The court heard that after the February ruling was announced a source close to Mr Knauf contacted the publisher and said that the PR chief felt contrite he didn't provide evidence to the court. Jason Knauf's legal team said his position in the case was "strictly neutral" and that he didn't want to be involved in the litigation.
"Given the high-profile nature of this litigation and the likelihood of his evidence (if admitted) being widely reported, as well as the position he holds, it is hardly conceivable that he would say anything he did not believe to be true and I know of nothing in his evidence which is subject to any reasonable challenge", said Keith Mathieson, a solicitor for ANL.
Letter to Thomas Markle and New Evidence in the Case
He said he did this in order to improve his image, as previously the media had published photos of him doing menial tasks. He admitted to having lied about the photoshoot to the couple, telling them he had no agreement with the tabloid. Soon after the rift, Thomas Markle suffered a heart attack and missed the wedding.
In the letter, Meghan Markle called on her father to stop attacking her and Prince Harry in the media.
"Your actions have broken my heart into a million pieces not simply because you have manufactured such unnecessary and unwarranted pain, but by making the choice to not tell the truth as you are puppeteered in this. Please allow us to live our lives in peace. Please stop lying, please stop creating so much pain, please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband", the Duchess of Sussex wrote.
Meghan Markle argued that the publication was a breach of her privacy and copyright infringement and that the newspaper edited the letter to portray her in a negative light. The judge ruled that the publication was unlawful.
Mr Knauf also alleged that Meghan Markle asked him whether she should address Thomas Markle as "daddy", adding that "in the unfortunate event that it leaked, it would pull at the heartstrings".
ANL's solicitors insist that the previous verdict should be overturned, arguing that Meghan Markle wrote the letter "with public consumption in mind".
The royal's lawyers said that although the 40-year-old knew that the letter might be leaked to the press, she didn't want it to be seen publicly.
"To be clear, I did not want any of it to be published, and wanted to ensure that the risk of it being manipulated or misleadingly edited was minimised, were it to be exploited", the Meghan Markle said in a written statement.
This February, Prince Harry won a case against The Mail on Sunday, over an article in which the newspaper claimed that the Duke of Sussex had "snubbed" the Royal Marines after he quit royal life and moved to the United States. The newspaper published an apology. He also sued The Sun and The Daily Mirror for "illegal interception" of his voicemail messages.
In their infamous interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry said that the toxic and racist treatment of Meghan Markle by the UK press was one of the reasons the couple decided to step down from senior roles in the Royal Family and move to North America.