Meghan Markle Wins Court Appeal in Privacy Battle Over Letter to Her Dad

Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle Wins Court Appeal in Privacy Battle Over Letter to Her Dad

Meghan Markle’s extensive battle with the publisher’s of Mail on Sunday has finally come to an end.

According to reports, the Duchess of Sussex was able to catch a huge win in her privacy and copyright infringement case against Associated Newspapers, when the Court of Appeal in London ruled in her favor against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday after they printed parts of a private letter she wrote to her father.

The ruling means that the case will not move forward to trial and Markle can began to collect the financial damages from the newspaper. She will also be receiving a public apology on the front page of the Mail on Sunday and the homepage of the Mail Online.

Meghan said in statement after the ruling was delivered:

This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what’s right,

She continued:

While this win is precedent setting, what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel, and profits from the lies and pain that they create.

Thursday’s ruling originates from the three-day appeal hearing in November that reconsidered the quality of summary judgement pushed in Meghan Markle’s favor.

The original ruling stated that the Mail on Sunday had breached Meghan’s privacy by reproducing parts of a handwritten letter she sent her father, Thomas Markle, in five articles published in February 2019.

The lawsuit also stated that Mail on Sunday violated Meghan’s copyright by printing portions of the letter she wrote to her father before the royal wedding to Prince Harry in May of 2018.

The Associated Newspaper worked through the November hearing hoping to get the ruling overturned by adding last minute evidence based on a witness statement from the couple’s former communications secretary Jason Knauf.

Associated Newspaper provided a chain of text messages between Markle and Knauf that spoke about the letter she would write to her father after he decided to go to the media  when he didn’t attend her wedding.

The catalyst for my doing this is seeing how much pain this is causing H,” Meghan said via text in August 2018, using her pet name for her husband. “Even after a week with his dad [Prince Charles] and endlessly explaining the situation, his family seem to forget the context — and revert to ‘can’t she just go and see him and make this stop?

Meghan went on to say:

They fundamentally don’t understand so at least by writing H will be able to say to his family… ‘She wrote him a letter and he is still doing it.’ By taking this form of action I protect my husband from this constant berating, and while unlikely perhaps it will give my father a moment to pause.

She added:

Obviously everything I have drafted is with the understanding that it could be leaked so I have been meticulous in my word choice.

The Court of Appeal took the apology into consideration but came to the conclusion that the text showed ‘an unfortunate lapse of memory on her part.” The court explained that the chain of messages had little influence to the issues being spoken of.

The case will now return to the High Court for damages. Meghan ended her statement with:

Today, the courts ruled in my favor—again—cementing that The Mail on Sunday, owned by Lord Jonathan Rothermere, has broken the law. The courts have held the defendant to account, and my hope is that we all begin to do the same. Because as far removed as it may seem from your personal life, it’s not. Tomorrow it could be you. These harmful practices don’t happen once in a blue moon—they are a daily fail that divide us, and we all deserve better.

Do you think Megan Markle will experience the same big win for the damages she is owed? Let us Know in the comments.