As Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, prepares to (effectively) face off in court this Friday against one of Britain's best-selling tabloids, her lawyers today filed a legal response in the case against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, including emotional text messages to her father. A legal response was filed (opens in new tab).

The 33-page document, obtained by BAZAAR.com, points out a number of erroneous facts published by the paper and details numerous moments in which the Duchess repeatedly tried to contact her father, Thomas Markle, in the days leading up to her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry (opens in new tab) The book describes the following message from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The messages include the Sussexes' pleas to contact Thomas after he was hospitalized with chest pains and unable to fly to England to walk Meghan down the aisle.

"We've been in touch all weekend and he hasn't answered our calls or responded to our emails ......" Megan wrote in one email. 'We are very concerned about your health and safety and have taken every precaution to protect you, but if you are not responding, I don't know what more we can do. We are very sorry that you are in the hospital, but you need to get in touch with us. Which hospital is it?"

Thomas had previously refused help from his Kensington Palace entourage (open in new tab) and his wife. According to the transcript, about 10 minutes later, Meghan added 'Harry and I made a decision earlier today to send the same security guards that you turned away this past weekend to stay on site to make sure you are safe. Please contact me as soon as possible. All of this is incredibly worrisome, but your health is of utmost importance."

The document goes on to say that Harry then sent a further message with the guard's details, but Thomas declined.

"Mr. Markle replied that evening that he appreciated the offer but felt no danger and would instead recover in a motel, but the plaintiff (Meghan) replied 10 minutes later, demanding further hospital details so she could locate him.

"Plaintiff (Dame Meghan) refers to the fact that Defendants' (Mail on Sunday) description of this exchange intentionally omits any reference to Plaintiff or her husband's attempts to protect Mr. Markle and ensure his safety," the document continues, "which he received on May 16. Due to the "offensive nature of the message," Meghan called Thomas four times and Harry texted. Tom, this is Harry, please pick up the phone. I need to know if this is really you.

In the days leading up to the wedding in Windsor, according to court documents, Harry also repeatedly tried to contact Thomas, who had just been revealed by the Mail on Sunday to have colluded with a paparazzi photographer to produce a photo (opens in new tab) of himself getting ready for the wedding. He was trying to get in touch. 'Tom, Harry. Tom, it's Harry again. No need to apologize. I understand what's going on, but "going public" will only make things worse. If you love Meg and want to make it right, call me because there are two other options. So call me so I can explain. Meg and I are not mad, we just need to talk to you.

He added, "Oh, any speech to the press will backfire, believe me Tom. Only we can help you. Thomas did not reply to any of the messages and instead broke the news of his hospitalization on TMZ. Documents filed with the court detail that Meghan's last contact with Thomas was a missed call at 4:57 a.m. on the morning of her wedding day, May 19, 2018, and that she has not received a missed call or text from him since.

Both Harry and Princess Meghan deny many of the Mail on Sunday's reports, and these text messages are part of a lawsuit against the paper alleging invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, and misuse of personal data after it published excerpts from a private letter she sent Thomas in summer 2018. She hopes to make up the case. On Friday (open in new tab), a "Strike Out Hearing" will take place, which will be an opportunity for the judge to review the entire case. The hearing will be conducted remotely via video link. A date for the formal trial has not yet been set.

In a legal response today, Princess Meghan said Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Mail, went out of its way to "attack and intimidate her." She also added in a February 2019 article (opens in new tab) that she was unaware that five of her close friends had chosen to speak to People magazine to protect her from press attacks. The Mail on Sunday had previously claimed (opens in new tab) that Meghan had approved the revelation to People magazine (and therefore Thomas had a "legitimate right to reply"), but Meghan says she did not know and was "troubled" when the information was made public.

Meghan's lawyers have also suggested that Thomas claimed to have been deceived in a nine-hour interview with the Mail on Sunday in July 2018. In a reply to Princess Meghan's letter, he wrote, "He [the reporter] said some things that I said in confidence, but 85% of them were lies and bullshit. I called him and told him he was a thief, a liar and a coward and that I would take revenge. I did not want to interview him and did not intend to.

On Sunday evening, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, now based in California, issued a letter (open in new tab) to the editors of the British tabloids The Sun, Mirror, Mail, and Express (including online and Sunday editions), stating that from now on they will be working with them on a " reinforcing their claims by stating that he would only work with them on a "zero engagement" policy.

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