Meghan Markle forced to drop claims her dad Thomas was ‘manipulated’ by the press
MEGHAN Markle has cut arguments from her privacy case against the press after being forced into a climbdown by a High Court ruling.
The Duchess of Sussex is set to face Thomas Markle, 75, in court, after she sued The Mail on Sunday which printed a letter she sent to her father.
Her lawyers were ordered to "strike out" several "irrelevant and vague" claims in her privacy case following a High Court defeat in April.
Documents released yesterday reveal her case will no longer allege her father was "manipulated" by the press.
Claims the press engineered a dispute between Thomas and Meghan - which resulted in him missing the royal wedding - have also been deleted.
Meghan is suing The Mail on Sunday for publishing extracts of a letter she sent to her father in February 2019.
The Duchess of Sussex has not spoken to her father since before she married Harry at Windsor Castle 10 months earlier.
Harry and Meghan were believed to have tuned in to the first High Court hearing from the Los Angeles mansion in April.
Associated Newspapers, which publish The Mail on Sunday, had asked for sections of Meghan's case to be struck out.
Seven days later Justice Warby ruled entirely in the publisher’s favour and threw out Meghan's claims as 'irrelevant’ saying: 'I do not consider the allegations in question go to the heart of the case'.
He said in his judgment: "I have struck out all the passages attacked in the application notice.
"Some of the allegations are struck out as irrelevant to the purpose for which they are pleaded.
"Some are struck out on the further or alternative ground that they are inadequately detailed.
STRUCK OUT
"I have also acted so as to confine the case to what is reasonably necessary and proportionate for the purpose of doing justice between these parties."
Meghan's amended legal claim published yesterday has revealed the sections which have been cut.
Lawyers deleted the allegation the paper "harassed and humiliated" her father and "manipulated this vulnerable man into giving interviews".
Also removed are "irrelevant" parts including accusations the paper published "misleading information in relation to Frogmore" where the couple lived at Windsor before quitting for California.
Meghan is also not able to rely on her claims that the paper "deliberately manipulated and exploited a vulnerable and fragile individual".
And lawyers struck out her claim the paper engineered the fall-out between Meghan and her father.
They cut out her argument the paper "created a dispute which it (falsely) claims gave rise to legitimate reason to publish the detailed content of the letter".
Legal papers show Harry and Meghan shared several text messages with Thomas before the Windsor Castle ceremony.
But he suffered a heart attack and could not attend the wedding and they have not spoken since.
Meghan sent the handwritten letter in August 2018.
She says the paper breached her privacy and data protection when it printed the letter.
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Newspaper lawyers argued Meghan had written the letter knowing it was going to be published.
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And told the court five of her friends had already revealed the contents of the letter when they spoke to US magazine People two weeks earlier.
The High Court privacy claim is expected to be heard next year.
