Meghan Markle asks British court to prevent newspaper from revealing identities of friends who defended her - Fox News

The Duchess of Sussex made the request in a witness statement for her lawsuit against the Daily Mail and its parent company over excerpts from a “private and confidential'' letter she wrote to her father that the newspaper published last year.

In her statement, which was filed in Britain's High Court Thursday, she claims that the newspaper has threatened to publish the names of five women who spoke to People anonymously.

“For the Mail on Sunday to expose them in the public domain for no reason other than clickbait and commercial gain is vicious and poses a threat to their emotional and mental well-being,’’ Meghan said in the statement.

Papers drawn up by lawyers for the newspaper argue that the publication of the letter to the duchess's father, Thomas Markle, was in response to a “one-sided” article in People Magazine in February 2019 featuring an interview with the “close friends.” The article referenced the letter, meaning it was in the public domain, the lawyers said.

Despite the Duchess of Sussex's claims, the newspaper said it has “no intention’’ of publishing the names this weekend.

“Their evidence is at the heart of the case, and we see no reason why their identities should be kept secret,″ a newspaper statement said.

“The publisher of the Mail on Sunday is the one on trial

It is this publisher that acted unlawfully and is attempting to evade accountability; to create a circus and distract from the point of this case - that the Mail on Sunday unlawfully published my private letter