Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might be made to offer testimony below oath as a part of a US defamation case introduced by the duchess’s half-sister – after a movement to dam the testimonies was denied by a decide.
Samantha Markle is suing the duchess for “defamation and injurious falsehood” following the couple’s high-profile tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
In a submitting submitted in March final 12 months, Samantha Markle claimed that “demonstrably false and malicious statements” have been made by Meghan to a “worldwide audience”.
The duchess beforehand filed a movement to cease depositions, the place an individual is made to offer testimony below oath, from happening within the case.
However, this movement was dismissed by Florida decide Charlene Edwards Honeywell on Tuesday.
“Defendant Markle does not show that unusual circumstances justify the requested stay, or that prejudice or an undue burden will result if the court does not impose a stay,” the paperwork state.
“Defendant Markle does not satisfy the high standard required to stay discovery pending the resolution of a dispositive motion.”
In their joint interview with US discuss present host Winfrey in March 2021, Harry and Meghan spoke about each their households and made a sequence of allegations concerning the Royal Family.
Samantha Markle’s authentic grievance acknowledged the feedback made by the Sussexes in the course of the interview had reached “roughly 50 million people in 17 countries”.
In the submitting she alleged she was defamed by Meghan within the interview when the duchess “falsely and maliciously” mentioned that she was “an only child”.
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“Plaintiff – who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair – brings this action for defamation based on demonstrably false and malicious statements made by her half-sister to a worldwide audience, including roughly 50 million people in 17 countries who watched the Oprah Winfrey interview with the defendant, Meghan Markle, and her husband, Prince Harry of England,” the submitting acknowledged.
“Meghan – who was featured with Prince Harry on the cover of Time Magazine’s annual feature on ‘The World’s Most Influential People’ published and disseminated false and malicious lies designed to destroy Plaintiff’s reputation and which have subjected Plaintiff to humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale.”
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The submitting additionally added that Meghan had used “the powerful resources of the royal family’s public relations operation” to disseminate and unfold “lies worldwide” about Samantha Markle and their father, Thomas Markle.
“The defendant orchestrated the campaign to defame and destroy her sister’s and her father’s reputation and credibility in order to preserve and promote the false ‘rags-to-royalty’ narrative,” the submitting acknowledged.
“(It was) a premeditated campaign to destroy their reputation and credibility so they could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairy tale life story concocted by the Defendant.”
The deliberate depositions come following the Sussexes’ explosive Netflix sequence and the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare final month.
Sky News has contacted the Sussexes for feedback.
Source: information.sky.com”
