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HRH Meghan Markle felt unprotected by British royal family while pregnant and abused by UK tabloids

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Meghan Markle performing one of her last royal duties. Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images
Meghan Markle performing one of her last royal duties. Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, felt "unprotected" by the British royal family while she was pregnant with her son Archie, according to London High Court documents filed as part of her legal action against a newspaper.

She is suing publisher Associated Newspapers for the articles its Sunday newspapers printed last year, which included parts of a handwritten letter she’d sent to her estranged father Thomas Markle in August 2018. 

Thomas and his daughter have not spoken since he pulled out of appearing at her wedding to Harry - three months earlier - after undergoing heart surgery. The Mail justified sending the letter by saying five unnamed friends of Meghan had already put her version of events in interviews with the U.S. magazine PEOPLE.

READ MORE: Has any another female royal received as much abuse from the public as Meghan Markle?

Her lawyers said in a submission to the High Court, that articles in the UK tabloid media had caused Meghan “tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health”. It further added that she was “unprotected by the institution, and prohibited from defending herself”. 

The couple is now living in Los Angeles after stepping down from royal duties at the end of March.

Compiled by Afika Jadezweni

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