PREVIEW

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex wins lawsuit against her half-sister. Samantha Markle's defamation lawsuit against her half-sister Meghan has been dismissed "with prejudice”. The author had been seeking $75,000 (£59,000) restitution over what she claimed were defamatory statements made by Meghan against her across a number of platforms. In March 2023, US District Attorney Judge Charlene Honeywell told Samantha she couldn't argue Meghan had defamed her with the book Finding Freedom as Meghan did not write or publish that book - its authors were Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. Samantha’s original filing also claimed that the Duchess of Sussex defamed her in her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, specifically when she said she,"grew up as an only child”. But Judge Honeywell said, "As a reasonable listener would understand it, Defendant merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings. ”Thus, the Court finds that Defendant's statement is not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof.” At the 2023 hearing, Samantha was granted permission to replead her claims regarding the Oprah interview one more time. Those claims were dismissed this week after the same judge found that Samantha merely "disagrees" with Meghan's "opinions rather than statements of fact”. "We are pleased with the court's ruling dismissing the case," Meghan's attorney, Michael J Kump said in a statement to People magazine. THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT