Meghan Markle Loses First Legal Battle Against UK Tabloid

Meghan Markle has lost the first round of her battle in the British High Court against Associated Newspapers, the parent company of UK tabloids Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

The Duchess of Sussex is suing the companies over five articles which published parts of a private letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018. The civil lawsuit accuses the newspaper of copyright infringement, misuse of private information & violating the U.K.’s data protection law. Meghan’s legal team are seeking damages for misuse of private information and breach of her copyright, alleging the tabloids harassed both parties which was instrumental in their fallout.

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During a remote preliminary hearing conducted last week, council for the Associates Newspapers asked the judge to remove some of the more emotional aspects of Meghan’s case, according to reports.

The request asked that the judge strike three particular claims, according to a report from The Mirror: That Associated Newspapers acted in bad faith, that they deliberately attempted to ignite conflict between Meghan and her estranged father, and that Meghan was distressed by the papers’ “obvious agenda” against her.

Unfortunately for the Duchess, the judge has reportedly sided with the defense. Justice Warby stated that the claims were “irrelevant” in proving misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.

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“Some of the allegations are struck out as irrelevant to the purpose for which they are pleaded,” the Justice reportedly said, according to court documents obtained by The Mirror. “Some are struck out on the further or alternative ground that they are inadequately detailed.”

“I do not consider that the allegations struck out on that basis go to the ‘heart’ of the case, which at its core concerns the publication of five articles disclosing the words of, and information drawn from, the letter written by the claimant to her father in August 2018.”

However, Meghan may reportedly revive these aspects of the case if they have a proper legal basis.

The Duchess isn’t giving up the battle, as confirmed by a representative from her legal team.

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“Today’s ruling makes very clear that the core elements of this case do not change and will continue to move forward,” the representative for Schillings, Meghan’s law firm, said in a statement. “The Duchess’ rights were violated; the legal boundaries around privacy were crossed. As part of this process, the extremes to which The Mail on Sunday used distortive, manipulative, and dishonest tactics to target The Duchess of Sussex have been put on full display.”

Future dates for the trial have yet to be set.