Meghan Markle scores legal win against half-sister Samantha after judge throws out defamation lawsuit
12 March 2024, 19:57 | Updated: 12 March 2024, 19:59
Meghan Markle has won the defamation lawsuit brought by her half-sister after a judge granted a motion to dismiss the claim.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Samantha Markle had taken legal action against the Duchess of Sussex over comments she made in a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey and again in 2022 on her Netflix show, Harry And Meghan.
Samantha claimed that people around her "turned against" her, and sought $75,000 in damages from her estranged half-sibling, according to the claim.
She said Meghan framed her as "an opportunist trying to cash in on her sister’s success and fame, despite having no relationship with her".
Florida judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning Samantha will not be able to refile the case.
Read More: ‘This isn’t a mistake Meg would make’: Harry and Meghan wade into Kate's Mother's Day photo mess
Ruling in favour of the Duchess, the judge said the plaintiff, Samantha, had "failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation or defamation-by-implication".
Meghan's lawyer Michael J Kump, said: "We are pleased with the court's ruling dismissing the case."
Samantha, who has the same father as Meghan, claimed the couple's comments during the high-profile tell-all interview with Winfrey in 2021 were "demonstrably false and malicious lies".
The duchess said to Oprah that she grew up as an only child, also saying her sister changed her surname back to Markle after she began a relationship with Harry.
Judge Honeywell said Meghan's statements could not be defamatory because they were either an opinion, "substantially true based on judicially noticed evidence", or "not capable of being considered defamatory".
The judge continued: "That Plaintiff used one last name and then the name Markle soon after reports of Defendant's relationship with Prince Harry were published is substantially true, based on the exhibits in the record, of which the Court has taken judicial notice, and the Court cannot reasonably infer otherwise."
Samantha Markle initially brought a defamation case against her half-sister in March 2022, alleging the duchess had defamed her by giving information to an unauthorised biography called Finding Freedom and by discussing their relationship with Winfrey on live television.
Judge Honeywell found the duchess could not be liable for the contents of the book because she did not publish it, and dismissed the case.
It is understood Meghan has not spoken to Samantha for several years.
