Meghan Markle Helped Her Dad Financially When She Started Earning, Court Documents Reveal

Meghan Markle revealed that she made "voluntary financial contributions" to her dad after she started earning money in new court documents.

As her legal battle against The Mail on Sunday continues, Markle has shut down statements claiming that she has never helped her dad, Thomas Markle Sr., financially despite him helping her pay for her college tuition fees. The Duchess of Sussex addressed these in court documents obtained by Mirror UK, which revealed that Markle had been helping her father with bills from January 2014 to May 2018.

"The facts are that Mr Markle opted to take out a loan from Northwestern University for tuition costs for his daughter. From the moment the Claimant began to earn sufficient income, she began making voluntary financial contributions to her father," the documents read.

"These contributions were not towards loan payments (which she was not aware were still due, if they were) but purely to give her father personal financial support," they continued.

Markle also denied that Thomas Sr. paid for all of her college tuition, with the court documents stating that her mom also contributed. Markle did her part in lessening her university costs as well with scholarships and campus work.

"The Claimant received scholarships for academic achievement, which reduced the payable tuition fees. The Claimant also undertook a work-study programme whereby income she made from working on campus after class was applied directly to supplement and lower her tuition costs, thus personally contributing to her tuition as well," the documents read.

"The Claimant always maintained full-time jobs while auditioning, both as a professional calligrapher as well as working in a restaurant. The Claimant’s father gave occasional financial support to the Claimant, just as she provided reciprocal financial support to him once she began earning," they continued.

This new revelation comes amid Markle's ongoing legal battle with The Mail on Sunday, which she is suing for publishing excerpts of a private letter she sent to her father. In the letter, the duchess says her father "broke her heart" for giving interviews to the press, lying about her and attacking Prince Harry.

Prior to this, Markle also addressed reports claiming that she had been ignoring her dad. Thomas Sr. previously claimed that he had reached out to his daughter several times but to no avail.

In her court filings, Markle revealed that it was her dad who had been ignoring her. In fact, she tried to call her father multiple times in the run-up of her royal wedding to Prince Harry, but her calls were ignored or declined.

"The facts remain that: the Claimant called her father multiple times during the week of the wedding (all of which were ignored), that she did not change her phone number, nor block his number from calling her," the court document read.