Associated Newspapers Appeals Meghan Markle Privacy Ruling
UK newspaper group Associated Newspapers Limited has taken legal steps to challenge the ruling that it breached the Duchess of Sussex’s privacy by publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father.
Meghan Markle had successfully sued the newspaper group which publishes the DailyMail, MailOnline and Mail on Sunday over a series of articles based on a letter to her father, Thomas Markel.
In February, a judge at the High Court ruled that the handwritten letter was “personal and private” and publishing it was “manifestly excessive and hence unlawful.” In turn, the group to print a front-page statement acknowledging her victory.
At the start of the case, the publisher’s lawyers had argued that Meghan wrote the letter knowing it may be made public.
“We read the judgment as implicity accepting that the letter was crafted as an intimate communication for her father’s eye’s only,” said Andrew Caldecott.
He noted that this was “false” based on new evidence.
“The letter was crafted specifically with the potential of public consumption in mind because the claimant appreciated Mr Markle might disclose it to the media,” he added.
The lawyer highlighted an interview granted by five of Meghan’s friends to US magazine People, which her father considered to be “a serious attack on him.”
At the original hearing, Associated argued its articles were intended to correct inaccuracies in the People interview noting that Meghan “made no effort to correct” it
The case, which would last up to three days with the judgment given at a later date, is the latest in the former television actress’s long-running battle with Associated publishers.
As a result of the appeal, the newspaper group is yet to publish the front-page statement acknowledging her privacy win.
Meghan’s letter to her father was written a few months after her wedding to Queen Elizabeth II’s 37-year-old grandson, Prince Harry.
In the letter, she asked him to stop talking to tabloid newspapers and making false claims about her in interviews.
Meghan and Harry have waged a high-profile war against the media. They have also blamed their decision to quit the royal life and relocate to the United States on this intrusion.
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