Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to Be Deposed in Samantha Markle’s Defamation Lawsuit

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be deposed as part of a defamation lawsuit brought by Meghan's half-sister, Samantha Markle.

Samantha, who currently lives in Tampa, Florida, is suing Meghan for "defamation and injurious falsehood" caused by the interview the Sussexes gave to Oprah in 2021, when Meghan said she grew up as "an only child."

Samantha claimed Meghan told "lies designed to destroy [her] reputation," causing "humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale." She is seeking $75,000 in damages, per the lawsuit filed in March 2022.

In June 2022, Meghan filed to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it a "meritless defamation case." Her motion for dismissal wrote, "We do not empanel juries to rule on whether two people are 'close,' or whether one genuinely feels that they ‘grew up as an only child. Courts are not equipped to adjudicate the legitimacy of a person’s feelings about their childhood and relationships. Nor should they be." It was denied.

In September 2022, the Duchess of Sussex filed a motion to stop depositions and avoid testifying in the case, but yesterday, Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismissed the motion, ruling that Meghan "does not show that unusual circumstances justify the requested stay, or that prejudice or an undue burden will result if the court does not impose a stay." Judge Honeywell added that Meghan "does not satisfy the high standard required to stay discovery pending the resolution of a dispositive motion."

However, the judge added that some of Samantha's claims "may be ripe for dismissal." Samantha and her lawyers have also requested the depositions of her father, Thomas Markle and her estranged daughter Ashleigh Hale.

In her Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, Meghan spoke about her half-sister, and how it seemed like she was "everywhere" following the news of her engagement to Prince Harry.

"My half-sister, who I hadn’t seen for over a decade – and that was only for a day and a half – suddenly, it felt like she was everywhere," she said in episode three. "I don’t know your middle name. I don’t know your birthday. You’re telling these people you raised me, and you coined me Princess Pushy?"

The Duchess continued, "I hadn’t had a fallout with her. We didn’t have a closeness to be able to have that. And I wanted a sister!"

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