Meghan Markle’s half-sister has launched a fresh appeal against a court defamation ruling as a bitter legal feud between the Markle siblings deepens.
Samantha Markle is looking to overturn a ruling which rejected her claims that Meghan portrayed her as a “lying, racist, fame-seeker” and suggested the two didn’t know each other growing up.
And now, new court documents have come to light which detail the extent of Samantha’s scathing allegations against the Duchess of Sussex.
In the documents, unearthed by The Sun, Samantha claims that “Meghan knew what she was doing, and how to do it”.
“She has made it so Samantha cannot work, or even enjoy the most mundane of activities, like going to the grocery store without harassment.”
The case was brought forward over comments made in Meghan and Harry’s 2022 Netflix show, as well as their controversial 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview.
But in March this year, Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell ruled the duchess’s half-sister was unable to prove any defamation – a ruling Samantha’s legal team are pushing to overturn.
The appeal, launched mere days ago and lodged at a Florida court, claims the 59-year-old was cast as a figure “who is out to harm Meghan and to capitalise on that harm caused”.
Her lawyers also claim allegations that Samantha was part of an online hate group were false, and that Meghan’s claim of not knowing her half-sister growing up was a move to discredit her memoir, The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister Part 1.
The ruling, Samantha says, left her open to “relentless torment online” – and harmed her reputation, both professional and personal.
Her lawyers are pushing for an oral hearing “as the issues may require some clarification” – but no date has been set.
But Samantha’s push-back over comments made in an interview comes as the Sussexes sat down for another televised chat – this time, with CBS Sunday Morning.
In it, Meghan and Harry spoke to host Jane Pauley about their work with parents who have lost their children to online bullying and abuse – while the duchess revealed she had contemplated committing suicide during her time as a working member of the Royal Family.
Pauley had said to Meghan: “You had an experience that connects you to these families – and I see you touch your husband’s hand in just the way I knew that you would be looking after each other.
“The connection that you have with people is they know you had suffered too, personally, contemplating killing yourself, is what suicidal ideation was.”
The mother-of-two appeared deeply uncomfortable with Pauley referencing the Winfrey interview from three years ago and its contents – and said she hadn’t “really scraped the surface” on her experience, adding: “I do think that I would never want someone else to feel that way.”
Anyone who is in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide can call the Samaritans anonymously for free from a UK phone on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org.
