London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Meghan: Mail on Sunday privacy damage 'runs deep'

Meghan: Mail on Sunday privacy damage 'runs deep'

The Duchess of Sussex has welcomed her High Court privacy victory over the Mail on Sunday, saying the damage the publisher has done "runs deep".

Meghan brought the claim against Associated Newspapers (ANL) over the publication of extracts from a letter to her father.

The judge said Meghan had a "reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private".

ANL said it was surprised and disappointed by the judgment.

Mr Justice Warby granted Meghan "summary judgment" in her claim for misuse of private information against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, meaning that part of the case is resolved without a trial.

He said there would be a further hearing in March to decide "the next steps" in the legal action.

Meghan, 39, sent the handwritten letter to her father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018, following her marriage to Prince Harry in May that year, which Mr Markle did not attend. The couple are now living in the US with their son Archie, after having stepped back from their roles in the Royal Family.

In a judgment on Thursday, Mr Justice Warby ruled that the publication of the letter - which he described as "a long-form telling-off" - was "manifestly excessive and hence unlawful".

"It was, in short, a personal and private letter," he said.

"The majority of what was published was about the claimant's own behaviour, her feelings of anguish about her father's behaviour - as she saw it - and the resulting rift between them.

"These are inherently private and personal matters."

He added: "There is no prospect that a different judgment would be reached after a trial."

Extracts from the letter appeared in a double-page page spread in the Mail on Sunday, alongside the headline: "Revealed: the letter showing true tragedy of Meghan's rift with a father she says has 'broken her heart into a million pieces'".

'We have all won'


In a statement, the Duchess of Sussex said she was grateful to the courts for holding Associated Newspapers to account "for their illegal and dehumanising practices".

"For these outlets, it's a game. For me and so many others, it's real life, real relationships, and very real sadness," she said.

"The damage they have done and continue to do runs deep."

Meghan said her "comprehensive win" means "we have all won", adding: "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."

A spokesman for ANL said: "We are very surprised by today's summary judgment and disappointed at being denied the chance to have all the evidence heard and tested in open court at a full trial.

"We are carefully considering the judgment's contents and will decide in due course whether to lodge an appeal."

Lawyers for ANL had claimed Meghan wrote the letter "with a view to it being disclosed publicly at some future point" in order to "defend her against charges of being an uncaring or unloving daughter".

During a remote hearing in January, Mr Markle said in a witness statement he had wanted the letter published to "set the record straight" about his relationship with his daughter - a claim one of Meghan's lawyers described as "ridiculous".


This is a thumping victory for Meghan.

The court dismissed Associated Newspapers' defence on privacy and copyright; the only ongoing dispute is about whose copyright has been breached, as there is some argument over whether it was just the duchess that wrote the letter or whether she had some assistance.

So is Meghan and Harry's long struggle with sections of the British media now finished? Harry has settled his case against the Mail on Sunday; Meghan has won hers.

It seems unlikely. The couple have instructed their UK spokespeople not to talk to the country's most popular newspapers. They clearly think they simply can't get a fair hearing.

And the coverage they receive is pretty critical; baiting the couple over their new lives in California is now something of a routine.

To the couple it may well be immaterial. Their lives are elsewhere now.

But their relationship with the British public is still, largely, mediated by newspapers they will not deal with and which take delight in doing them down.

The couple have won - but they have also lost.

Media lawyer Mark Stephens said he envisages the newspaper publisher will seek to go to the Court of Appeal "to have a more definitive ruling on what the law is going forward".

"If you can't effectively report on leaked letters then in those circumstances the media holding people to account is going to be hampered," he said.

"Essentially this judgement in its widest context puts manacles on the media."

Meghan is seeking damages for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act over five articles published in February 2019, which included extracts from the letter.

The judge made two rulings on the case for copyright infringement.

He found the publication of the letter infringed the duchess's copyright. But he said the issue of whether Meghan was "the sole author" of the letter or Jason Knauf, former communications secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, was a "co-author" should be determined at a trial.

The data protection claim was not considered at the hearing in January and is still outstanding.

However, Mr Stephens said that by winning her privacy claim Meghan could say she had been "vindicated" and he expected she would drop the other parts of the case "as soon as she can".

The full trial of the duchess's claim had been due to be heard at the High Court in January, but last year the case was adjourned until autumn 2021 for a "confidential" reason.

When his wife first began her legal action against the Mail on Sunday, the Duke of Sussex spoke about the "painful" impact of the "ruthless" press campaign against her.

"I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces," he said in a statement at the time.

Referring to his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry said his "deepest fear is history repeating itself".


In a 2019 interview Meghan said it was a “struggle” becoming a mother amid intense media scrutiny



Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×