Thomas Markle has revealed his motivations for leaking the letter Meghan Markle wrote to him in August 2018.
In a witness statement obtained by E! News on Jan. 19, Thomas told the U.K. High Court that he released Meghan's handwritten letter to The Daily Mail, because he felt that he was being "vilified" by a People article describing his relationship with the Duchess. His statement reads, "When I read the article 'The Truth About Meghan' in People magazine I was shocked by what it said about me. It was a total lie. It misrepresented the tone and content of the letter Meg had written me in August 2018 quickly decided I wanted to correct that misrepresentation."
He claims he believed Meghan "authorized" five of her friends to speak to People about their relationship and the letter she had written to him.
Thomas adds that the article suggested Meghan "loved me and that she wanted to repair our relationship." However, he says he perceived the letter "was a criticism" of himself, adding, "It actually signalled the end of our relationship, not a reconciliation."
Additionally, Thomas says her friends misrepresented his response to Meghan.
Per the witness statement, People reported that Thomas wanted to stage a photo-op with Meghan, describing how one friend told the outlet, "He writes her a really long letter in return, and he closes it by requesting a photo op with her. And she feels like, 'That's the opposite of what I'm saying. I'm telling you I don't want to communicate through the media, and you're asking me to communicate through the media. Did you hear anything I said?'"
Thomas clarifies that he suggested staging a "harmonious" photo together, because he believed it would "make the press back off."
He claims that her friends also lied that he "never" reached out to her, asserting that he "couldn't find a way of getting her to talk to me."
Thomas claims that the only way he could share his side of the story, was by allowing The Daily Mail to "actually quote from and reproduce parts of the letter." He insists, "The text of the letter proves that what was said in People magazine about the letter was wrong. It 'dissolves' what was said about me in that article. Readers had to see the letter for themselves—then they would know they were getting the truth."
As for why The Daily Mail didn't publish the letter in its entirety, Thomas claims he expressly instructed them to only share extracts. "The choice was mine. I did not want the whole of the letter to be published," he claims. "The reason for that was because I thought the letter as a whole made Meg look terrible. I do not want to attack or hurt her."
Last July, Meghan's legal representatives denied that she had knowledge of the People article prior to its publication. In court documents obtained by E! News, they claimed, "Had the Claimant been asked or been given the opportunity to participate, she would have asked the KP Communications Team to say on the record that she had not been involved with the People magazine article, as she had not been."
Additionally, Meghan stated in the court documents that she was "unaware" of her friends' actions and was "not involved" in any way.
Her lawyer's speculated that Meghan's friends were driven to speak to People anonymously because Kensington Palace did not allow her to defend herself "from the press."
The court will not hear testimony from the five women, because they previously granted Meghan's request to protect their identities.
Meghan is currently seeking a summary judgement in her case against The Daily Mail, who denies that they unlawfully published the contents of her letter. If the presiding Judge grants her request, the Duchess of Sussex will not have to present her case in court this autumn.