Meghan Markle to receive £1 in damages over privacy case

6 January 2022, 01:01 | Updated: 6 January 2022, 07:04

Meghan to get £1 plus undisclosed sum after court fight with Mail On Sunday publisher

Meghan Markle is set to receive £1 in damages from the publisher of The Mail on Sunday, following a privacy case.

Details of the money emerged on Wednesday, when a written case order was made public.

It comes after Meghan sued Associated Newspapers Limited over five articles that reproduced parts of a "personal and private" letter she sent to her father in 2018.

Meghan won her case last year, when a High Court judge ruled in her favour without a full trial and Court of Appeal judges dismissed an appeal by Associated Newspapers.

The case order said Associated Newspapers had agreed to pay the £1 nominal damages for misuse of private information, as well as a "confidential sum" for copyright infringement by January 7.

Judges also said Associated Newspapers should pay £300,000 of the duchess' legal costs, on account, by the same date.

Read more: Meghan Markle slams 'deception and intimidation' after court victory over Mail on Sunday

Read more: Fresh Meghan texts show her view Harry faced 'constant berating' from royals

James O'Brien reads Meghan Markle's statement to the Mail on Sunday

A spokesperson for Meghan said the undisclosed amount of money was "substantial" and that the duchess intended to donate it to charity.

They explained that she was clear from the beginning that the case was primarily about the difference between right and wrong and the fact she won on both matters demonstrated the strength of the claims.

They added that, after winning the case on a summary judgement, Meghan chose to recover the profit the paper had made from the letter, relating to copyright, rather than a financial remedy of damages regarding the privacy part of the case.

She said at the time of the ruling: "This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what's right."

She added: "From day one, I have treated this lawsuit as an important measure of right versus wrong. The defendant has treated it as a game with no rules.

"The longer they dragged it out, the more they could twist facts and manipulate the public (even during the appeal itself), making a straightforward case extraordinarily convoluted in order to generate more headlines and sell more newspapers - a model that rewards chaos above truth.

"In the nearly three years since this began, I have been patient in the face of deception, intimidation and calculated attacks.

"Today, the courts ruled in my favour - again - cementing that The Mail on Sunday, owned by Lord Jonathan Rothermere, has broken the law."