Duchess of Sussex wins High Court case against The Mail on Sunday
The Duchess of Sussex won her High Court case against The Mail on Sunday. A judge ruled that the newspaper had violated Meghan Markle’s privacy by publishing extracts from a letter she had sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
Mr Justice Warby issued a ‘summary judgment’ last week that handed the victory to the Duchess without the need for a trial in which she would have been called to testify, and her father to testify against her.
The judge ruled, “It was, in short, a personal and private letter” with “inherently private and personal matters” that Meghan, 39, had “reasonable expectations” that he would remain private.
A judge ruled that The Mail on Sunday violated Meghan Markle’s privacy by publishing excerpts from a letter she had sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
The newspaper argued that Mr. Markle, 76, had asked her to publish extracts from the 2018 letter, to put things right.
The newspaper noted that Meghan is a senior member of the royal family and asked whether she had consented to previous publicity of the letter.
Mr. Markle spoke out because his daughter’s close friends had revealed its existence in an anonymous interview granted to People magazine, mistaking it as a “loving” letter.
But Mr. Markle disagreed, saying he saw the letter not as an ‘olive branch’ but as a warning signifying ‘the end of our relationship’.
Mr Justice Warby issued a ‘summary verdict’ last week that handed the victory to the Duchess without the need for a trial in which she would have been called to testify
He told the court in a statement that he was determined to fly to London to testify against his daughter.
But Meghan’s lawyers successfully argued that a trial was not necessary because the paper had “no prospect” of a successful defense.
The judge also ruled that publication of the excerpts was a copyright infringement, although he said that the issue of who owned the copyright should be tried.
The Mail on Sunday is considering appealing.