bad press, will W toss Knauf under the bus to make it look like he, personally, had nothing to do with it?
Knauf will be the fall guy for sure if it ever gets that far, but at this point I’m not sure it will. Like if proof comes out that the crying story, for example, came directly from KP, or other stories in the smear campaign, then I think it will be “he was a rogue employee, we didn’t know he was doing this, he’s been fired, etc.”
Part of the dangerous game William and Kate are playing is that they are making the RRs look stupid. After The Interview, it was funny to watch Camilla Tominey spin her wheels, but it was also unmistakable that she was MAD. She had the “Meghan made Kate cry” story from someone high up enough at KP that she was still, at that point, not willing to out them (my guess is the story came from Kate, whether directly or through her mother) and she looked stupid in front of the entire world for getting the story wrong and she knew it and she was MAD. The MoS is going to be MAD that their editor swore in court that he had information about someone else writing the letter, and now it’s come out that no one but Meghan wrote the letter.
The Cambridges are feeding the RRs stories that suit their narrative but now with the Sussexes fighting back, the RRs are being called out more and more for their BS and they’re looking stupid and worse, useless. And they don’t like that and I think there’s going to be some stories over the next few years that the Cambridges may not like.
My head canon is that HM dressed William down about what he was letting his staff get away with.
I think William was ordering his staff, not letting his staff.
Well, well well. I am VERY interested in seeing what happens to Jason from here on. I absolutely smell dodgy dealings which have now fallen through.
Aquarius64, I completely agree with you. There will be a revenge story soon. Wonder if it will involve rose bushes? Or maybe pedo uncles? I’m making popcorn, would anyone else like some?
Agreed. I like mine with extra butter. 😄
Yes I love extra butter too!
Still a few things to resolve including an appeal but thrilled for Meghan with latest victories. She is showing she didn’t come to play asking for an account of profits. Also having her legal fees paid. I remember Camilla Tominey said it’s only the lawyers who will win but hope Meghan won’t have to worry about that.
the fail were throwing everything at her (her dad & palace staff as witnesses) to intimidate her into dropping the case. Guess her lawyers knew her case was solid but it was funny how many stories the press mined from it especially when she lost a few rounds. Whereas they are more quiet since she won.
It also shows how the invisible contract works that a palace source was feeding the Fail info for their defence. I’m so curious as to what happened- who lied/gave impression that Jason co-authored the letter. And it really says a lot that Jason seemingly kept quiet all this time when the Fail filed this defence in November. Well dodgy
Someone on twitter pointed out the palace never came out in support of Meghan or condemned the invasion of her privacy. That shows that palace had agreed to work with the press to smear her and to create a hostile environment for her. The invisible contract is definitely real.
It doesn’t matter if the lawyers have the big win. The major thing is that the Mail loses.
I noticed that almost all of the British journalist had been wrong about the case and how it would turn out, even the half decent ones. Someone, cannot remember who, cried about the palace staff not being given their day in court as if this was an employment tribunal case. So, Camilla is wrong. Meghan is likely about to receive a substantial amount especially on the copyright part.
SO dodgy. If someone had let me know in November that I was being personally reported and/or used as a defence for a newspaper’s legal case and it wasn’t true, I would not have waited until *checks notes* May to pop out and deny it. This is serious stuff. You don’t take this casually. So Jason must absolutely have been working with the DM.
Then they realised, post Oprah, two things – Meghan keeps all the receipts and Jason, since he did not co-write the letter, had no evidence that he, er, co-wrote the letter. And neither did the four horsemen of the apocalyptic royal household either.
Agree, HENCH. The response should have been immediate. Like the lovely author yesterday who immediately took the time to release a statement about Meghan not plagiarizing her book. This drag by Jason has William and Kate (and probably Charles) written all over it. I’m sure they are afraid Meghan will go for an Oprah Part II on all this bullshit. After all she and Harry have proven they’re willing to go there.
I should have been clearer but I meant as looks like the Fail will have to pay Meghan’s legal fees- Camilla’s comment about there being no winner is wrong & actually Meghan IS a winner. A lot of stories were debunked & she was vindicated eg on efforts to help her dad. exposed some palace shadiness before Oprah. And i think many normal Brits are happy to see the fail lose.
Still must have been a very painful process when she was already in so much turmoil so I’m impressed she stood up for herself. I hope the Fail loses its appeal and she gets what’s she’s asking for in terms of damages, account of profits & front page apology. She said the damages would go towards an anti bullying charity originally so I’m hoping for a huge cheque from the Fail.
I need a proper expose as to Jason & the firm’s shenanigans around this case& the smear campaign generally. Although if you saw this telegraph article by Camilla Tominey recently on Simon Case if you read between the lines- suggests he was the ring leader in meeting up with editors to improve Bill’s statesman image at Meghan’s expense.
So if Jason has admitted to not owning the letter, just why is it that he gave an electronic copy of the letter to the daily fail? With what right? I hope they sue his sorry behind and make him pay damages as well.
I was just coming on here to ask this very question. JASON FED THE E-COPY OF THE LETTER TO A FAIL EDITOR. And he cooperated to the extent that he was known to be one of the Palace Four, all set and eager to tell his side of the story at trial, dragging this out to make it as excruciating for Meghan as possible, but she’s well-represented and I’m sure she doesn’t give this much thought on a daily basis. Only when forced to put up or shut up did he cave. Cretin.
So maybe this Jason character saw the writing on the wall and knew he wss screwed six days to Sunday no matter what.
I’m interested in who yanked his tail because otherwise I don’t think he would have issued his emphatic denial.
On a much better note…
Our Duchess in that red dress brings all the 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Might have been his own lawyer who told him to issue the denial.
Is Jason the same one who wrote the original email saying Meghan was bullying? Like all of Cheetos spokespeople, they revel in lying to the media but not under oath.
@Lizzie … Yes, Jason is the one who sent the complaint against Meghan about her bullying Kate’s staff members who had been assigned to work for her.
Yes – interestingly it was released just days before the Oprah interview. This is from the man who released a statement on behalf of Prince Harry complaining about the press treatment of his then-girlfriend Meghan. It’s obvious he’s a two-faced little schemer who managed to insinuate himself into royal circles and let ego and naked ambition lead him up the wrong path to the Cambridges. I really hope he ends up getting sued.
I wonder how this effects the Mail appeal of the summary judgment?
@MsIam … That’s a very good question, considering one of their arguments for Appeal of the Summary Judgement was the fact that it stopped the case from going to trial so Jason and ‘staffers with information about the letters’ could take the stand.
What I want to know now is how this will affect the amount the Judge awards Meghan for damages.
Meghan is asking for profit from the story, how much many they made, she want a percentage.
@Jan … Wow! That could be quite a payday because they milked those articles about the letter for many, many months after the initial printing. Enough of a payday to shut down or seriously damage Associated Newspapers? One can only hope. But perhaps enough damage to encourage British tabloids to finally back off the Sussexes.
@Jan, I’m also interested to see the actual amount of profit made from publishing that letter, just to get an idea of how much $$$ the tabloids make for one such article. Hopefully the amount will be made public.
‘Byline Investigates’ has a full account including this about the MoS argument:
“…it argued that not only was she not entitled to copyright in her own right, but that the letter, being partly the work of civil servants, might be Crown copyright and so in a way a public document.
One problem with this defence, from the start, was that Associated had no concrete evidence of joint ownership: all it could do was hint that such evidence might be forthcoming if the matter came to trial – and it was very keen on having a trial.”
What’s now left is the application to appeal Justice Warby’s decision. This will be decided on the basis of written submissions. The Mail cannot now argue that there was joint copyright or Crown copyright since the witnesses it was relying on have flatly denied any copyright claim.
That’s why I’m wondering how they can go forward with an appeal if Meghan has been declared the sole owner of the letter by the court and they published it without her consent. I’m wondering if she can sue Jason because he gave a copy of her letter to the court without her consent. If I were her and it’s possible I would. Make Jason either fall on his sword or out William (or Kate) as the mastermind if that’s the case.
I imagine that’s exactly what she might do. This is an extremely serious situation and will continue to be so. It’s clear that Jason/the Cambs saw this as a golden opportunity to embarrass and humiliate her publicly. If it was William (and Kate) who urged Jason to leak the letter, then Meghan has every right to reveal her proof. I think this is why House of Cambridge has gone so quiet about the bullying accusation from Jason — they know they’re fighting a losing battle now.
Jaded, Do you think this is why there’s been all of the articles in recent weeks–even from competing family members. That hint of desperation might be because this was all going to be coming out, and they may be worried about what the DM will do. Or, what Meghan will do.
Has everyone read that epic Twitter thread about how Knauf and Dan Wooten are old chums and William is directing all of this? It’s bananas.
what thread?
Oooh…not on twitter, so possible for you to share the link to that twitter thread?
Please, share the link! I’m curious. The plot sickens (sorry 😉)…thickens!
Here it is – sorry I forgot to link before! It’s well over 100 posts but read the whole thing. This lady has put it all together:
https://twitter.com/nohiraeth/status/1371803394919305216?s=21
Wow. A very interesting read.
William and Wootton and Knauf, oh my!
Machiawilliamnism.
Wow! Thanks for the link.
This thread by Alicia (nohiraeth) is EVERYTHING.
So did MOS believe Knauf and he pulled out and left them in the lurch since he had no proof and Meghan did? Or did they all know they were running a bluff the entire time and thought they could keep leaking about Meghan and get her to drop the suit?
Yes.
*rams tinfoil tiara on head*
Ok, my theory – the Editor of the Mail on Sunday said in his witness statement that he met with a source who was a senior member of the royal household who gave him reassurance/their word that Knauf had co-authored the letter. People are assuming that this source was Knauf himself. But that person’s word was enough for the Mail to take the risk of a multi-million court case.
I don’t think it was Knauf. I think it was William.
Pertinent part of statement says:
This was not gossip or tittle-tattle: it was what I considered to be high-grade information from a serious individual in a position of authority and responsibility who knew the implications of what they were telling me
I think you’re right. I think the editor of the MoS met with William and was told not to worry about this bc Meghan didn’t write the letter on her own. Maybe he thought he was right, maybe he knew it was a lie (William), unclear. But I think it was William and I think that’s one of the reasons that Jason is now saying he didn’t write it in such clear terms – bc KP now wants this trial OVER because they dont want it to come out that it was William.
I think this theory is correct which means Willileaks is even more beholden to the DM than he already was.
Hench, back when we first saw that “senior member of the royal household” line I immediately thought of William. People were saying that the use of the word household meant it was more likely to have been a senior staffer, but something in me just felt that it was William. I don’t think just Knauf alone would make the Editor feel comfortable enough to make a witness statement to the court.
I never really picked up on the ‘position of authority& responsibility’ & possibility it could actually be a royal rather than a palace employee. I also figured that royals wouldn’t do the dirty work of leaking directly and would do it through staff.
But it’s a good theory because as much as the Fail is trash hard to believe their lawyers would willingly submit a witness statement with a blatant lie. so is possible the Fail editor was briefed by a third party who they thought was legit (i.e. a senior royal) and when shit got real- Jason had to come out and deny he was a co-copyright owner.
Although Meghans lawyer has said they behaved poorly & always knew this defence was baseless. Also surely the Fail’s lawyer would have tried to evidence/corroborate what the palace source said? And the Fail’s lawyer claimed Jason had an opportunity to verify and didn’t do that earlier. So it’s all very odd.
Urgh I want the real tea on this piece so much. But the press have pretty much buried the revelation about the palace source meeting with the Fail editor. That invisible contract..
The Hench, are we sure that the individual was male? Could this have been Kate or even Ma Mids? It seems risky for any member of the rf to meet like this, although I agree that’s just what happened.
William is thinking he’s pretty powerful these days, running his brother out of the country and getting the press to push for his crowning over his father’s. He’s just arrogant enough to think he could pull this off.
My theory: I think Simon Case, William’s private secretary, was the reliable source of MoS in the royal household. He was hired in 2018 to coordinate the smearcampaign against the Sussexes and left early 2020 to join Boris Johnson’s camp. Eventually all these KP sources: Jason, Simon or even Christian Jones lead back to the culprit William, the incandescent schemer in the Dark.
@ABritGuest, if you follow Byline Investigates, you will see just how shady the Tabs’ lawyers are. They lie and misrepresent all the time.
I really enjoy the calm, methodical way in which Meghan continues to dispatch the lying weasels of press and palace.
It truly is a joy to behold.
Bless her!
I’m happy for her. What should have been a really happy and exciting time in her and Harry’s life was damaged by Harry’s and Meghan crazy family, and by gutter media.
@Kaiser … “When is the Mail going to give her the front-page all-caps apology for all of their bullsh-t? The judge ordered it.”
The Judge has agreed to Associated Newspapers’ request to postpone the front page apology to Meghan until after the outcome of their Appeal to the High Court. And they ‘have’ quietly filed an Appeal.
I wish she could bankrupt them but it won’t happen
Smart lady kept a paper trail from the get go. Trust but verify; something she learned from contracts during her acting days. Bravo.
I love that our girl keeps on winning And I am so happy to have found this group with which to celebrate her. I hope that the judge takes the continued abuse the DM has continued to heap on her in the penalty phase.
+1
this feels like Jason was working for William while being an adviser for Harry/Meghan. he was William spy,sharing whatever that was going on in Harry household. even making up stories to keep William happy. then William leak it to the press. seems so weird that he didn’t share this info with Harry /Meghan about the few staff said Meghan bully them. but instead claims to write a letter to the higher up.. what is worst is that he went back to work for William when he is not a trusted person..so William spy got caught spying for the heir ,but the heir allowed him to work for him instead.
So when do the damages get paid and how much?
Back when this case started, someone said Meghan was entitled to 25% of the MOS profits. There were days when they ran 30+ stories about Meghan on the home page of their paper, getting paid for the clks, and raking in a fortune in advertising because everybody was reading and commenting on those stories. Projections were that the DM had raked in a billion in ad revenue alone. I have no idea how or if they get paid for clks or if all that interest just means they can charge more for ad space, but Meghan and Harry are looking at close to a quarter billion minimum if it’s true. I so badly want it to be true for H&M.
WOWZA! No wonder they’re willing to keep on printing this crap. Even when they’re sued they still come out on top. Courts have to start awarding damages in the amount of 100% of profits made. That’s the only way this will stop.
Is that slimy little weasel still employed by the Cambridges? If so, that tells us all we need to know. Knauf is a paid hack doing the will of his employers. If they keep him on after this, we know that they are not simply complicit, but the active instigators of the entire smear campaign from top to bottom.
Maybe they can make a youtube video about it? “How to damage your brand and your livelihood due to petty jealousy.”
They’ll pretend nothing is happening until it all blows up in their faces like with Andrew. Then they’ll send out the Rota to say William is a statesman and Kate never puts a foot wrong.
I think the take-away here is: don’t build a legal case based on the say-so / affidavit / testimony, anything one may hear from Jason Knauf. Or, do so at your peril.
Am I wrong in saying this? The publisher thought it had some kind of airtight, albeit, shifting, legal lock on its case here, and it all came down to copyright and Jason’s interest in the copyright (? Still don’t get that) and ended with regrets and court documents stating that counsel was misled by Jason?
Jason is at the heart of the Bullying investigation too, right?
Yeah I’m trying to follow this too. The privacy part has already been decided, and so I think this was just about the copyright. the judge gave other parties an opportunity to claim the copyright, because that was part of the defense – that it wasn’t JUST Meghan’s copyright and therefore either other people were entitled to damages or the Mail couldnt be held liable for violating M’s copyright bc they had permission from someone else with a copyright claim.
That last part is where I’m confused – is this just about who else may be entitled to damages, or is this actually about whether the Mail had permission to print the letter from someone else?
Regardless, the Mail def thought that someone else co-authored the letter, because the Editor was told as much by someone senior at the palace. So this is Jason coming out and saying “nope, didn’t write it, i have no claim” (so cant be used as a defense and no damages.)
This is all so very confusing? Is the Daily Fail saying they thought they had a case but based on the “new” statement(s) from Jason, they now realize they do not have a case?
What type of attorneys go into a court room with a half-baked case like this?
@BTB lawyers who are lied to by their witness do this. Knauf is clearly the palace source telling them he helped write the letter otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered with this argument especially since it didn’t actually do anything but potentially split damages between meghan and someone else.
The MoS editor was lied to by Knauf likely because william directed him to interfere, so expect a lot more Mail on Sunday exclusives in the next few months.
I think I understand. Here’s what I think: The Judge decided in Meghan’s favor on the privacy issues and partial copyright issue. The DM filed a LETTER in the court case from the palace 4, and in the DM Editor’s affidavit he mentions the meeting with the royal household member. I believe this was done to strength their case that they needed a trial on the copyright issue. What’s important about this is that a LETTER doesn’t have any evidentiary value. If the palace 4 has signed AFFIDAVITS (signed under perjury) then they would have been evidence for the summary judgment hearing. Do you see the difference? Tinfoil hat theory: The Editor knew (and the DM’s attorneys) that there was no copyright issue. Why? Because, if all they had was a letter and not an affidavit, there was no evidence at that time. I’m thinking that Meghan’s attorneys either wanted to speak with the palace 4 informally or they wanted to set up depositions (testimony under oath before a court reporter). That’s when their little game fell apart. They had to know it was going to even before the Oprah interview. I think possibly they would have just dropped the issue before trial. Their hands were forced. Unfortunately, the tabloid BM has gotten away with so much that I think they believed that was completely acceptable behavior for them.
Good for Meghan. It seems like Knauf strung the Mail along about his role in drafting the letter and what authority he had over it, until being faced with the witness stand,questioning and perjuring himself was too daunting a prospect. He blinked and folded. Did he forward emails to the Mail? The Mail really was building their case on Knauf and now that was all BS. Knauf is out here bleating today about how supportive he was of Meghan and managing her dad. Well maybe he was until up until the wedding, who knows. What I want to know is who Thomas’s handler was/is and what went on there. The man is a narcissist betrayer motivated by greed but still, the way he seems completely without conscience is just bizarre. Anyway, the Mail now has to return all copies of the letter in their possession. I hope they have to pay substantial damages.
I wonder if this will be enough of a financial embarrassment to discourage other papers from messing with Meghan.
At the very least, it is definitely starting to feel like this Jason guy is unreliable – he was somehow responsible for the writing of Meghan’s very personal letter to her father, until pressed for proof, and then oh, oops, he just remembered that he only looked it over. Then, he had “proof” of Meghan’s bullying staff members, until pressed for details, and then huh, he actually seems to have made the claims himself, in an email to another colleague, and reportedly didn’t even inform the staffers themselves. Maybe this little game of chicken worked for him once in the past, but he’s 0 for 2 trying it on Meg!
If the losers 😁 are not opposing the judgement then what and why are they appealing?
Tashiro, I think they are saying that they needed a trial. I don’t think that appeal is going anywhere. The DM is just trying to drag this out as long as possible.
they’re appealing the ruling on privacy, not on copyright, I think.
My tin foil tiara theory: since the Fail’s lawyers are left holding the bag with Knauf, KP and William has to come up with a sacrificial lamb: Toxic Tom. He’s been handled by KP and the BM and they probably know ALL his dirt. The deal would be exposed him in full, the BM claims he has been lying to them and KP can use this to slag Meghan. Of course she’s trash look at her paternal family.
Anyone else think that the Queen stepped in like she did for Paul Burrell? Enough and end this?
No. the law & facts don’t seem to have been on the Fail & Meghan’s palace enemies side.