For her second attempt at trial against her half-sister, Samantha Markle was dismissed.
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The American author requested $75,000 in compensation for allegedly defamatory statements that Meghan Markle made against her in several media.
Already, in March 2023, United States Judicial District Judge Charlene Honeywell told Samantha Markle that she could not argue that her half-sister had defamed her with the book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family, because Meghan Markle had neither written nor published it – its authors being Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
In her initial complaint, Samantha Markle also claimed that the Duchess of Sussex defamed her during her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, including when she said she “grew up as an only child.” But Judge Honeywell said: “As a reasonable listener would understand, the defendant is merely expressing an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings. Thus, the court finds that the defendant’s statement is not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof. »
During the 2023 hearing, however, Samantha Markle was allowed to reiterate her requests regarding the Oprah Winfrey interview. Those requests were rejected this week after the same judge ruled that Samantha Markle simply “disagreed” with Meghan Markle’s “opinions rather than statements of fact.”
“We are pleased with the court’s decision to dismiss the case,” Meghan Markle’s lawyer, Michael J. Kump, said in a statement to the magazine People.
