Meghan Markle 'irreversibly' damages own reputation after privacy case victory

Royal expert Duncan Larcombe said that Meghan Markle's victory in her privacy case against a tabloid magazine may have only destroyed her and Prince Harry's reputation.

The Duchess of Sussex won her legal case against The Mail on Sunday over the unauthorised publication of parts of a letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle Sr. The judge ruled in her favour despite an appeal from the defendant for a court trial on the basis that she was aware of the letter potentially leaking to the media.

Her former press secretary Jason Knauff provided copies of their text exchanges about the letter. In it, she even admitted that she chose to address her estranged father as "Daddy" to "pull on the heartstrings" of the public. Their exchanges also exposed that Meghan Markle provided information for the book "Finding Freedom." She had provided written evidence through text messages and emails from Prince Harry.

However, the duchess apologised for the lapse in memory after she admitted to "forgetting" to share this important information. According to Larcombe, this alone puts her credibility in question, especially with the public.

"While she has won the case, I think her admission of 'forgetting' she'd co-operated with [the authors of] 'Finding Freedom' will have irreversibly hurt her and Harry's reputation," he told Closer magazine.

"The public could potentially think, 'If she misremembered that, what else has she misremembered?'. It's detrimental to their brand. So despite this victory, the court case may have destroyed her and Harry in the eyes of the public," Larcombe added.

The royal commentator claimed that the duchess' involvement with "Finding Freedom" only "worsened" her and Prince Harry's alleged rift with the royals. He called it "yet another dagger to the royal family" especially since the "book made a series of vicious remarks about the royals, the Duchess of Cambridge in particular."

Likewise, he added that it puts the duchess "further away than ever from a reconciliation" with her father. He added, "It seems her and Harry's relationship with each of their families are worse than ever." Larcombe further suggested that Meghan Markle could be up for even more "damaging claims" about her when Buckingham Palace concludes its investigation into allegations that she bullied palace aids.