Thread by @chrisshipitv

NEW: Harry and Meghan's former Communications Secretary says Meghan DID write that "private" letter to her father Thomas Markle, in the full knowledge that it could well be leaked by him (as did happen).
The Mail on Sunday is appealing after it lost its court case with Meghan

A letter from Jason Knauf, who used to work for the Sussexes, was made public by the Court of Appeal.
Knauf wrote: Meghan "asked me to review the text of the letter, saying 'obviously everything I have drafted is with the understanding that it could be leaked'"

The Duchess of Sussex's former Communications chief quoted Meghan saying she had been "meticulous in my word choice" because she knew her estranged father may leak the letter she wrote to the press.

Jason Knauf letter: "She asked me to review the text of the letter, saying 'obviously everything I have drafted is with the understanding that it could be leaked so I have been meticulous in my word choice but please do let me know if anything stands out for you as a liability'."

According to Knauf, then Head of Comms at Kensington Palace, Meghan had asked him whether she should call her father "daddy" in her letter because "in the unfortunate event that it leaked it would pull at the heartstrings'."

Knauf's letter, released by the Court of Appeal, reads: "She [Meghan] said she felt 'fantastic' after writing it and added that 'And if he leaks it then that's on his conscious (sic) but at least the world will know the truth. Words I could never voice publicly'."

Meghan submitted her own response to the court: "I did not think that my father would sell or leak the letter, primarily because it would not put him in a good light...It seemed incredibly unlikely that he would disclose the contents because they contained unpalatable truths".

The Duchess of Sussex said: "To be clear, I did not want any of it to be published, and wanted to ensure that the risk of it being manipulated or misleadingly edited was minimised, were it to be exploited."

Readers will know that Meghan had successfully sued the Mail on Sunday for publishing the letter she wrote to her father Thomas Markle. She had claimed it was "private" and the newspaper had no justification for printing it after Mr Markle gave it to them.