If anyone balks at the estimated $40 million spent on Meghan Markle’s May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, they should see it as a phenomenal investment that brought in more than $1.2 billion to the U.K’s tourism industry.
Meghan’s attorneys are making this argument about the windfall from her wedding in documents filed on behalf of her case against the Mail on Sunday, a British tabloid newspaper, the Daily Mail is reporting
The U.S.-born Duchess of Sussex is suing the Mail, alleging the tabloid invaded her privacy when it published portions of a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018.
In the legal filings, Meghan’s lawyers also allege that the “institution” of the British royal family did little to protect her while she was pregnant with her son, Archie. The lawyers say the former TV actress was the subject of a large number of “false and damaging” articles in British newspapers, which caused her “tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health.”
Meghan’s lawyers no doubt believe the royal family should have done more, given that she brought her background as a biracial woman and feminist activist to the tradition-bound monarchy. Her marriage to Harry was seen as a way of making the monarchy more relevant in the 21st century.
Her lawyers insist that her wedding at St. George’s Church, Windsor Castle, was not, in fact, publicly funded, but rather “personally financed by HRH The Prince of Wales” (Harry’s father, Prince Charles),” the documents said.
Meghan’s lawyers also claim that the public paid for security and crowd control, “as deemed necessary by Thames Valley Police and the Metropolitan Police.” The wedding was globally televised and was a major tourist draw, especially for the estimated 50,000 Americans who lined the roads in Windsor and enjoyed the festive atmosphere in London, the documents said.
But the Mail has argued that taxpayer-funded security bill ate up the lion’s share of the $40 million wedding costs, with the royal family only picking up the tab for Meghan’s designer wedding gown, bridesmaids’ attire, church flowers and the celebrity-attended reception.
The Mail also disputed the argument that the wedding brought in more than $1 billion dollars. The Mail’s dissenting opinion comes from a consulting firm, Brand Finance, which estimated that the overall shot in the arm to U.K. tourism would have been closer to $370 million. Brand Finance said the only way of coming close to the $1 billion figure would be if someone considered in the tangential economic benefits to retail and to the fashion industry.
In previous documents filed by Meghan’s lawyers, the duchess denies claims that she knew that five of her influential friends planned to speak out on her behalf to People magazine February 2019, the Mail reported. In the interviews, which they gave anonymously, the friends revealed details of her deteriorating relationship with her father and mentioned her handwritten letter to him.
Meghan’s lawyers say the friends were moved to speak to People because they were concerned about her welfare.
“As her friends had never seen her in this state before, they were rightly concerned for her welfare, specifically as she was pregnant, unprotected by the Institution, and prohibited from defending herself,” the documents show.
But the People interview, the Mail said, prompted Thomas Markle to share Meghan’s letter with the Mail as his way way to defend himself after he said he was “vilified” by his daughter’s friends. He told the Mail, “I have to defend myself. I only released parts of the letter because other parts were so painful. The letter didn’t seem loving to me. I found it hurtful.”
Thomas Markle, a retired Hollywood lighting designer, has claimed that Meghan and Harry cut off all contact with him after the wedding, except for her sending the letter.
Thomas Markle was expected to walk Meghan down the aisle, but backed out after U.K. tabloids revealed he had cooperated with a paparazzo to stage shots of himself getting ready for the wedding. He suffered heart problems the week of the wedding that required emergency surgery.
If Meghan’s case proceeds to trial, she is facing the prospect of testifying under oath about whether she knowingly allowed her friends to leak details of her letter to People magazine to attack her father. Thomas Markle also is expected to testify.
