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The former television actor is suing Associated Newspapers for publishing excerpts from a letter he wrote to his estranged father prior to his wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. Image: @ KensingtonPalace / Twitter
LONDON – A court on Tuesday allowed a group of British newspapers to amend their defense against a high-profile claim by Meghan Markle for violation of privacy and copyright.
The former television actress is suing Associated Newspapers for publishing excerpts from a letter she wrote to her estranged father prior to her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
At a High Court hearing in London last week, their lawyers tried to block a request to claim that the couple cooperated on a recent book about their lives together.
The couple, who stepped down from royal frontline duties earlier this year citing media intrusion, denied being involved in publishing. Find freedom either way.
But Associated, who publishes the Sunday mail and the Mail Online website, argued that the book had “every appearance of having been written with their extensive cooperation.”
In particular, it alleged that Meghan gave authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand details about the letter to portray her version of events in a more favorable light.
He also claimed that Meghan wanted to use the handwritten letter “as part of a media strategy” and discussed it with royal communications officials before sending it.
In a ruling, Judge Francesca Kaye allowed the amendment to Associated’s defense even though Meghan’s attorneys argued that the defense “was without merit and is in fact false.”
Scobie has said in an eyewitness statement that neither Meghan nor Harry, who are also known by their formal titles Duke and Duchess of Sussex, contributed to the biography.
“They did not authorize the book and have never been interviewed for it,” he added.
A 10-day trial is scheduled to take place in January. Win or lose, it will be seen as a watershed moment in the couple’s increasingly fierce war with the British tabloid press.
Harry has filed separate cases against News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers for alleged phone hacking in the past.
Meghan is also taking action against a photography agency after she and her son Archie were photographed in a Canadian park earlier this year.
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