Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s battle with the British tabloids is on. A procedural hearing in Meghan’s case against the Mail on Sunday was held Friday, and it was filled with bombshells.
SUIT
Meghan is suing the Mail for publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father Thomas Markle in August of 2018, three months after he made the last-minute to decision to not walk her down the aisle at her wedding.
HEARING
In the pre-trial hearing, Meghan’s lawyers said she was “deeply shocked and upset” by the newspaper’s reporting, which “intended to portray her in a false and damaging light” — and accused the publication of “harassing” her father.
Meghan and Harry listened into the hearing virtually from L.A., dialing in at 4 a.m. their time, according to reports. Meghan has claimed that her letter to Thomas was taken out of context to “purposely mislead” readers, which Associated Newspapers (the Mail's parent company) vehemently denies.
She feels so strongly, the Duchess is willing to testify, her lawyer reportedly said in court. “The defendant Associated Newspapers wants to cross-examine her Meghan as to whether that belief is reasonable or not – and they can do that,” lawyer David Sherborne reportedly said.
BREAKDOWN
Meghan’s team argued in court that the report caused a severe rift in her relationship with her father. They claimed the paper was responsible for “harassing” Thomas in the first place and “exposing him to the world as a royal scammer” after publicizing that he had set up the paparazzi photographs. After the alleged scam was revealed, Thomas allegedly had a heart attack and demurred from walking her down the aisle.
DENIAL
Lawyers for the paper, meanwhile, argued that Meghan hasn’t spoken to Thomas and that accusing the Mail of causing the rift was “curious.”
The judge will make a decision next week. She is seeking damages for misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.