Meghan Markle looks set to be dragged into another court battle

Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle looks set to be dragged into another court battle as her sister Samantha prepares to appeal against a previous victory secured by the Duchess of Sussex.

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Svar Nanan-Sen

By Svar Nanan-Sen


Published: 05/07/2024

- 15:40

The Duchess of Sussex secured a court victory over Samantha Markle earlier this year

Meghan Markle looks set to be dragged into another court battle as her sister Samantha prepares to appeal against a previous legal defeat to Duchess of Sussex.

The duchess won the initial defamation case her sister launched against her.


However, Samatha has taken the case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal and her lawyers have been given a deadline this month to fill their initial brief.

Court filings seen by Newsweek indicate the area Samantha's lawyers are looking at for the appeal.

Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle looks set to be dragged into another court battle as her sister Samantha prepares to appeal against a previous legal defeat to Duchess of Sussex.

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The filings say "Cumulative inferences and remarks made by [Meghan] have caused a cumulative meaning, which the court did not consider."

In March 2024, Meghan secured a court victory against her half-sister after Samantha launched a defamation case against the Duchess of Sussex through courts in the US.

Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell said Samantha had 'failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation' and dismissed the case.

Meghan's half-sister was seeking a minimum of $75,000 for defamation and defamation by implication for the duchess suggesting she grew up as an only child in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Meghan Markle

Meghan's half-sister was seeking a minimum of $75,000 for defamation and defamation by implication for the duchess suggesting she grew up as an only child in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

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The Duchess of Sussex claimed Samantha only changed her surname back to Markle after she began dating Prince Harry.

The judge found that the gist of this was true in her ruling.

She wrote: "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."

Meghan Markle

The Duchess of Sussex claimed Samantha only changed her surname back to Markle after she began dating Prince Harry.

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Samantha Markle had highlighted statements made in Meghan's interview with Oprah, the royal biography Finding Freedom and the Netflix series Harry & Meghan as part of her case.

In her conclusion the judge wrote: "Plaintiff's claims will be dismissed with prejudice, as she has failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation or defamation-by-implication by this point, her third try at amending her complaint, in either the book Finding Freedom, the Netflix series Harry & Meghan, or Defendant and her husband's hour-long televised CBS Interview."

Samantha originally filed the case against Meghan in March 2022.

Meghan and Samantha share the same father, Thomas Markle Snr.

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