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The Duchess of Sussex case: UK court upholds Meghan in privacy dispute with publisher

LONDON – The Duchess of Sussex on Thursday won the latest stage in her long-running privacy case against a newspaper publisher over the publication of parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father. mine.

The Court of Appeal in London upheld the High Court’s ruling in February that it was illegal to publish a letter that former Meghan Markle wrote to her father Thomas Markle after she married Prince Harry in 2018 law and violate her privacy.

The publisher of the Mail on Sunday and the website MailOnline challenged that decision in the Court of Appeal, which held a hearing last month. Rejecting that appeal, senior judge Geoffrey Vos told the court during a brief hearing on Thursday that “The Duchess had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of the letter. Those contents are personal. private, private and not a matter of legitimate public interest.”

In a statement, Meghan, 40, said the ruling was “a victory not just for me but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for the right thing.”

“While this victory is a precedent, the most important thing is that now, as a group, we are brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that allows people to be cruel, and to profit.” from the lies and the pain they create,” she said.

The affiliated newspapers countered Meghan’s claim that she had no intention of showing the letter to anyone but her father. They said correspondence between Meghan and her then-media secretary, Jason Knauf, showed the duchess suspected her father might have leaked the letter to journalists and had written it in mind.

The publisher also argued that publishing the letter was part of Thomas Markle’s right to respond following a People magazine interview with five of Meghan’s friends alleging that he had been “cold and ruthless.” her daughter before her royal wedding.

But Vos said that the article, which the Mail on Sunday described as “sensational”, was “launched as a new revelation to the public” rather than focusing on Thomas Markle’s reaction to negative media reports. media about him.

In their appeal, the Associated Newspaper has also argued that Meghan made private information public by teaming up with Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the authors of “In Search of Freedom,” an empathetic book about her. and Harry.

The duchess’ attorneys have previously denied she or Harry collaborated with the authors. But Knauf said in court evidence that he provided information to the writers and discussed it with Harry and Meghan.

Knauf’s evidence, which had not been previously disclosed, was a significant turning point in the protracted case.

In response, Meghan apologized for misleading the court about the extent of her cooperation with the book’s authors.

The Duchess said that she does not remember discussions with Knauf when she gave evidence earlier in the case, “and I apologize to the court for the fact that I did not remember these exchanges at the time. that point.”

“I had absolutely no intention or intention to mislead the defendant or the court,” she said.

Meghan, the former star of the US legal drama series “Suits”, married Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle in May 2018.

Meghan and Harry announced in early 2020 that they would be giving up their royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said was intolerable intrusion and racist attitudes by the sexes. British media. They have settled in Santa Barbara, California, with their two young children.

In her statement on Thursday, Meghan strongly condemned the Associated Newspapers for treating the lawsuit as “a game without rules.” She said she had been subjected to “deception, intimidation and calculated attacks” in the three years since the lawsuit began.

“The longer they pull it out, the more they can distort the facts and manipulate the public (even during appeals), making a simple case more complicated to generate more headlines.” and sell more newspapers – a model that rewards chaos above the truth,” she said.

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