After appellate judges decided in favor of the Duchess of Sussex in a privacy dispute with a newspaper yesterday, legal experts warned of a chilling impact on freedom of speech.

Meghan had a "reasonable expectation of privacy" over a letter addressed to her estranged American father, Thomas Markle, according to the Court of Appeal.

The judges dismissed The Mail on Sunday's appeal, stating that the duchess's "unfortunate lapse of memory," which resulted in her apologizing to the court, had no bearing on the judgment., as per The Sun. The newspaper successfully maintained its right to publish excerpts of the communication in February 2019 after a protracted court struggle.

Meghan Markle wins latest round in media battle

Meghan, 40, used her court triumph yesterday to launch an assault on the press, claiming that the decision should result in a "reshaping of the tabloid business." Lawyers and media experts, on the other hand, claimed the ruling established a "dangerous precedent" by extending the right to privacy to the "rich and powerful."

The letter was determined to be private even though Meghan Markle knew it would end up in the press when she sent it. Her reputation, however, was tarnished when she admitted to the court that she had forgotten emails used to brief Finding Freedom writers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. MoS publishers Associated News Ltd are exploring a second appeal to the Supreme Court, questioning Meghan's "credibility."

The initial High Court decision said that the issues were apparent and that a full hearing was unnecessary. Meghan's apology was motivated by evidence supplied by the publishers since then. Sir Geoffrey, on the other hand, stated it was difficult to see how the evidence presented at trial could have "changed the position." Associated Newspapers believes that decisions should be made based on facts presented at trial, rather than on a "summary basis."

Last month, the publisher filed an appeal against the summary judgment, requesting that the case be tried in front of a jury, and presented additional evidence at a three-day hearing. According to the publisher's lawyers, Thomas Markle wanted to refute claims made by Meghan Markle's pals in an interview.

Per MIRROR, Meghan informed a former aide that the handwritten letter to her estranged father was "drafted with the expectation that it may be released" during this hearing, according to the Court of Appeal.

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Duchess of Sussex knows that letter would be open to public

According to Jason Knauf, who served as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's communications secretary until March 2019, the Duchess of Sussex told him in August of last year that she was aware that her father, Thomas, would make the letter public. Meghan Markle "deliberately terminated each page half way through a phrase so that no page could be portrayed as the letter's end," according to Knauf.

Meghan was compelled to apologize in November after the same staffer who famously accused her of bullying in October 2018 revealed her private messages to the court. The messages and emails proved she lied to the court in court documents claiming she didn't work with the authors of the book 'Finding Freedom.'

They also revealed she was aware the letter to Thomas Markle may be leaked to the public and wrote it so the world would know the truth if it was released. Meghan Markle addressed it to "Daddy," remarking in a text to Knauf that if it ever became public, it would tug at the heartstrings.

After spending a week with Prince Charles, Meghan Markle described how she penned the letter because Prince Harry's family had been berating him over halting her father's attacks on the monarchy.

Meghan told the court that during the visit, she received a call from an unknown senior royal who wanted to talk with her about Markle Snr's media revelations. Meghan would have been pushed into a messy trial if the appeal had been accepted, in which she would have had to hand up additional private communications and testify under pressure, as per Newsweek via MSN.

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