I drew the comparison between how Princess Eugenie has been treated regarding the birth of her first child versus the way the Duchess of Sussex was treated regarding the birth of her first child. The whole delivery thing was strikingly similar – Eugenie and Meghan gave birth at the same hospital, neither woman announced that they had given birth for hours after the fact, and both women posted something on social media as part of the announcement. But only one of those women was ripped apart by the media. Still, Harry and Meghan are still close to Eugenie and Jack, and Town & Country reports that H&M have “congratulated Jack and Eugenie privately.” There’s still a lot of speculation about what exactly happened with Jack & Eugenie moving out of Frogmore too. I’ve shared my theories.
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Sussex is still stealing Eugenie’s thunder. Forever! This week should have been about a general royal happiness about Eugenie’s baby and maybe we’ll even hear the little guy’s name by Friday. But now all eyes will be on a London courthouse and a virtual hearing where Justice Warby hands down his decision on Meghan’s request for a summary judgment on her lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday.
Meghan Markle could soon find out if she might one day face her dad across a London courtroom. Meghan, 39, is suing the Mail on Sunday’s publishers Associated Newspapers for invasion of privacy, infringement of data protection rights and copyright infringement for printing extracts of what her lawyers describe as a “private and confidential” letter sent to her father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018 — three months after her wedding to Prince Harry.
On Jan. 19, Meghan applied to have the case decided by a summary judgment – a legal step which would see her claim resolved by a judge’s ruling as opposed to a full trial – during a remote hearing at the High Court in London, where a previously unpublished line from the five-page letter she sent her father was read aloud: “I ask for nothing other than peace and I wish the same for you.”
On Thursday afternoon in London, the Duchess of Sussex may find out if her application has been successful.
Should Judge Justice Warby rule in Meghan’s favor, then the outcome of the case will hinge on his private legal deliberations, meaning that her friends, family, and former Kensington Palace staff will not have to testify in court.
If the application fails, then the exact opposite happens – opening up the possibility that Meghan may find herself sitting in London’s High Court opposite her father, Thomas Markle, in the fall of 2021.
To further complicate matters, the exact nature of Justice Warby’s Thursday ruling is currently a closely guarded secret. Theoretically, he could decide to go one step further and rule on certain elements of the case. Alternatively, he could simply decide to postpone his ruling on the summary judgement to a later date.
The hearing (or whatever we’re calling it) is supposed to happen at 4 pm London time (GMT), which is 11 am EST. Still, these things never happen on time and who even knows. I feel like Warby is kind of a drama king for making us wait! I do think that his ruling will be very interesting, because recent developments have led me to believe that Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace would very much like to shut this down, and I’m sure pressure is being exerted all over the place.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
I hope for the Summary Judgement but if that fails and Meghan has to go court, I welcome that too. Whether Meghan wins or loses, a trial will mean that BP/KP will be exposed which needs to happen.
That’s been my thinking too. I’d prefer she win outright so she can move on and put it behind her, but if there has to be a trial, I’m hoping for tea to be spilled and courtiers and KP exposed for the liars they are. That’s a win/win to me.
I’m here. I hope for her sake she wins the SJ, at least in part, but I also think that a trial will expose a lot of the inner workings of the palace and the relationship with the press, and I think in the end that will be a good thing, if messy at the time. Because of that, i think there is a lot of pressure behind the scenes for this to end sooner rather than later.
Yeah I can see the palace “intervening” to convince the judge to pass the judgement. But Christian Jones leaving a day after (or however after it was) it was announced that he /could/ testify could mean the BRF aren’t massively confident in the summary judgement being granted and would rather have ex-employees rather than current ones speaking.
I am conflicted about this; I wish it is over so that the british press stops finding reasons to write about Meghan
At the same time, I think the palace smearing needs to be exposed; it went way too far and for what? she is not seen and they are still in her shadow
Every single appearance of H&M makes the rest disappears from their own news cycle! they don’t have the international coverage H&M get; why don’t they ask the british royal gossipers to stop talking about Meghan & Harry? wouldn’t that solve their overshadow BS problem?
That there hasn’t been a leak of the ruling is quite something. What incredible restraint by the DM. I’ve also noticed that they haven’t leaked the private details from the discovery of Meghan’s phone records nor the reason for the postponement of the trial.
Any leaks would place the Daily Mail in contempt of court and would jeopardise the case.
Apparently both Meghan and the Mail have known the result for a week now. I’m hoping it’s good news for Meghan so that she can move on and put this behind her.
Unless Meghan lost and the Daily Mail is waiting today to go in on her, the Mail and other tabloids have been very quiet and not as attacking and abusive this past week. Piers Morgan has been very quiet and some of the commentators as well. Something has happened behind the scenes for sure. You got publications starting to go after the other royals. I wonder if this is payback for Meghan and Harry not dropping their cases and being happy away from the media. At first I thought Harry’s win against the Mail and Meghan’s statement was what made them quiet but something has happened for sure.
Really? Well, she and Harry seemed like happy campers over the weekend. I hope that’s a good sign.
I watched a clip of Lorraine where Russell Myers and Lorraine were talking about Harry and Meghan and the sound of defeat in their voices were palpable. Maybe it’s acceptance finally that they left and aren’t coming back or something to do with the lawsuit but I found it very strange.
I remember reading this when the hearing for the summary judgement ended. I could be totally wrong and Meghan and the Mail have no idea what the judge will do and will find out when we do.
I hope the SJ is granted so this case can finally come to an end.
I want Megan to be able to put this all behind her but if it goes to trial I don’t think that’s a bad thing either.
Crossing my fingers for Meghan. After all she wanted a SJ and may be she has her good reasons. As much as I want a full trial and the Palace being exposed I also see that this has turned into a circus from DM, Thomas Markle and their shady friends. I mean…that woman has suffered enought and I hope she will get the justice that she deserves and finally close that chapter and sooner the better!
On one hand, I dread the tabloids getting to report “Meghan courtroom drama” all year. On the other, I wonder how comfortable palace staff will be testifying – doesn’t the convoluted reasoning of the Mail rely on the idea that it’s not a “personal” letter because royal advisors helped her in some way. I’ve always been curious about what help they could have given Meghan in writing to her own parent? Like, can you give this the once over and tell me if it’s too harsh? Fact-checking dates? Or are they implying that she’s somehow not able to compose a letter by herself? It’s weird, and I’ll admit that I want to know more.
At the same time, while they have palace staff on the stand, could somebody please ask about changing Archie’s birth certificate?
I hope for meghan’s sake that the SJ is granted and that she wins it on all 3 accounts but i don’t mind it going to trial tbh
The summary judgment in her favor would be a nice slap in the face to the Royals who pressured her to drop the case with the never complain, never explain excuse. Plus, justice is a good thing and the case is a clear open and shut breach of copyright. Also of note, where are Kate and Will? No Zooms for the past week from either of them. Mustique, again, or skiing?
They released a video last night on KP.
Thanks. I unfollowed KP so usually find out what they did through other means. Does it look like the video was filmed two weeks ago though? They can these clips to be released while they are gone.
They got a lot of negative comment about it in the daily mail. ‘Patronizing’ was a common complaint along with the anomaly of workers being praised by a woman who has never had a real job.
@harper – oh no clue when they actually recorded it, because you’re right, it could have been weeks ago, but I think its rather recent (maybe in the last week?) but I really have no idea lol.
Harper, they published today/yesterday in their social media, a day in the life of a med student and another video of them talking with that student.
At the same time Invictus has announced that they are doing postcast in partnership with Nhs Uk, to provide guidance on how to support the physical and mental well being of NHS staff, based on the experience of Invictus community. They also announced their first kitchen from WCK partnership. So…The keens are looking pathetic next to this.
Thanks. Is the med student walking around outside through a fall landscape or a cold, snowy one? That’s one way of knowing whether they did it this week or shot it earlier so they could look busy while on holiday.
I’m in the minority again. I hope the SJ is denied. I’m hoping for a trial. We need to know to what extent Elizabeth and Charles and Willie and Kate used the RR/BM to turn Meghan into a stereotype. Archie’s birth certificate is just the tip of the iceberg of Meghan’s treatment by those people.
And I’m curious as to how often Andrew used H&M as human shields.
I hope that summary judgment is granted, but I don’t know if that’s likely if this is the same judge that allowed the Daily Mail to go into all sorts of irrelevant issues during the discovery phase.
Harper, lol…you made me go and watch it. I just saw some kind of announcement earlier today, but didn’t watch it.
Yes, you can see the student driving and it’s raining outside.
Whichever way it goes, I think it’s a win-win for Meghan. A summary judgement will put an end to this long, arduous case dragging on. On the other hand, if it goes to trial, the inner nastiness of KP, the RF and the courtiers towards Meghan will be exposed which will be a good thing.
As much as I despise the media and the palace and its puppets, I want Megs and Harry and Archie to know peace , hopefully that starts today.
SHE WON!!!! So relieved it’s over and good for her 🙂
From @JoshuaRozenburg: Duchess of Sussex wins summary judgment on the claim of misuse of private information, and on the other issues in the copyright claim.
Judge says there should be a trial limited to issues relating to the ownership of copyright.
Meghan has won the summary judgement for misuse of private information BUT judge still thinks a trial on issues about the copyright should still happen.
So, wait – they’re going to have to bring this to trial because one of KPs staff went to the DM to tell them they worked on the letter with her – and that makes the copyright sketchy? Because, other than that, the copyright issue seemed the most clear cut part of the case.
I agree. I don’t understand.
There will be another summary judgement on the copyright issue on March 2nd. From what I can tell, the judge thinks it should go to trial but again, there’s going to be a summary judgement about that.
If that’s the reason, the Palace just majorly shot themselves in the foot. Again.
Is this why they fought so hard to prevent the lawsuit?
It sounds a little confusing but at this point I’m really happy its over, at least in part. Good for her!
Yep, they pulled a Hail Mary and said they have a royal source that worked with her on the letter. Privacy is obvious because it was clearly a letter to her dad, but the copyright claim got muddied the moment they insisted that they have someone who can testify she only co-wrote it.
I’m slightly worried about this because the trial can expose KP, or throw Meghan under the bus.
So they’re not going to have to bring it to trial for copyright (or at least, the judgment isn’t saying that the copyright claims should go to trial). The question the court must answer in summary judgment cases is whether or not there SHOULD be a trial. The judgment basically says that because there might be a joint copyright between the Duchess and the Crown (because of the possibility of the ‘Palace Four’ staffers contributing to the letter), they cannot unequivocally state that there should NOT be a trial on the copyright issues.
However, the judgment finds that the defendant (the Daily Mail)’s factual and legal case for copyright occupies “the shadowland between improbability and unreality”; the judgment also states that they can’t identify a useful reason to go to trial for the copyright. (Basically a bitch slap from the judgment saying there’s no valid legal reason for the Daily Mail to bring the copyright infringement to trial). This is separate from the summary judgment on invasion of privacy, which was granted.
It’s really a win for her on all fronts.
The hearing on March 2nd isn’t a summary judgment hearing, but rather a hearing to decide if there are next steps (i.e. if the Daily Mail will appeal).
Credentials: EU attorney, read judgment briefly
I hope this helps!
She has won! Just came up on my phone.
Great News! I’m delighted for her. Hope she gets substantial damages but the main thing is she’s won. I wonder what the ‘carnival of so-called experts’ will make of it.
Yes! She deserves this win! Suck it Daily Mail!
Yes! Suck it! Lol.
I’m usually more articulate but Suck it! does express how I feel right now. 😊
Love wins!
I said the same thing above. 🙂 Perfect response.
Meghan wins her case. She will now have closure and peace. And the anti-bullying charity of her choice will greatly benefit from her donation of the proceeds from this lawsuit. Yehey!!! Crying RRs now.
Some published statements from the Judge:
“The claimant had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private. The Mail articles interfered with that reasonable expectation.”
“the only tenable justification for any such interference was to correct some inaccuracies about the letter”,
“The inescapable conclusion is that, save to the very limited extent I have identified, the disclosures made were not a necessary or proportionate means of serving that purpose.
“For the most part they did not serve that purpose at all. Taken as a whole the disclosures were manifestly excessive and hence unlawful.”
😍✌✌👍
I wanted Meghan to be able to just walk away after today, but that’s not really going to happen today. I am thrilled that she’s won SJ on parts of the case and the judge is full of it if he’s going to let the mail argue that she was helped with her letter. It’s her letter to her father, her hand writing, her signature and she didn’t give consent to have it published. Is the person claiming to have helped with the letter saying they provided consent and therefore it was ok to publish? These people are hateful, awful, losers.