Meghan Markle’s lawyers “will be keeping an eye” on her father Thomas’ new YouTube channel after he launched a series of videos of a savage attack on his daughter and “In Search of Freedom”, a royal expert said today.
Thomas Markle, 77, also said he would be ‘delighted’ to face his estranged daughter and her husband Prince Harry in court as he accused her of lying about her half-sister and called the controversial book ‘everyone’ . lies’.
Samantha Markle, 57, is suing the Duchess of Sussex for libel and claims Meghan made “false and malicious statements” about her during her TV interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.
Ms Markle’s lawyers also allege that the Duchess lied to the authors of the controversial book In Search of Freedom about the Sussexes’ exit from royal life.
Today, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams suggested that the Sussexes would take Mr Markle’s latest move with ‘snub’ but are likely to keep an eye on his actions nonetheless.
“Meghan’s family has been extremely hostile towards her and the title of this new channel ‘A Wonderful Friendship’ sounds extremely amateurish, but the Sussexes’ attorneys will no doubt keep an eye on its content,” he told MailOnline.
“Future episodes are unlikely to generate any interest unless they contain personal attacks on Meghan.”
A royal expert today said that Meghan Markle’s lawyers will “control” her father Thomas’ new YouTube channel.
In his first YouTube video, Mr Markle said he thought his eldest daughter should win the case and said he was willing to testify on her behalf.
He said: “I would be more than happy. For almost four years I tried to see my daughter and her red-haired husband in the courtroom face to face. I would be happy to protect my eldest daughter.”
Mr Markle also added that he thinks Meghan, 40, should settle the matter, saying: “She can’t defend what she said.”
In the lawsuit, filed in Tampa, Florida, Ms Markle sought $75,000 (£57,000) in damages and asked her half-sister to cover her legal costs.
She stated that it was “slanderous” for the Duchess to hint during an interview with Oprah that she was a “virtually stranger” to her half-sister and that she had grown up as an “only child”.
She also accused Meghan of vilifying their father to depict a misleading “rags-to-riches” story of her life and stated that she “published and circulated false and malicious statements” in “Searching for Freedom”.
In November, Meghan apologized to the Court of Appeal after emails were uncovered that contradicted a claim that she had not collaborated with Finding Freedom’s writers.
The messages revealed that she sent details about Samantha and her brother Thomas Jr. for the book.
Markle, 77, also said he would be “delighted” to face his estranged daughter and her husband Prince Harry in court as he accused her of lying about his half-sister.
But Megan insisted: “I had absolutely no desire or intention to mislead the defendant or the court.”
The Duchess’ lawyer, Michael Kamp, previously called Ms Markle’s libel suit “baseless and absurd.”
Thomas Markle made his final comments while hosting the debut episode of his own Youtube channel alongside his friend and celebrity photographer Carl Larsen.
The channel is said to be a weekly up-to-date review of current events, including Mr Markle’s royal daughter and son-in-law.
In the first episode, which aired today, Mr. Markle discusses the upcoming lawsuit and whose side he is on.
Mr Markle said: “I am definitely fighting for my eldest daughter Samantha.”
Thomas Markle, 77, said he would testify against her if the lawsuit resulted in her testifying.
Mr Markle told Karl that he was surprised Prince Harry didn’t fly to see him in person to ask for Meghan’s hand in marriage.
He added: “I thought the royals would have some self-respect when he would take the time to fly over and see me.”
According to documents seen by TMZ, Samantha claimed the lawsuit hurt her book sales, and she also disagreed with claims that she changed her last name back to Markle when Meghan started dating Prince Harry.
Lawyer Michael Kamp, representing Meghan, said: “This baseless and absurd lawsuit is just a continuation of a pattern of disturbing behavior.”
“We’ll give him the bare minimum of attention, and that’s all he deserves.”
In creating the show, Thomas Markle and his friend Mr Larsen were reportedly influenced by the successful podcasts of royal biographer Lady Colin Campbell and American podcast legend Joe Rogan.
Mr Markle added: “We discovered YouTube… we decided to join in and share our story.”
He added that “no one came to the rescue [him] or protect [him]’ when he found out from the press, and that the only advice he got was from the Duke of Sussex, who told him not to talk to anyone.
Pictured: Samantha Markle, Meghan’s former half-sister, responds to the Duchess’ comments about their relationship in her TV interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.
Describing himself as “a member of the Queen team,” he added: “It amazes me that a person who tells me not to talk to anyone is riding on the roof of a bus down Hollywood Boulevard and giving an interview.
“It amazes me that they spend hours talking about Oprah Winfrey, sitting there and saying and exposing things that they shouldn’t reveal to anyone and I think it’s so disrespectful to the royal family.”
In November, Meghan Markle apologized to the Court of Appeal after failing to remember asking a royal aide to inform the authors of her In Search of Freedom biography, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Duran.
The Mail on Sunday sought to defend itself against Meghan’s claims that she had unlawfully violated her privacy by publishing excerpts from a letter to her father Thomas Markle that appeared in the book.
The Duchess of Sussex, who previously insisted that she and Prince Harry had not collaborated with the book’s two authors, said she “forgot” to provide the assistant with details on what to reveal “when you sit down with them.”
Messages released by the Duchess’s former public affairs secretary, Jason Knauf, revealed that she sent information about her half-siblings Samantha and brother Thomas Jr. for the book.
But she said, “I had absolutely no desire or intention to mislead the defendant or the court.”
The newspaper lost its appeal the following month.