The Duchess of Sussex has won the final part of her copyright claim against the publisher of the Mail On Sunday over the publication of a handwritten letter to her estranged father.
Former actress Meghan, 39, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Mail On Sunday and MailOnline, over a series of articles which reproduced parts of a handwritten letter sent to Thomas Markle, 76, in August 2018.
She claimed the five articles, published in print and online in February 2019, misused her private information, infringed her copyright and breached the Data Protection Act.
In February, the High Court granted Meghan summary judgment in relation to her privacy claim, meaning she won that part of the case without having to go to trial, as well as most of her copyright claim.
At a remote hearing on Wednesday, Lord Justice Warby granted summary judgment in relation to the remaining parts of the duchess' copyright claim, after lawyers acting on behalf of the Queen said it does not belong to the Crown.
ANL previously said it believed Jason Knauf - formerly communications secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - was a co-author of the letter, after Meghan discussed the content of the letter with him before sending it.
The newspaper group argued this meant the letter belonged to the Crown.
But today, the High Court heard that Mr Knauf has "emphatically" denied being a co-author and that lawyers representing "the Keeper of the Privy Purse, acting on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen" told Meghan's solicitors they "did not consider the Crown to be the copyright owner".
In March, the publisher was ordered to print a statement on the front page of the Mail On Sunday and a notice on page three of the paper stating it "infringed her copyright" by publishing parts of the letter to Mr Markle.
Lord Justice Warby later ruled that the statement did not have to be published "in the same position, and be in the same size font, as the front-page trailer complained of".
But the front-page statement about Meghan's victory in her copyright claim was put on hold, to allow ANL time to seek permission to appeal.
