Meghan Markle wins privacy battle over leaked letter
A British court has upheld a ruling that the Mail on Sunday had no right to publicize a private letter written by Meghan Markle, after a three-year legal battle.
The Duchess of Sussex sued the Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, for publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her father Thomas Markle in 2018.
The duchess won the case earlier this year, but ANL appealed the verdict. On Thursday, the Court of Appeal upheld the previous ruling that said the publication of the letter was unlawful.
“It was hard to see what evidence could have been adduced at trial that would have altered the situation,” Judge Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, said, reading the summary of the decision.
The court ruled that the content of the letter was “personal, private and not matters of legitimate public interest.”
ANL argued that Markle told her former communications chief that she wrote the letter with the knowledge that it could be leaked. The duchess claimed she was merely acknowledging the possibility that her correspondence may become public.
Thomas Markle told the Mail on Sunday at the time that he “decided to release parts of the letter” after having felt that he was “vilified” by an earlier article in People magazine, which was based on unnamed sources from the duchess’ entourage.
In 2018, Markle married Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth’s grandson.
The duchess won the case earlier this year, but ANL appealed the verdict. On Thursday, the Court of Appeal upheld the previous ruling that said the publication of the letter was unlawful.
“It was hard to see what evidence could have been adduced at trial that would have altered the situation,” Judge Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, said, reading the summary of the decision.
The court ruled that the content of the letter was “personal, private and not matters of legitimate public interest.”
ANL argued that Markle told her former communications chief that she wrote the letter with the knowledge that it could be leaked. The duchess claimed she was merely acknowledging the possibility that her correspondence may become public.
Thomas Markle told the Mail on Sunday at the time that he “decided to release parts of the letter” after having felt that he was “vilified” by an earlier article in People magazine, which was based on unnamed sources from the duchess’ entourage.
In 2018, Markle married Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth’s grandson.