Prince Harry pleaded with his then future father-in-law, Thomas Markle, to stop talking to the newspapers and blamed the media for the collapse of Markle’s relationship with the royal couple, according to a series of text messages sent on the eve of the Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle. The messages, revealed in court documents filed at the high court on Monday, show Harry repeatedly tried to make contact in the days before the televised royal wedding in May 2018. Thomas Markle, who lives in Mexico, had been expected to walk his daughter down the aisle in the ceremony at Windsor Palace, and was revealed by the Mail on Sunday to have helped stage paparazzi pictures of himself preparing for the wedding. In one text, Harry attempted to rescue the situation before the wedding. “Tom, Harry again! Really need to speak to u. U do not need to apologize, we understand the circumstances but ‘going public’ will only make the situation worse. If u love Meg and want to make it right please call me as there are two other options which don’t involve u having to speak to the media, who incidentally created this whole situation. So please call me so I can explain. Meg and I are not angry, we just need to speak to u. Thanks.” He added: “Oh any speaking to the press WILL backfire, trust me Tom. Only we can help u, as we have been trying from day 1.” Rather than reply to Harry’s calls and messages, it is alleged that Thomas Markle instead gave a statement to the US celebrity website TMZ stating he had had a heart attack. Meghan learned about her father’s hospitalisation, just days before her wedding, from the TMZ report. Meghan later messaged her father in hospital to offer her support. “I’ve been reaching out to you all weekend but you’re not taking any of our calls or replying to any texts … Very concerned about your health and safety and have taken every measure to protect you but not sure what more we can do if you don’t respond … Do you need help? Can we send the security team down again? I’m very sorry to hear you’re in the hospital but need you to please get in touch with us … What hospital are you at?” After Markle refused the offer of security guards to protect him from press intrusion, the court documents say Meghan messaged him again. “Harry and I made a decision earlier today and are dispatching the same security guys you turned away this weekend to be a presence on the ground to make sure you’re safe … they will be there at your disposal as soon as you need them. Please please call as soon as you can .. all of this is incredibly concerning but your health is most important.” In the court filing, Meghan said the last contact she received from her father was a missed call at 4.57am on 19 May 2018, the morning of the wedding, and they had not been in contact since except through letter correspondence. The Duchess of Sussex is suing the publisher of the Mail on Sunday for alleged invasion of privacy, breach of copyright and misuse of personal data after it published excerpts from a letter she subsequently sent to her father complaining about his treatment of her. The Mail on Sunday argues that as a member of the royal family she did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy and that there was no agreement with her father that the letter should remain private. In her legal response, Meghan said the publisher of the Mail had sought to “attack and intimidate her”. She said she had no idea that five of her close friends had chosen to collectively cooperate with the US magazine People on a lengthy piece regarding her relationship with her father, which included references to the letter. The Mail on Sunday has previously suggested they were operating with the approval of Meghan, arguing that that meant her father had a legitimate right to reply to claims about the letter. Meghan’s lawyers also suggest Thomas Markle claimed to have been hoodwinked into a nine-hour interview with a Mail on Sunday reporter in July 2018. Markle told his daughter in a letter: “He [the reporter] said a few things I said in confidence, but 85% were lies and bullshit! I called him and told him he was a thief, a liar and a coward and I would GET EVEN! ... I didn’t want or intend to give him an interview and I certainly would not do nine hours for free!” The paperwork was submitted to the high court on Friday, shortly before the couple sent a letter to the editors of Britain’s tabloid newspapers stating that they would now adopt a policy of “zero engagement” with them. The pair quit their royal duties at the start of the month and recently moved to California, with Meghan voicing a Disney+ programme about elephants. Prince Harry is separately bringing a case against the parent companies of the Sun and the Mirror for alleged historical phone-hacking offences. The hearing relating to the Mail on Sunday case will take place by video conference on Friday.