Meghan Markle’s father Thomas says he was forced to publish her 'hurtful' letter after her friends called it an 'olive branch'
The highly-publicized letter that Duchess Meghan Markle wrote to her father Thomas was recently in the news after she sued The Mail on Sunday for publishing the highly personal five-page handwritten letter.
Thomas reportedly published parts of the letter that was sent to him by the Duchess' LA business manager in August 2018 after an anonymous source—who claimed to be close to Meghan—portrayed the letter as an “olive branch" during an interview with a US magazine.
Thomas claims that the letter, however, was "hurtful" to him and that the chosen excerpts that were revealed by the pal vilified him, which is what prompted him to release his own version of the letter, even though he had held on to it for about six months.
"After the wedding, she wrote him a letter. She’s like, 'Dad. I’m so heartbroken. I love you, I have one father. Please stop victimizing me through the media so we can repair our relationship,'" said the pal, who portrayed the letter as a loving gesture.
However, to the retired Hollywood lighting director, it seemed more like a final farewell letter.
He told the Mail, "I decided to release parts of it because of the article from Meghan’s friends in People magazine. I have to defend myself. I only released parts of the letter because other parts were so painful. The letter didn’t seem loving to me. I found it hurtful.”
What makes the anonymous friend's discussion of the letter so interesting is that many have claimed that the friend came forward with the letter after getting Meghan's approval.
This is not a claim that the Buckingham Palace or the Duchess herself has denied.
If her fight against The Mail ends up in court, she may have to say that she did not give anyone permission to discuss the letter while under oath.
If she were to admit that she gave the nod to her friends, it would mean that she put the private article in the public domain herself.