New Date Set for Hearing in Meghan Markle's Legal Battle Over a Letter to Her Father

From Town & Country

It has been almost two years since the Mail on Sunday published parts of a letter that Meghan Markle wrote to her father, and 15 months since the Duchess announced she was suing the paper for the alleged breach of privacy, infringement of copyright, and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018. The long-running legal battle has taken many twists and turns, but a judge will hold a hearing later this month to determine whether it will come to an abrupt end with a summary judgement.

It was confirmed today that a remote High Court hearing will begin on January 19 where Mr. Justice Warby will hear Meghan’s application for a summary judgement. Such a judgement can be brought if one party believes it has an overwhelmingly strong case, and if it is granted, it would mean that no trial would take place. The trial is currently postponed until the fall of 2021 for confidential reasons at the request of Meghan’s lawyers.

Last year, the case was frequently in the spotlight as various hearings and court documents created headlines. Notably, in September, a judge agreed that tell-all biography Finding Freedom can be used as part of the defense. In November, Meghan’s team filed court documents which showed that the Duchess allowed a friend to let the book’s authors know that she had written to her father as she was “concerned” that the narrative she had abandoned him would be repeated. However, the filing denied that the Sussexes co-operated with the book and said that they were not interviewed for it. Other documents that have attracted attention include a filing by Associated Newspapers that the letter is not “not the Claimant’s own intellectual creation and therefore not an original work,” and that she was helped to write it by palace aides.

Should the summary judgement be refused and the case go to trial, it is likely to result in further revelations with palace staff potentially called testify. The case has been dubbed Markle vs. Markle with Meghan and her father on opposing sides. The long-running battle has also been expensive for both sides, with combined costs estimated to have reached £3 million.

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