March 30th 2023 - Samantha Markle takes major hit in her defamation case against Princess Meghan

In a week that saw Prince Harry at the High Court of Justice in London, UK continuing his battle against the underhand tactics of the UK tabloids - this time the alleged phone hacking and other stuff by the UK Daily Mail - wife Meghan received some positive news in respect to her defence of the defamation claim brought against her by her half-sister Samantha, when a Florida judge dismissed part of Samantha's claim in its entirety - with prejudice.

Samantha Markle started the court case alleging that Meghan had both defamed her and subjected Samantha to 'injurious falsehood' as a result of comments printed in the Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand book Finding Freedom, as well as during Meghan's 2021 interview with Oprah that aired on CBS.

Per the court pleadings, Samantha took issue with many things written about her in Finding Freedom, alleging that Meghan was responsible for these defamatory statements. 

Samantha also stated in her court pleadings that when Meghan told Oprah she grew up as an only child, and when Meghan said that Samantha changed her name back to Markle when Meghan started to date Prince Harry, Meghan defamed her reputation / caused everyone to think that Samantha was cashing in on Meghan's "new found fame."

Meghan brought a summary judgment motion asking for Samantha's claims to be dismissed without the need for any trial. Today, United States District Judge Charlene Honeywell (Tampa, Florida) gave Meghan a solid but partial victory. The Judge dismissed the defamation case based on the contents of Finding Freedom in its entirety, given that Meghan neither wrote nor published the book.

The judge opined that Samantha's other claims were not too strong either, but gave Samantha 14 days to decide if she wanted to reframe her pleadings. In the interim, the judge dismissed the remaining claims on an Without Prejudice basis.

If Samantha chooses not to further amend her pleadings and /or if she chooses not to appeal todays judgment,  Meghan will have won the entire case and will be able to seek her costs.