Mail publisher Associated Newspapers has claimed Meghan Markle knew it was likely that her father would share her letter to him with the media in defending a privacy case brought by the Duchess of Sussex.

It claimed she expected the letter to be read by others and her “elaborate” handwriting over its five neat pages is proof that this is the case.

The duchess is suing the publisher over a story published on 10 February last year in the Mail on Sunday that revealed extracts from her missive to her estranged father Thomas Markle.