Meghan Markle successfully brought home the victory after winning the court battle against Mail on Sunday.
This week, Meghan Markle finally savored the victory over the Mail on Sunday as the judge ruled that she had “a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private.”
Judge Justice Warby gave the Duchess of Sussex the summary judgment in her claim. It resolved a part of the case without a trial.
“The majority of what was published was about the claimant’s own behavior, her feelings of anguish about her father’s behavior – as she saw it – and the resulting rift between them,” Mr. Warby said. These are inherently private and personal matters.”
For ANL’s part, they already expressed how surprised and disappointed they are by the judgment, per BBC.
Meanwhile, Warby added that they would hold a further trial in March to determine the next steps in the legal showdown.
Meghan’s team also released a statement following the victory.
In a statement, the Duchess of Sussex said that she was thankful for making Associated Newspapers accountable over their “illegal and dehumanizing practices.”
She added that her current comprehensive win means that everyone on her side also won.
“We now know, and hope it creates legal precedent, that you cannot take somebody’s privacy and exploit it in a privacy case, as the defendant has blatantly done over the past two years,” she went on.
Awe. She thanked her Husband and Mom. The 2 people who has stood by her unconditionally. 🖤🤍🖤🤍 #MeghanMarkle #PrinceHarry pic.twitter.com/1ibYvds2AO
— 🖤🤍 Tina 🖤🤍 (@tinabop29) February 11, 2021
What caused the legal battle between Markle, Mail on Sunday?
In 2019, Meghan first filed legal documents that detailed the libelous acts of U.K. tabloids.
The Associated Newspapers is the home of British tabloids, including Daily Mail, Mail Online, and Metro. The publication previously published their interview with Meghan’s father.
They also publicized the letters written by the Duchess of Sussex for her father, Thomas Markle, before her wedding.
The Duchess of Sussex alleged that the publication falsified stories about her to make her look bad in public’s eyes.
According to independent journalism site Byline Investigates, the U.K-based publications misused the letter to make several derogatory statements.
Aside from the letter, they also published false stories that also involved Prince Harry’s name. It also mentioned the baby shower issue and the expenses they made on the renovations at Frogmore Cottage.
“They intended to portray the Claimant in a damaging light by suggesting that she had indulged in this series of absurdly lavish renovations, which were, in fact, false (as the Defendant was informed at the time) and entirely made up,” Markle’s lawyers stated.
Featured image courtesy of Genevieve, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons