Meghan Markle’s legal battle with her half-sister could “send the Coronation sideways”, after the duchess and Prince Harry were named in a defamation case in the US.
Samantha Markle is suing her half-sister Meghan for “defamation and injurious falsehood” following the couple’s high-profile tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
In a filing submitted in March last year, Samantha Markle claimed that “demonstrably false and malicious statements” were made by Meghan to a “worldwide audience”.
The duchess previously filed a motion to stop depositions in the case from taking place, but this was dismissed earlier this month.
Dickie Arbiter, who was The Queen’s press secretary between 1988 and 2000, has now warned that the case could cause distraction in an important year for the Royal Family.
The royal commentator suggested that the case has the potential to “knock the Coronation news sideways” and called the defamation case “a bit of a minefield” during an interview on the podcast Palace Confidential.
It's not yet been confirmed whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be attending the Coronation of King Charles.
Should the couple accept an invitation to the Coronation, Harry’s appearance at the event will mark his first public event with William and Charles, following the release of his bombshell autobiography Spare.
In their joint interview with US talk show host Oprah in March 2021, Harry and Meghan spoke about both their families and made a series of allegations about the royal family.
Samantha Markle’s original complaint, obtained by PA, stated the comments made by the Sussexes during the interview had reached “roughly 50 million people in 17 countries”.
In the filing she alleged she was defamed by Meghan in the interview when the duchess “falsely and maliciously” said that she was “an only child”.
“Plaintiff – who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair – brings this action for defamation based on demonstrably false and malicious statements made by her half-sister to a worldwide audience, including roughly 50 million people in 17 countries who watched the Oprah Winfrey interview with the Defendant, Meghan Markle, and her husband, Prince Harry of England,” the filing stated.
“Meghan – who was featured with Prince Harry on the cover of Time Magazine’s annual feature on ‘The World’s Most Influential People’ published and disseminated false and malicious lies designed to destroy Plaintiff’s reputation and which have subjected Plaintiff to humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale.”
The filing also added that Meghan had used “the powerful resources of the royal family’s public relations operation” to disseminate and spread “lies worldwide” about Samantha Markle and their father, Thomas Markle.
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