Today began the first hearings of the trial between the Duchess of Sussex and the Associated Newspapers group, which holds various press titles. Meghan Markle News criticizes the media for having published in February 2019, a letter she had written in 2018 to her father, Thomas Markle.
The press group defends that it was public information, given the status of the Duchess, a member of the royal family. As for her, she is seeking redress for this intrusion into her private life.
What Does The Duchess Of Sussex Blame The Tabloids For?
The preliminary hearing, before Justice Warby, began today. Meghan Markle News is suing the editor of Mail On Sunday and MailOnline for an article, published in February 2019, in which parts of a handwritten letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle in August 2018 were transcribed. As of October 2019, lawyers for Sussex have indicated that the Duchess is instituting a lawsuit.
The (endless) title of the article in question was: “Revelations: The handwritten letter showing the real tragedy of Meghan’s breakup with her father, who” broke his heart into a thousand pieces “and why he feels compelled to give up the devastating letter “. The article is also still online here .
The Meghan duchess of Sussex seeks damages from Associated Newspapers Ltd, the newspaper publisher and website operator, for “alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and violation of data protection law data ”.
For its part, Associated Newspapers denies the accusations, in particular those according to which the article would have biased Meghan’s intentions by choosing certain passages of the letter. The main argument of the publisher is notably the public status of the complainant.
On the sidelines of the trial which started today, lawyers for the Duchess of Sussex this week filed a body of evidence to constitute the file. The evidence, which is a set of text messages sent by Prince Harry to his father-in-law , was also published in the press, the elements of the file being public.
What Happened On The First Day Of The Trial?
10:30 am (London time): The preliminary hearing on April 24 took place largely virtually. About 60 people, mainly journalists, were able to follow the audience remotely. Meghan’s attorney, David Sherborne, said his client was monitoring the hearing remotely.
It was around 2:30 a.m. in Los Angeles at the start of the hearing broadcast via Microsoft Teams. Quickly, the complainant’s lawyer said that Meghan Markle News accused the newspaper of “harassing, humiliating, manipulating and exploiting” her father when he was “vulnerable”.
According to the first elements, it seems that Meghan accuses the journalists of having created the conflict with her father, when their relationship was very good before.
Meghan’s lawyer says the newspaper “chose to deliberately omit or delete parts of the letter in a misleading and dishonest way (…) by deleting words in the middle of a sentence or whole sentences from a paragraph “.
The lawyer claims that the private and very sensitive information on the life of the duchess was published for the sole purpose of “satisfying curiosity” and that it has no public interest. For its part, the newspaper’s lawyer claims that the letter was published in its entirety and that all of the sentences were transcribed in the article.
After a lunch break, the hearing resumed around 2 p.m. local time. The lawyers for both parties continue to present their defense angel or their accusation which they will hold throughout the trial.
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Meghan’s lawyer argued that several additional articles published by Associated Newspapers about the Duchess should be taken into consideration. It is the repeated publication that proves that the newspaper “intended to harm”.
Master Sherborne would like the court to understand that the complainant’s mental health is at stake , “the distress she feels at the idea that the accused has devised a plan and that it is not a question of ” one-off action . It is a matter of distress, not damage to reputation. ” A total of 9 items are challenged and expected to prove that repeated publications conceal a desire to harm.
Meghan Fights Against The Press And Her Father
The Duchess of Sussex fights before the High Court in London against Associated Newspapers. She accuses the media of having published a letter in the Mail on Sunday. This handwritten letter had been sent by Meghan Markle News to her father, following her absence from her marriage.
Meghan and her father have been in conflict since the duchess’s marriage to Prince Harry in May 2018. Thomas Markle gives numerous press interviews, suggesting that he was abandoned by his daughter. Text messages recently filed as evidence in the file indicate the opposite.
Prince Harry and his wife have contacted Thomas Markle many times, begging him to call them and not to speak to the press. Thomas Markle was unable to attend a heart attack a few days before his daughter’s wedding. The Sussexes then wanted to help him, but he apparently refused. Since their marriage, they no longer speak to each other.
It was Thomas Markle who himself gave a letter sent by his daughter to the tabloid Mail on Sunday, which published it. Meghan Markle News is fighting against the publication of this letter today.