Meghan Markle may once again face her half-sister Samantha Markle in court as Samantha's legal team prepares to challenge a previous ruling made in Meghan's favor.
This ongoing legal dispute originates from comments Meghan made during a high-profile interview with Oprah Winfrey, where she claimed she grew up mostly as an only child. Meghan also suggested that Samantha only started using the Markle surname again when Meghan began dating Prince Harry. Samantha Markle's attorneys argue that Meghan's statements were disparaging, hurtful, and false, portraying Samantha as a stranger, a liar, and a deceptive fame-seeker with greedy intentions.
Despite Meghan winning the initial case, Samantha has escalated the matter to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Her lawyers are required to submit their opening brief by July, aiming to overturn the previous ruling. A court document obtained by Newsweek outlines the core of the upcoming legal argument, indicating that Meghan's cumulative comments and remarks were not fully considered by the original judge. Samantha's legal team will argue that the initial judge failed to assess the overall impact of Meghan's statements, examining them individually instead.
In the 2022 Netflix docuseries "Harry and Meghan," Meghan recalled, "I was with my mom during the week and with my dad on the weekends, and my dad lived alone. He had two adult children who'd moved out of his house. I don't remember seeing her, Samantha that is, when I was a kid at my father's house, if and when they'd come around." Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell initially dismissed the case, stating that Meghan barely mentioned Samantha, and it was not plausible that Samantha would be exposed to hatred, ridicule, or contempt as a result of the statement. Despite this, Samantha's lawyers will argue that Meghan's broader attack was constructed through a series of mismatched interviews.
Meghan's legal team intends to contest the appeal, asserting that the judge followed standard protocol for a straightforward libel suit. They stated, "To the contrary, this is a garden-variety defamation action involving the application of well-established 11th Circuit precedent, which the District Court followed." The dispute has been ongoing since March 2022. Meghan's lawyer, Michael C., has consistently dismissed the claims, stating, "This baseless and absurd lawsuit is just a continuation of a pattern of disturbing behavior. We will give it the minimum attention necessary, which is all it deserves."
There are allegations that Meghan's lawyer allegedly slipped a cool $95,000 into the judge's pocket to get Samantha Markle's defamation lawsuit tossed out. Samantha supposedly couldn't pinpoint a single defamatory statement. Whether this claim is true or not, it adds a layer of intrigue to the ongoing legal battle.
Both Meghan and Harry remain largely distanced from their extended family, maintaining regular contact only with Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, from the Markle side. The legal battle with Samantha continues to cast a shadow over their public life, adding another layer of complexity to their strained family dynamics. As the appeal process unfolds, the focus will be on whether Samantha's legal team can convince the appellate court that the cumulative effect of Meghan's remarks was overlooked in the initial ruling. This case highlights the ongoing tension within the Markle family and the broader implications of public statements made by high-profile individuals.
