The defamation case against the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle continues as her half-sister Samantha and her legal team have created a list of witnesses she wishes to call on, including Oprah.
Samantha Markle, who resides in Florida, commenced the legal proceeding after Meghan allegedly made false claims during the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 while discussing her childhood.
During the sit-down interview, Meghan said she “grew up as an only child” despite having two half-siblings. Samantha has claimed she was embarrassed and defamed by her half-sister’s statements.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were married in 2018.
(Image: Getty)The Duchess of Sussex’s legal team moved for the defamation case to be dismissed and said Meghan’s comments were more of a feeling rather than a fact.
“But this perception is inherently unfalsifiable. It is hard to imagine a more personal and subjective feeling than how one views their own childhood,” the documents by Meghan’s lawyers read.
“Meghan’s response to that question that she ‘grew up as an only child’ was obviously not meant to be a statement of objective fact that she had no genetic siblings or half-siblings.”
Samantha has alleged that the “false and malicious lies” regarding Meghan’s “rags-to-royalty” story made her vulnerable to “humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale”.
The Sun revealed Oprah Winfrey is one of the witnesses Samantha wishes to call on and could be questioned by lawyers regarding the 2021 interview.
Meghan’s lawyer Michael Kump claimed Samantha’s legal team has “identified a whopping 19 non-party witnesses, including Prince Harry, Meghan’s mum, Oprah Winfrey.”
Michael added that Meghan’s comments made to Oprah are safeguarded by the First Amendment.
Samantha allegedly wants Prince Harry to undergo a deposition but it is believed this will unlikely occur.
Meghan has made few comments regarding her half-sisters claims.
(Image: Getty)The judge has set the trial date to begin on October 2, 2023, in the United States but should last no longer than five days as Samantha demanded the case be tried in a ‘speedy’ manner.
However, the trial is only expected if both parities cannot settle the matter during mediation.
The Duchess’ half-sister is seeking $108,000 AUD in damages.
Among the list of witnesses include authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand – who wrote the biography Finding Freedom. Published in 2020, the book discussed Meghan and Prince Harry’s exit from the royal family.
Samantha attempted to sue Meghan over the novel but Meghan’s lawyers debunked the allegation and argued she cannot be sued for a book she didn’t write.
“Meghan did not make the statements; she cannot be liable for them. It is that simple,” the legal team stated.
However she has since “attempted to rescue her case” and said Meghan is responsible for the claims made in the book.
“To state the obvious, because Meghan did not write Finding Freedom, she cannot be liable for statements in the book. It really could not be simpler than that,” Meghan’s lawyer Michael said.
Samantha has claimed Meghan tried to destroy her and father Thomas Markle’s reputation; undermining their credibility to ensure “they could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairy-tale life story concocted by the defendant”.
The case has reached a real turning point…
(Image: Getty)In the most recent ruling, Meghan and Harry will now have to submit to a gruelling interrogation after a judge refused to grant the couples request to stop depositions being taken.
As a consequence, the former working royals will be grilled by Samantha’s lawyers on subjects including whether the late Queen Elizabeth was racist.
But, not all is negative for the Duchess, a judge connected to the case warning that a dismissal may take place before the depositions occur.
According to the judge, Charlene Edwards Honeywell, after a ”preliminary peek” at Meghan’s request to dismiss the case there may actually be grounds to throw it out.
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