Meghan Markle came out victorious Thursday in a privacy lawsuit against a British tabloid that published parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father after her 2018 royal wedding. The case will not be going to trial, according to NBC News.
As previously reported, Meghan sued Associated Newspapers — publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online — in October 2019 over articles that detailed parts of the handwritten letter she sent to her father Thomas Markle in confidence.
Mail Online reported Thursday Judge Mark Warby of the High Court in London wrote in his ruling: “It was, in short, a personal and private letter. The majority of what was published was about the claimant’s own behaviour, her feelings of anguish about her father’s behaviour – as she saw it – and the resulting rift between them. These are inherently private and personal matters.”
Judge Warby added, “The claimant had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the Letter would remain private.”
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Meghan issued a statement following the ruling saying she was “grateful to the courts for holding Associated Newspapers and The Mail on Sunday to account for their illegal and dehumanizing practices.”
A spokesperson for Associated Newspapers said the company will decide whether to appeal the ruling at a later date.
In terms of copyright pertaining to the letter, Judge Warby ruled the issues would need to be settled at trial.
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The former Suits actress received an onslaught of media coverage after becoming engaged to Prince Harry in November 2017.
After posing for staged paparazzi photos ahead of his daughter’s May 2018 wedding, Thomas Markle skipped the ceremony saying he was sick and Prince Charles walked Meghan down the aisle.
Both Meghan and Prince Harry decided to step down from their duties with the royal family last year, officially making their announcement in January 2020.
