Back to reality: Kate Middleton and Prince William return to work amid ongoing royal crisis

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Email It was back to business as usual for Kate Middleton and Prince William today amid the ongoing royal crisis. Britain’s Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their first official joint appearance at Bradford, England, today to meet families from the Older Yet Wiser project, which works to bolster personal relationships between grandparents and grandchildren.

Last week, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their decision to ‘step back’ from their duties as senior members of the British royal family and what has followed has been among the most tumultuous times in modern royal history.

After Kate celebrated her 38th birthday last Thursday, she has only been pictured once, taken through the windshield of her Range Rover. She was doing the school run to pick up her children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, while William was in negotiations. At Sandringham, her husband was meeting with Harry, their father Prince Charles, grandmother Queen Elizabeth and each party’s respective private secretary, to hammer out details of the Sussexes desired exit. Meghan was also pictured for the first time in one week today, getting to know community initiatives in her new home of Canada, spending an afternoon at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre in Vancouver.

It’s reported that the royals will be announcing the next phase of negotiations as Meghan and Harry work towards becoming «financially independent» in the coming days as Queen Elizabeth has stated her desire for the matter to be handled swiftly and pragmatically. «My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family.

Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family,» she said.

The mother-of-three returned to form in a recycled Alexander McQueen coat dress, with a houndstooth print midi dress from Zara, reduced to €18 in the new season sale. The Cambridges put on a united front and showed no sign of the behind the scenes activities. Today, a number of British newspapers published information from an impending court case between Meghan and Associated Newspapers, the parent company of the Mail on Sunday, which she is suing for alleged breach of copyright for publishing a letter she wrote her father Thomas Markle.

Legal documents seen by The Daily Telegraph have confirmed Thomas Markle’s evidence will form part of the ‘Mail on Sunday’s’ defence against legal action for breach of privacy, copyright and data protection taken by Ms Markle.

The court papers disclose text messages sent from Mr Markle to his daughter and lay bare their deteriorating relationship at the time of her wedding to Prince Harry.

The papers were filed at the High Court in London yesterday. If her case goes to trial rather than being settled out of court, it is likely Mr Markle will testify against his daughter and Meghan will be forced to give evidence against him. The 44-page defence — submitted by a legal team representing the newspaper — accuses the «self-promoting» duchess of «knowingly» making public the contents of the letter to paint her in a more flattering light. The documents, seemingly written with Mr Markle’s cooperation, justify publication of excerpts from the letter and his response to it last February, insisting it was «necessary for the sake of truth, fairness, and Mr Markle’s reputation, and so that the public should not be misled».

It adds: «The Claimant’s privacy rights do not extend to silencing her father.»

Last October, Prince Harry said he and his wife had been forced to take action against «relentless propaganda» from Associated Newspapers’ publications in an emotive attack on what he described as a «ruthless campaign» against his wife.

Accusing the tabloid media of «bullying» behaviour which «destroys people and destroys lives», he evoked memories of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, saying his «deepest fear is history repeating itself».

The ‘Mail on Sunday’ published the excerpts, along with an interview with Mr Markle, four days after the American magazine ‘People’ published articles said to have been based on anonymous interviews with five of the duchess’s closest friends standing up against the «global bullying» she had faced.

As well as confirming the existence of the letter, the unnamed «sisterhood» told ‘People’ that Mr Markle had never contacted his daughter, claiming the duchess was «calling, texting, even up to the night before the wedding» on May 19, 2018 after he had to pull out following an emergency heart procedure.

But according to the court documents, the last message Mr Markle received was a text allegedly sent on May 17 «admonishing him for talking to the press, telling him to stop and accusing him of causing hurt to his daughter».

It was purportedly signed: «Love M and H.» The defence also claims the couple «did not ask how he was or how the surgery had gone».

The document includes details as to how Mr Markle felt «hung out to dry» and no one came to see him ahead of the wedding, whereas the duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, had been personally informed of the royal engagement by two British embassy officials who knocked at her Los Angeles home.

Questioning claims the duchess called him 20 times when he was in hospital, the defence alleges Mr Markle did not receive «any cards or well wishes» and even contradicts the duchess’s claim that she funded herself through university. (© Daily Telegraph, London)