Meghan Markle may be forced to testify in court over the private letter lawsuit

And will she come face to face with her father?

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made waves last week as they announced they were taking legal action against the Mail on Sunday after the tabloid had published a private letter that Meghan Markle had written to her father, Thomas Markle.

‘I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces’, Prince Harry explained, referring to the constant online abuse his wife has faced since becoming a royal.

‘There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behaviour, because it destroys people and destroys lives. Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people. We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this.’

A point of discussion this week is whether Meghan Markle will be forced to testify in court, something that seems very likely.

’At the very least, she would have to submit a witness statement, but yeah, she would be expected to turn up in court,’ Dr. Paul Wragg, associate professor at the University of Leeds School of Law told InStyle US. ‘So that she could be cross-examined, and so that the judge can get a sense for herself, or himself, of the effect that this has had on her.’

But will Meghan’s father Thomas be present, with the lawsuit revolving around the release of the Duchess’ letter that was sent to him.

‘She is not suing her father, just the newspaper, so he is not part of the proceedings as a defendant,’ another legal expert, Professor Estelle Derclaye, professor of intellectual property law at the University of Nottingham School of Law, explained to InStyle. ’He could, however, be called to be a witness, but again, that will very much depend on procedure.’

Meghan’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, has spoken out about the situation, following the legal action taken, claiming that he had no choice but to share the personal letter.

According to the 75-year-old, he released parts of the letter to ‘defend’ himself after he claims he felt mischaracterised by an article in People.

‘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,’ he explained. ‘There was no loving message in there, nothing asking about my health, nothing from her saying, “Let’s get together and heal our differences”.’

He continued: ‘I was so devastated I couldn’t show it to anyone – and never would have, had it not been for the People magazine piece which meant I had to release portions to defend myself.’

Prince Harry has since announced a legal battle against two more publications.