Meghan Markle by Prince Harry’s side after she was forced to apologise to British court

Meghan Markle has stunned onlookers as she appeared by Prince Harry’s side at a Salute to Freedom gala in New York after she made an admission about a private letter to her dad.

Meghan Markle has declared she was “always proud” of Prince Harry after she was forced to apologise for providing misleading evidence in a British court case.

The Duchess of Sussex spoke out for the first time at a charity event in New York on Thursday morning Australian time.

The couple attended an event to support war veterans, which coincided with Remembrance Day, which is commemorated in both Australia and the UK.

Meghan wore a stunning, bold red dress to the Salute to Freedom gala in New York, while Prince Harry donned a poppy, and his war medals.

Prince Harry was relaxed as he chatted to servicemen and women at the beginning of the event.

Meghan said: “I’m always proud of him”, when asked a question by a reporter on the red carpet.

Prince Harry was there to present the inaugural Intrepid Valor Awards to five service members, veterans and military families “living with the invisible wounds of war”

The event, held aboard the historic aircraft carrier Intrepid, was to mark Veterans Day - the American name for Remembrance Day.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala at Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Picture: Getty

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and CWO5 Stephen Rudinski, Valor Award recipient attend the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala at Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Picture: Getty

Prince Harry was also reunited with rock star Jon Bon Jovi, who received the 2021 Intrepid Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as chairman of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation.

The organisation helps stop the cycle of poverty and homelessness through affordable housing and shelter, including permanent supportive housing for veterans.

Bon Jovi teamed up with Harry in February 2020, as he recorded a charity single, Unbroken, for the Duke’s Invictus Games Foundation.

Dorothea Hurley and recipient of the Intrepid Lifetime Achievement Award Jon Bon Jovi attend as Intrepid Museum hosts Annual Salute To Freedom Gala. Picture: Getty

The public appearance came a day after Britain’s Court of Appeal released emails between Prince Harry and Meghan and their former communications spokesman Jason Knauf.

The emails showed that Prince Harry and Meghan instructed him to brief royal authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand ahead of the publication of their book Finding Freedom.

The book, which presented the couple’s side of many public arguments, was written after the couple’s wedding and the bitter falling out with Meghan’s father Thomas Markle.

Meghan, who is suing the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online for publishing a letter she wrote to her father, had claimed in court that she did not cooperate with the authors.

But Mr Knauf’s 23-page statement detailed emails where he was told by Prince Harry and Meghan how to brief them.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala at Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Picture: Getty

“I totally agree that we have to be able to say we didn’t have anything to do with it,” Prince Harry wrote to Mr Knauf.

“Equally, you giving the right context and background to them would help get some truths out there.”

Meghan apologised to the court following the shocking revelations.

“I did not have the benefit of seeing these emails and I apologise to the Court for the fact I had not remembered these exchanges at the time,” Meghan said in a statement to the court.

“I had absolutely no wish or intention to mislead the defendant or the Court.”

Court documents revealed that Meghan had written five bullet points and 31 reminders for Mr Knauf to provide the authors ahead of his meeting with them.

Thomas Markle says he’ll keep doing interviews about Meghan until she speaks to him directly. Picture: Seven

Prince Harry also emailed Mr Knauf to tell them: “The truth is v much needed and would be appreciated, especially around the Markle/wedding stuff but at the same time we can’t put them directly in touch with her friends.”

The case centres around whether Meghan’s letter to her father, which the newspaper published, was private.

The court heard Meghan crafted the letter to her estranged father and called him “daddy” because she knew it would probably be leaked to the public and wanted to “pull at the heartstrings”.

Meghan Markle with her parents Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland. Picture: Thomas Markle: My Story

The Mail on Sunday has appealed the privacy case after Meghan won the original matter.

Prince Harry and Meghan have waged a war on the media, which they claim misrepresented them.

The couple took part in a bombshell interview with Oprah earlier this year to explain their side of Megxit - their departure from Britain and self imposed exile from the Royal Family.

British commentator Piers Morgan heavily criticised Meghan’s version of events, which included claims of racism from a senior royal who asked about the colour of their baby’s skin.

British media regulator Ofcom in September rejected 58,000 complaints against Morgan, who said on ITV that he did not “believe a word she said” in her Oprah interview.

The appeal hearing is scheduled to last until Thursday, with a ruling due at a later date.

Meghan, a former star of the American TV legal drama “Suits,” married Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle in May 2018.

Meghan and Harry announced in early 2020 that they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.