Meghan Markle asks judge to dismiss half-sister’s $75k defamation suit

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, made headlines again this week when her legal team went to court to ask a Florida judge to dismiss a $75,000 defamation lawsuit filed by Markle’s half-sister, Samantha, claiming the suit is “offensive and inappropriate.”

Samantha Markle is seeking about $75k in damages after, she claims, her half-sister Meghan and Prince Harry made false statements about her in their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey that led to “humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale.” Lawyers for Meghan Markle asked Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell this week to dismiss the suit, arguing the claims in the suit are not worthy of litigation.

“Not every perceived slight ought to be litigated and that’s true here. Plaintiff is taking issue with Meghan’s own impressions of her own childhood growing up but that’s not a proper subject matter for a court of law,” said attorney for Meghan Markle, Michael Kump in court. He also asked the judge to throw out parts of Samantha’s lawsuit related to a 2020 book, ‘Finding Freedom,’ which Samantha’s lawyers say was “used by the Duchess to affirm this false narrative that she supposedly lived this rags-to-riches” life. Kump argued that the Duchess is neither the author nor the publisher of the book, so the parts of the suit attached to the book are irrelevant.

Experts on the British Royal family told Fox News this week that the lawsuit may be the latest in what they say is a “trail of damaged relationships” in Meghan Markle’s life. “If you walk into 10 rooms, and you have a problem with somebody in every room, the only commonality in all of those rooms is you,” said Doug Eldridge, founder of Achilles PR. “If you have a situation where you have a falling out with your father, your sister and your husband’s family — if you go into 10 different rooms and have a problem with somebody in every room, maybe you’re the problem.”

The judge in the case has taken the arguments under advisement.