A royal comms secretary has denied allegations made in "Harry & Meghan"

Harry & Meghan Volume II came out on Netflix today, 15 December, and the programme had no shortage of bombshells.

One unflashy revelation might have escaped many viewers' attention, if the person in question hadn't pretty swiftly denied the allegation.

Here's a breakdown of the situation.

On episode 6 of the docuseries, the Duchess of Sussex' lawyer, Jenny Afia, talks about the lawsuit her client brought against Associated Newspapers (who own the Mail on Sunday).

At one point, she recalls, "Associated Newspapers predictably appealed" (via Page Six). "When we were just about to go the court of appeal, a senior member of [William’s] team came forward to give his witness statement, which wasn’t required, and sadly there’s just no way he could have done that without the authority of his bosses."

The senior member of staff Jenny is referring to here is Jason Knauf, who was previously a communications secretary for both the then-Cambridges and the Sussexes, as Page Six reminds us.

However, as royal reporter Omid Scobie shared on Twitter, Jason denied the truth of Jenny's claim.

"Jason Knauf—William’s former head of communications and current Earthshot board member—claims he was 'asked to provide evidence' by the Duchess of Sussex in the Mail’s legal case," Omid tweeted.

"Meghan’s legal team, quite rightly, point out that he was not asked anything of the sort."

Scobie shared the following statement:

"In response to allegations that Mr. Knauf submitted a voluntary witness statement in connection with the Daily Mail litigation with the consent of Prince William's office, a representative for Mr. Knauf sent the following statement:

"These claims are entirely false. Mr. Knauf was asked to provide evidence by both The Duchess of Sussex and Associated Newspapers.

"He was advised by counsel that evidence in his possession could be relevant and he then provided this directly to the court, staying neutral in the process."

But Meghan Markle's own legal team was quick to... deny this denial. (We know, it's confusing.)

Scobie shared this second statement:

"The Duchess of Sussex attorneys responded with the following statement: The legal team for Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, disputes this claim. Mr. Knauf was not asked to provide a witness statement by The Duchess or her team.

"Nor do her attorneys believe Mr. Knauf remained 'neutral' by submitting a witness statement relied on by Associated Newspapers whilst working for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge."

By the way, if Jason Knauf's name sounds familiar, it's because he made the complaint against the Duchess of Sussex which accused her of bullying Palace staff.