Meghan has fought very hard to keep the names of her five friends who had been interviewed by People magazine anonymous in her ongoing court case against Associated Newspapers.
The royal’s friends defended her against public criticism she was facing at the time to the US publication in February 2019. They pointed out that she was “heavily pregnant” and very “vulnerable” to negative press — Meghan has maintained that she had no prior knowledge of her friends going to the US publication.
Her lawyers have since defended the friends’ identities, saying they were entitled to a “very high level of super-charged right of confidentiality”.
Meghan’s representatives also warned that being forced to publicly identify them is “an unacceptable price to pay” in her pursuit of the legal claim against Associated Newspapers.
Meghan’s lawyers said that if they were named, it would breach their privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights.
When Meghan won this legal battle over the summer, a source told MailOnline: “The Duchess felt it was necessary to take this step to try and protect her friends — as any of us would — and we’re glad this was clear.”
The five friends were described as Meghan’s “inner circle” by People magazine.
Meghan also said in her witness statement: “Each of these women is a private citizen, young mother and each has a basic right to privacy.”
However, her sister-in-law Kate was subject to scrutiny for not standing by Meghan at a time when the Duchess of Sussex had just joined the royal frontline, even though Kate was heavily pregnant with Prince Louis just before the Sussexes’ wedding.
When Meghan had become an official senior royal, Kate was dealing with a newborn and two young children — making her, like Meghan’s friends, a “young mother”.
Yet, the Duchess of Cambridge is portrayed as cold and unhelpful for not reaching out to Meghan in ‘Finding Freedom’ — a claim which the authors allege came from sources close to the Sussexes, and which leaves Kate open to criticism.
The biography claims: “Although Meghan might have understood Kate’s wariness to strike up a meaningful friendship, they were still no closer by the time she was a fellow senior working member of the Royal Family and the wife of William’s brother.
“Flowers for her birthday were nice, but Meghan would far rather have had Kate check in on her during the most difficult times with the press.”
The biography also claims how Meghan was frustrated when Kate is said to have decided to go shopping in her own Range Rover without her sister-in-law, despite reportedly knowing they were going to the same street.
The book claims Meghan had “fully expected Kate to reach out and give her the lie of the land on everything an outsider to the Firm needed to know”.
Instead, the Duchess of Sussex reportedly ended up being “disappointed” that they never formed a bond, while Kate allegedly felt they only had their residence at Kensington Palace in common.
Yet, it must be noted that the Sussexes and the authors have denied collaborating for the account.
Meghan’s legal team has also denounced several anecdotes from the book as “inaccurate” or subject to “creative licence” over the last week, but the lawyers have not touched upon the claims about her relationship with Kate so far.