Camilla Makes Donation Through Newspaper Sued by Meghan Markle

Prince Charles' wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has made a "substantial" donation to an appeal launched by The Mail on Sunday together with The Daily Mail and MailOnline to help Ukrainian refugees.

The duchess' choice to donate to this appeal over those launched by other U.K. press outlets such as The Sun and The Independent is significant after Meghan Markle successfully sued The Mail on Sunday in 2021.

Following a breach of her privacy and copyright when contents of a letter written to Markle's father were published by The Mail on Sunday without her consent, she ultimately won the case brought against the newspaper.

Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt took to Twitter on Thursday night to highlight the significance of Camilla's donation. He described the Duchess as "canny" in her decision to publicly donate to a campaign run by the press rather than privately through an established humanitarian appeal like Queen Elizabeth II has done.

He wrote: "The Queen has made a 'generous donation' to @decappeal for Ukraine; Camilla has given to the Mail appeal. As I wrote last month… Camilla has been canny. She's kept the media close and the Daily Mail even closer."

On the motivation behind her donation, a spokesperson for Camilla told The Daily Mail: "No one could fail to be moved by the appalling scenes of Ukrainians fleeing their homes and the duchess wanted to help in whatever way she could."

Camilla was seen to shed tears on a visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London on Wednesday where her husband Charles condemned the "truly terrible aggression" by Russia against Ukraine.

The donation comes at an important time for Camilla, following the queen's announcement last month that it was her "sincere wish" that when Charles becomes king, Camilla would take the title of "Queen Consort." This contradicted a statement made at the time of Charles and Camilla's marriage in 2005 that said that when Charles became king, Camilla would be known as "Princess Consort."

The decision to donate to an appeal set up by a press outlet draws attention to allegations made by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey of an "invisible contract" between his family and the press.

Harry alleged to Winfrey that an unspoken understanding exists between reporters and members of the royal family where if they: "give full access to these reporters, then you will get better press. I think everybody needs to have some compassion in that situation. There is a level of control by fear that has existed for generations."

Camilla's donation to the Ukrainian Refugee Appeal comes as a report by The Daily Telegraph said that Prince William and Kate Middleton joined the queen in making a donation to the the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.