Well well well. Apparently, the Duchess of Sussex has won her summary judgment in her lawsuit against the Mail. I said earlier that the vibe I had been getting for the past few months was that powerful levers were being pulled all over the place so that Meghan’s lawsuit against the Mail wouldn’t open up an even bigger can of worms. Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace did not want their staffers to be called in to testify, nor do they want the inner-workings of who said what to whom in what palace, all about Meghan and the situation with her unhinged, toxic father. So Justice Warby shut most of it down, finding that the Mail on Sunday did infringe on Meghan’s copyright by publishing her handwritten letter to her father. A UK legal commentator, Joshua Rozenberg, has a good Twitter thread, and here’s Sky News’ coverage:
Meghan Markle has won her privacy claim against the Mail on Sunday over the publication of a “personal and private” handwritten letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle. In a High Court judgment on Thursday, Mr Justice Warby granted Meghan “summary judgment” in her claim for misuse of private information against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline over the publication of the letter.
The judge said: “The claimant had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private. The Mail articles interfered with that reasonable expectation.”
He said that “the only tenable justification for any such interference was to correct some inaccuracies about the letter”, contained in an article in People magazine which featured an interview with five friends of Meghan. But Mr Justice Warby added: “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 don’t understand why Justice Warby continued to allow the Mail to widen the scope of their defense further and further – when it was clear the Mail’s lawyers were on a fishing expedition to supply more information for publication – only to now reel everything back in and declare that it’s pretty obvious that the Mail did infringe on Meghan’s copyright. Oh well – a win is a win. Let’s celebrate!
Update: The judge’s ruling is kind of complicated – while Warby did find that her copyright was infringed, there are still parts of the case which will go to trial. But this is still a major victory. We’ll have further coverage when I figure out exactly what happens next.
Meghan won summary judgement on the privacy claim in full & copyright claim in part. The Judge ruled that a “trial limited to issues relating to ownership of copyright” should proceed. But describes the Fail’s case as occupying “the shadowland between improbability and unreality” pic.twitter.com/BtlMKP0WzN
— Royal Suitor (@royal_suitor) February 11, 2021
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Omg !!! This makes me so dam happy !!!
Meghan deserves this win after everything they have put her through. Here’s hoping she wins on the copyright claim too. There was no justification for violating her privacy by publishing her personal letter to her snake of a sperm donor and those rota rats and toilet papers are about to learn that Meghan is not Will and Kate. She won’t be offering up herself and her child to the highest bidder in exchange for cover ups and fake sycophantic “good PR”. Yay for her.
I wonder if the Fail are going to publish this story for their readers today *whistles*
The Mail’s latest story has a link to the full Judgement which is 53 pages. I wonder if they are legally obliged to publish it.
Have you seen the statement she put out? It’s AMAZING!
Where can you read it? 😊
I saw it on Twitter in Omid Scobie’s thread.
https://twitter.com/scobie/status/1359905006560944128
Cheers!
Loved her statement! I’m so happy for her.
Her statement was everything! She thanked her husband and mom, her TRUE family and support system. The British press can just stop with the stories of how Harry and Meghan zoom with the RF daily and are “so close”’to the Queen and Charles. Meghan’s statement spoke volumes.
@Ginger, yes her statement spoke volumes. I like that she’s not even pretending with these people. They are on ignored like the carnival of so-callled experts had to suck it today.
That statement is absolutely perfection. What a wonderful professional team.
Who is Jenny Alfia?
@likeyoucare Jenny is part of Meghan’s legal team for the case
Jenny Afia is a senior media and privacy lawyer, and Partner at Schillings (google)
Loved that statement. It’s telling whom she DOES NOT thank – the BRF.
There will likely be salty articles about that by Monday.
her statement make me tear up a little bit. What they put her through what inhumane. If im not mistaken she also has a defamation case against them right ?
Her statement was perfect. She gave thanks to her husband and mom. Her legal team earn their fee.
Meghan has no defamation case against the Mail. AFAIK she’s got no more pending cases against the UK tabloids.
For some reason I believed that she had a defamation against them. Shame she didn’t sue, she would have won with no doubt.
Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!
Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!!!!
Ka-chink!
YES DUCHESS!!!
She and Harry with wins this month. GOOD.
Good job!
But a more limited copyright trial may still go forward? My Dick Wolf University law degree is not helping me right now lol. The more limited trial, will Bad Dad Tubby Tom still have a chance to “confront” (emotionally abuse) Meghan?
“My Dick Wolf University Law Degree”
I might have just developed a crush.
Me too😂
No. I think the only remaining issue is whether the copyright is Meghan’s alone, or whether KP has a claim over it (and its “crown copyright.”) So a trial for that would bring in the KP staff, but not Thomas Markle.
At least that’s my understanding?
Yup. This is terrible for KP and the royals just generally because the witnesses, documents, directives, etc. are all going to be coming from KP staff. In terms of outcome, this is sort of the worst case scenario for the Royals and KP, in particular.
The tabloids on the other hand get to feast on another thread of dysfunction. To prove their case, they are going to get documents, emails, and testimony from current and former KP staff…I mean the staff could lie, but the electronic trail alone is going to make that problematic, particularly with MM’s attorneys have the same right to seek evidence from this “third party” that purportedly owns the copyright.
The only thing that might save the royals is if they admit the copyright is MM’s. But even then if the tabloids claim they were misled by staff about ownership, then there’s is a whole other claim against KP or whomever the bus runs over on this.
Although I’m happy for Meghan, I agree with Kaiser, Becks1 and Janey. Because the judge allowed all the BS on the table I really thought it was stacked against her. Once all the Palace staffer intrigue reared its ugly head—- the Firm pulled strings to shut this down. Seems they are their own worst nightmare. And in 3….2…1…..we will get a tale of woe from bad dad and as well as a boatload of belittling articles about Meghan pushed out by the Firm about how horrible she was to staffers and how she never took proper advice.
I am reading it that way too. And there is no way that KP wants to have their staff involved in a trial on this issue when the privacy issue is already shut down.
Maybe if someone hadn’t spoken to the Mail a few months ago this part of the case would have been shut off too. But they muddied the waters out of spite and now risk more exposure of their complicity with the tabloids. Karma.
The judge is allowing further exploration into whether there is joint ownership of the copyright. He states that no one has yet come forward to claim partial ownership of the copyright (he’s looking at you, Knauf) and he is inviting any of the Palace Four who believe they have joint copyright to join the defense as a claimant:
“I shall direct that the defendant promptly serve formal notice of its case as to ownership on each person it maintains is or might be entitled to copyright in the Electronic Draft, the Letter, or any part of either work, notifying that person that he or she is entitled to apply to be joined as a claimant or defendant to these proceedings, and setting a period of time within which they may do so.”
I think he is asking the palace to show up or shut up or else Meghan wins everything on copyright too. Even so, he said that she is still entitled to the copyright win and that is not in danger.
From what I’m reading on Twitter, it seems like he won’t need to testify. It’s the “palace four” staff who will, on the other hand. Not good news for KP.
which is actually good news, so we’ll find out who in the royal household leaked about Meghan to the MOS
Yes, she won two of her claims and a limited one on copyright will be put to trial. I imagine it would be very boring and will argue over minute details. Not a lawyer though. I imagine one of the Palace Four would still have to come, but Bad Dad will not be required.
That’s my understanding. The Daily Fail’s defense is that the KP staff helped write the letter and therefore have some copyright claim.
If they choose to go forward, KP staff only will be brought in to testify. Which is probably the LAST thing the palace wants because ALL kinds of dirt could come out on how they and the Cambridges operate.
Hence I wouldn’t be surprised if a certain judge gets a phone call from KP asking to rule in Meghan’s favour in the March summary judgement.
Can also see the media going to KP and saying “let us have this trial or we will start talking about a certain Marchioness”
“Rose Who?”
The judge ruled there was copyright infringement. The only issue would be if there are co authors to the letter and whether or not they are entitled to damages. So in other words he is daring Jason Knauf and co to get directly involved and have a trial on this issue. Which was not raised until that source spoke to the DM a few months ago.
It’s delicious in every way.
I love it. Inject it into my veins. I was laughing so hard and most of the haters on Twitter don’t get this. No matter what DM lost and even if there is another party at play, they didn’t have permission to publish excerpts from a letter that they didn’t own.
You can download the full Judgement (53 pages) from the end of the Mail’s article There are two links either of which gives you the Judgement.
March 2 is a hearing for ‘directions’. From my reading of the Judgement it seems this hearing will confirm whether the defendant will appeal, and on what grounds; assess costs and consider damages for any finding which is not appealed; deal with the data protection claim; deal with any response from ‘the Palace 4’ .
The Palace 4 are being invited,by the defendant, to apply to join the case either as co-claimants or co-defendants. If they decline to do either it seems they won’t be called to give evidence in any appeal hearing.
HAHAHAHA!!! Mine too!!!
She won on both counts.
So her privacy was breached (see Article 8 of the EU law which I’m pasting after my comment) and her copyright was breached. On Mar 8, they will decide on the amount of damages that she gets. The Judge now the only thing that they could try and request a trial for is the copyright in terms of determining whether the Palace 4 have to testify. They will need to show how involved they were in the verbiage. Even then, Meghan would still get damages. Breach of copyright includes a return of the profits made off of the breach sooooo they will pay out more than usual
Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life
1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
From Bylines Times:
“They must be wondering, however, what to do next, so comprehensive is their defeat. The judge not only found for the Duchess on privacy but he effectively gave her the victory in her second claim, on breach of copyright. There was one minor, technical aspect of that issue on which he found himself unable to provide a ‘summary judgment’ – whether the Duchess shared copyright ownership with anyone else – but that is not a matter that Associated can exploit.
Will Associated seek leave to appeal? If they possibly can, they surely will – that is their standard operating procedure – but legal experts say that in this sort of case, after this sort of judgment, their options will be limited.”
https://www.bylineinvestigates.com/mail/2021/2/11/5j9yu0locsj9hyumivin12mp0yf10t
So happy for the Sussex family. Don’t care how many strings were pulled. This is a just and fair ruling imo.
I think there is still a trial on the copyright/authorship issue?
Yes, which is surprising because I thought that that was the easiest part for Meghan to win. But the Court was pretty scathing about that part of the Mail’s defence, even though they said it should go to trial.
And that’s the part that could be the most interesting. The Mail are claiming that Meghan didn’t write the letter alone, that someone in the palace helped her, saying that she doesn’t have sole copyright.
Which could lead to the workings of the palace being unveiled. Did the Mail have consent from someone else to publish? What involvement did the palace have in the Thomas Markle debacle? There’s still a big risk of all of that coming out!
I don’t think the palace will be happy with the ruling at all…
No, she won completely. If someone comes forward claiming they are part owner of the letter, they can proceed to make their case and prove it by standing with the defendant it seems. Meghan has won period.
yea but he said the Fail’s case occupies the shadowland between improbability and unreality. I see a settlement coming!
In judge speak he’s saying it’s a bs claim but I need witnesses to confirm that it is bs.
So Nic should Jason be lawyering up right about now if he wants to join in?
So I read the full decision and the judge is saying that there was copyright infringement by the DM over publication of the letter. So Meghan won on the overall copyright issue. But if the alleged co authors want a cut of the damages they will have to have a trial on the issue of co authorship.
And we all recall that this issue of co authors by KP staff only came up when the palace church approached the DM a few months ago.
So I really doubt Jason is going to get a lawyer and go to trial on this issue.
It seems the copyright trial is limited to the question of whether Meghan had sole copyright or whether copyright was shared by the Palace employees or whether it can be considered ‘Crown copyright’. This is looking very bad for the Palace because it amounts to evidence of the Palace acting against Meghan from the outset.
“because it amounts to evidence of the Palace acting against Meghan from the outset.”
which we all knew was happening, but now what was in the dark has come to light. this is scandalous.
I think it actually means that if Jason has part of the copyright, he could be eligible for damages? Presumably this will be all be settled before that happens.
Not if he gave consent to it being published – in which case the Mail would have a defence but it would prove the Palace were deliberately briefing against Meghan. Oops.
No the judge ruled there was copyright infringement. The trial would be how much in terms of damages that Jason could get.
Since he never indicated that he provided consent to print the letter, he could not come back now and state otherwise.
I think the mail on Sunday were clinging on to the “joint copyright’ issue, which would only backfire on the palace. If Meghan did have joint copyright with the palace then the MOS would have needed the palaces permission to publish (which they did) but thus exposing them in the smear campaign against Meghan. The Mail were hoping to be saved by the palace. I’m just picturing all the angry phone calls the Mail are making to KP right now. I bet they are all having a meltdown lol.
Congrats! And there is a summary judgement about the issue related to copyright set for March 2nd. If she doesn’t get that, then it’ll move to trial.
But according to the Joshua Rozenberg guy, it’s slim that it’ll go to trial.
“I don’t understand why Justice Warby continued to allow the Mail to widen the scope of their defense further and further”
Though both the USA and the UK have an “adversarial” court systems, it is not fair to compare USA courts to UK courts. It is like comparing apples and oranges; both are courts but the laws and procedural systems are different.
I would also add (bearing in mind that I don’t know much about the UK court system, but since ours is at least somewhat modeled on theirs, I make some assumptions), anyway, here if a judge is too lenient with one side, it can sometimes indicate that the judge doesn’t want to give them anything to appeal.
I don’t know enough about this case, or the UK law, to say if that’s what was happening here, it may be that some of what was allowed is relevant to an their defense (sometimes what is and is not relevant doesn’t make sense unless you know the specific elements of each defense).
I feel like Justice Warby gave The Mail enough rope to hang themselves, then consequently went on to tighten the noose in that summary judgement.
ITA Myra.
The Mail launched a completely outrageous attack on the Judiciary during Brexit, calling them enemies of the people – (a phrase used by the Nazis to undermine the judiciary) which led to some judges receiving death threats. The judiciary will not be doing them any favours.
If you look online at the judgment, the judge thoughtfully considers all the Fail’s defensive arguments and then goes on to slam them with some strong language. The judge said that while Thomas Markle had a right to defend himself against the misrepresentations he felt were in the People mag article, the way the Fail jumped on the case, published the previously unseen letter and included pages and pages of accompanying analysis about Meghan’s handwriting and what it said about her personality was excessive and harmful. The judge said that People magazine didn’t publish the letter, and that Markle did not need the letter to be published to defend himself. Also, the Fail sunk its own case in the privacy matter by shouting that their stories were exclusive and never before seen, etc. I think he gave them lots of room to argue so that any appeal would not have merit.
I read it @Harper and loved every word of it. The Judge said what we all have been saying, that the defense is so confusing.
🍾
Thank God. Hasn’t she been through enough.
I pray for her and harry and baby (now toddler!) archie.
I think of the BRF as ‘the wicked family from the west’ and hope meg and harry stay far away from those creepy demons. I don’t want them to ever go back!
Copied from other thread:
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!
Also she did win SJ on part of the copyright claim.
You’re right! Sorry, I forgot to mention. I think she won on the copyright claim for the electronic draft of the letter on her phone, I believe, but not the actual letter sent that the staffers may have assisted with. Truthfully I read the judgment through quite quickly, I was just so relieved for her 🙂
It helps a bunch. Thanks!
We did it Joe!!!
Wooow I literally screamed and thanked God! Wow wow. I’ve been a nervous wreck all day and it’s not even my trial!
I just checked the daily s**t… this announcement is nowhere to be found on their online site!!! Had Meghan lost pffff
Ps
Long time lurker first time writer, that’s how much this win means to me.
Congratulations Meghan and Harry!!
LMAO!!! The “we did it, Joe” should be used in every context. After delivery (childbirth), passing exams, drivers licence etc…
I fully endorse this!
Welcome to the sane online. Yeah! I am so happy for her that she won for the most part and all that’s left seems to be headed in her favor. I mean, what, are the palace going to argue that they helped with the letter and gave permission for it to be printed? I know these people are dumb, but even they must know that they’ve gone too far.
I assume KP will push to have this not go to trial (the second part) to still avoid having to open up their inner workings, so there will be an offside settlement. Truly hope this gives Meghan a bit of peace where her father and just everything is concerned.
This is an excellent result. It would seem that the KP staff will have to testify. If this exposes the Palace’s misdeeds and collusion with the press, I’m all for it.
Hopefully we’ll learn who the palace mole is and who gave him/her authority to leak info on H&M. Because without the mole, we’d never know about Knauf.
Perhaps Knauf is the mole. He never worked exclusively for the Sussexes. He worked for the Cambridges too and still works for them.
Nothing in Fail yet. They are usually there for all things MM. Is there a monetary award possible.?
yes, the disgusting losers are unsurprisingly quiet about this news. Can i say disgusting a few more times?
you know the meme with the Weekend from the superbowl, well that’s me, searching the Fail for this story as breaking news.
The Mail is legally obliged to publish the ruling and to give the ruling the same prominence as the original articles containing misuse of private information. Damages will also have to be agreed and paid by the Mail.
ok, they have published with restrictions on comments. of course the comments all scream miscarriage of justice, and are decrying the court system in the UK. oh dear.
If these people scream in my face I’ll just reply “HRH Prince Andrew” and walk off.
I am so so happy. That’s all I can say.
@ Islandgirl, me too!!! The constant harassment and lies that they published about MM was done fully with the knowledge that they knew that the lies would harm her and make her life miserable. The Fail could care less how many lies they told or how much harm they placed upon her. I am so glad for her but I also want the judge to dig deeper into the inner workings of KP and The Firm and their roll in the constant smear campaign. Someone should be held accountable for her pain and suffering! And if the happens to be The Firm or KP, or PWT, so be it!!
Shame on KP for helping the Mail on Sunday with its defense. There’s no denying now that they were behind the smear campaign against Meghan.
Yep!
Absolutely.
Fun fact: “occupying the shadowland between improbability and and unreality” is a British judge’s way of telling you to eff off because your case has no merit.
This is almost as good as the line in my grandmothers will referring to my father and using the legal version of ‘he gets nothing because he knows what he did’. I only saw the will after she passed and that line made me love her even more.
LMBO!!!!!!
I especially enjoy the extra-ness of her statement. It’s about 15% too much, but after everything those terrible tabloids have put her through, sure, go on for at least a paragraph too long. You’ve earned it!
It could never be too much. The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday put Meghan through hell and damaged her reputation with the approval of the Royal Family just because she married Harry.
She’s a 🦁
That being said, I didn’t think her statement was “extra” at all.
No, her statement was NOT too much! Meghan kept it brief and to the point, but also included others which is so much like Meghan to think of others instead of just herself. She is an amazing woman and has had to live through this ongoing nightmare. How would you feel if you had to endure years of public harassment and outrageous lies? Never able to defend yourself? She deserves an entire week of celebrations and declarations of the judges statement. I for one am very happy for her!! And May the rest of the leeches and rats that caused her harm sink into the abyss after they have been outed by this lawsuit!!
Considering those 4 staff have quit, I suspect someone or a few will take the fall and claim the leaks are of their own doing instead of any other royal, and the Palace will or have rewarded them behind the scenes. Let’s see what happens.
It is the year of the Ox now in Asia where I am and I welcome this good news. Wishing Harry, Meghan and the Celebitchy family an auspicious and healthy year ahead!
Jason Knauf is still working for the Cambridges.
I don’t understand why so many people are crediting the RF for the win. If they have that much power, they would have ended it much sooner or ended it now. There’s still a court case so more info could come out. Besides I doubt they want to help Meghan. They would rather hurt her and feel they are mostly protected. Andrew has barely been a story. If the RM, media, and general public don’t care about sex trafficking I doubt anything else would bother them.
Agree. The judgement still allows for the copyright case which is the thing that will really put them in the shit because it means that some of their staff have breached the privacy of a member of the RF to a publication that has harassed and abused her for years. The staffers would have to testify as to why they did that. They could perjure themselves or they could tell the truth. The Palace cant be sure that they will be willing to go to prison for them, no matter how much they have been paid in ‘ severance’
The Royal Family get no credit for this. It was a straight forward case. If anything the Royal Family has been exposed for colluding with the Mail on Sunday against Meghan.
Yeah I don’t know why people are crediting the RF for this when it was just discovered that they were helping the DM with their case THREE months ago. This a win for Meg and Meg only.
The only people that I have seen credit the Royal Family are those who are suggesting that Judge Warby got kickbacks to shut down the case through a summary judgement — as if Meghan’s legal team hadn’t done a fantastic job showing that this was an open and shut case.
So I wouldn’t put too much credit to folks with the line of thinking that includes crediting the RF.
In the ruling, the judge continually slammed the defense’s arguments as “fanciful.” Or, in other words, nice try doofuses.
Congratulations to Meghan for the win. Let us acknowledge the courage and fortitude it took for her to proceed with this case. Let’s not pretend that it didn’t cost her something personally to prevail. This is real courage and this is what heroes and role models are made of. Bravo. Everyone should go out on their porches at 6 pm and give her a round of applause.
And now, as an extra bonus for Meghan, she gets to relish the idea of KP staffers shaking in their boots about the real workings of the palace being further revealed. Cue more lamps being thrown by Prince Incandescant.
Yes this was a case of real courage from the beginning. They said “it wasn’t the safe course, but the right one” and I’m happy they prevailed. I was wincing through most of it because as always Meghan took a thrashing from various quarters, but girl is steely in her determination and was not dissuaded to drop it to protect that family, or to give the bullies in the press free reign to continue to attack her.
Charles knew what he was saying when he called her Tungsten.
@Harper I feel sometimes that Meghan came into our lives to bring some justice to Diana. I know Diana was flawed but she suffered and suffered without a Harry at her side.
As for Meghan I did not know of her. I really thought she was just another actress and was going to be unremarkably average. Nice but average. But she completely and absolutely blew my mind. What an intelligent, compassionate, articulate, strong and ambitious woman. And look how Harry found the light that was dimmed for him. Look how Harry has shed the role of the Palace fool. And she can still be optimistic and choose love after all these torment that could bring a normal person into despair. Amazing my Duchess.
Wow@Alexandria Well said. You really articulated that really well. Diane would be so proud of Harry and Meghan.
Brilliant!! I was so nervous.
An amazing day. I predicted it going the other way – the copyright claim being ruled for and the invasion of privacy going to trial. YES. What is remaining can ONLY embarrass the Palace
Meghan has won summary judgement on her claim for ‘misuse of private information’. The further claim on breach of copyright is to go to trial with an initial hearing on March 2nd.
This looks like a good outcome on both counts. A clear judgement of misuse of private information plus the threat of KP staff and their relationship with the tabloid press being exposed to questioning in open court. Meghan has already exposed ‘the Palace’ for their treatment of her name on Archie’s birth certificate.
My guess is that the Mail will try to settle out of court.
I wouldn’t hold my breath on that. When it comes to going after Meghan they’ve shown they will throw sense out the window and hold tight to petty all the way over that cliff.
AHHHH So happy for her! I’m sure KP/BP did NOT want this to go to trial either!
I’m so happy for Meghan!
go on Duchess.
I’ve been busy cleaning in preparation of the Chinese New Year and I’ve just sat down for a break to get an update on this. I’m so, so happy for Meghan!
The part I expected to be a slam dunk wasn’t and the privacy part, which I expected could be sent to trial, was a clear win. It doesn’t sound like this copyright aspect will go to trial. Basically the palace four need to show up as witnesses and there is no way that KP wants them involved.
I don’t think BP had any role in the judge’s decision, mostly because I still have faith that the judiciary isn’t that compromised in the UK, at least not yet, but KP is going to be making deals with the DM to get them to agree to settle. Expect more Cambridge kids stories and photos in the next six months. Because it would have to come out which staff spoke to the DM late last year and they do not want that made public.
Very very true. The Cambridge’s are going to be even more in the pocket of the Fail now…..one day the WHOLE truth will come out.
I read that even though one part will go to trial – not sure if Mail will move forward. Apparently, Meghan does not have to appear for that part. And isn’t that what they wanted? To get her on the stand? If they don’t get that, not sure they will push so hard. And his judgment pours cold water on an appeal working out.
This pleases me immensely!🥰 So glad she won this because it was drawn out far too long. As for the other part of the case, it seems more technical, doesn’t involve just Meghan and will not have the same impact. As others mentioned, it could also open a can of worms. The BRF basically gave permission for the tabloids to declare open season on Meghan from the moment she and Harry started dating and thought they could bully and harass her for shits and giggles. They wanted to cause her genuine harm and it ended up fracturing a lot of relationships, showed the pettiness and racism of the Royal family and has not done any good whatsoever except for the paper’s bottom line. Proud she stuck to her guns and her principles. They underestimated and stereotyped her but she saw really quick what she was dealing with and knew she had to protect herself and family. Truly happy for them.
Do we know how they got the letter in the first place? Did the Thomas give it to them?
Duplicate
Yes for a price he sold his own daughter’s letter
At first I thought the palace didn’t want it to go to trial, but upon learning that someone in the palace offered information muddying the water on the copyright issue, I am no longer sure about that. The palace seems to think that it benefits them somehow if Meghan is being focused on in the media constantly and even a trial would be more damaging for her than it would be for them. Unless there’s opposing agendas at the palaces, this recent leak that she was assisted with the letter makes no sense so not sure what’s going on at the palace and how much influence they had in this outcome.
I kind of feel like that was a hail mary attempt on KP’s part, given the nature of their ‘relationship’ with the Fail. Basically the Fail was pressuring the palace to do *something* to tilt the odds more in their favor, so a KP staff member gave them that shaky defense. I don’t think the palace wants to be on trial at all, but they’ve put themselves between a rock and a hard place.
This sounds plausible given that Meghan has been their get out of jail free card since her arrival. The BM seems to be able to yank the chains of various palaces and get them to dance to their tune from time to time. I hope your scenario is correct and this will end when no one comes forward to drag this out further.
@Beach the Palace didn’t think it would go this far and made the Fail take the fall to stop it from going any further. Expect to see some DM “exclusives” from the Cambridges/kids to help repair the relationship.
Firstly, a huge congrats to my favorite couple, the Sussexes o this big victory. The shade in Meg’s statement is priceless, I’m here for it.🤗🤗🤗
Soconfly, the AP/DM/MOS/MoL is gonna lose big money on this. No amount of Cambridge kids exposure is gonna make up for that. I think what happened is KP might have promised the tabs that Harry and Meghan would just lay down and let these several buses run over them, so the tabloids printed. When the Sussexes sued the tabs went to the palace(s) and laid down the bottom line. They were again promised that there would be pressure and the case would be dropped. Now its come this far and the tabs are losing on everything. They’ll be out for blood. Murdock isn’t gonna lose money and face to just get Cambridge kids pictures. So the Cambridges can whip out their kids all they want and sacrifice them at whatever 😈 altar, it won’t matter because the tabs will take their pound of flesh regardless, mark my words.
There are definitely opposing agendas within the Palace……they are far from being a united bunch and probably why Harry wanted his own independent office rather being tied in with others, nobody trusts anyone especially the top officials who wield the real power.
Congratulations, Meghan! You did it! And LOL at the judge’s words about the copyright claim. They are toast.
Meghan is a dream legal client. Organized, intelligent, focused and with a mountain of Receipts. They should rename her the Queen of Receipts. I am so happy for them and proud of them for standing up for themselves and their child.
Thank goodness she was wise enough to know exactly what her father would pull. I believe she wrote that letter she was hoping he wouldn’t sell her out, but I think deep down she knew he would. He wouldn’t be able to resist. His stupidity and greed set all of these wheels in motion. She’s a genius. Winning this is just icing on the cake.
Yup! Straight up diabolical but using it for goodness, not evil. I love her.
Absolutely Agree, hope for the best but know who you are dealing with. It is sad that she has to be that way with so much of their family but you have to protect yourself!
So this also takes the wind out of Thomas Markle’s plans to testify against Meghan?
Excellent!
The judge had already ruled earlier that he was not relevant to case and if really wanted to testify he could issue a witness statement.
If the judge is any kind of good man, he probably enjoyed issuing that statement to Markle. What kind of father does what he has done to Meghan? I imagine decent men must be aghast at his reprehensible behavior.
Happy for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The more troubling part is how much sway and influence Betty and KP have on the judicial system on that little island. It was obviously to their advantage not to have this phase end in a trial. Kudos anyway.
Omid Scobie just said this on Twitter: There seems to be some confusion online about today’s outcome. The ruling was an all-out win on copyright AND privacy for DOS. The next hearing is to simply determine damages and the only trial that could happen would be if someone claims they’re entitled to a portion of damages.
Ok so Scobie clarified that she won on everything. Good! So who in the palace or her former staff are going to claim part of the copyright? Does anyone actually think they’ll come forward and stake a claim? That would be interesting.
I posted above that the judge invited anyone who felt they owned the copyright to join the Fail’s defense claim. He also said that nothing in the statement from the Palace Four saying they would cooperate added or detracted to the merits of Meghan’s case. So her win is already set. But, it’s to be determined if any of the Palace Four get pressured into joining the case so that the Fail can drag this out for more clicks and to act as if Meghan’s victory isn’t closed and shut. Even then, the judge will have to see some credible evidence that this new joint copyright claimant has merit to go even further. Can you IMAGINE the theatrics if any one of them steps up and decides to join the Fail?
And now we know why The Guardian etc. have been putting out articles about The Queen and Prince Charles using the system to hide their money, etc. They knew the deal had been made and BP/KP put pressure on the judge to close the case!
Will you please stop, this was a case about copyright, basically an open and shut case, the case should’ve been over, if the judge didn’t allow to MOS to put on a dog and pony show.
That is not how it works in the UK. There is no way this Judgement is a result of ‘pressure’ from the Palace. The Judge allowed the MOS to present their case fully so there can be no complaint that they didn’t have every opportunity to make their defence. The meticulously detailed Judgement is backed up with case law to support every decision. The MOS is trying to use the Palace in its defence. This is where any pressure has been applied.
If I understood what the Judge said, the Fail has to send letters out to the Palace Four giving them a set amount of time to be added as a Defendant in the lawsuit. So, the Judge is saying, “put your money where your mouth is. If you’re claiming your own part of the copyright, then you need to be a named Defendant. Does anyone here think that any one of the Palace Four will be doing that? If none of them will agree to be a Defendant, I think the Judge will throw that win to Meghan. I don’t know British law, so someone needs to weigh in on this. Also, it really seems to me that this Judge gave the Fail a LOT of latitude in bringing so much into this case. For some reason, I keep thinking he really enjoyed writing this order. This really is probably the very best outcome. Now the Palace has to decide what they’re going to do. Is this Judge also sending a message to the brf?
To be added as either a Defendant or a Claimant. As I understand it, if they are claiming co-ownership of copyright and did not give consent to publication then they are joint Claimants. If they as co-owners did give consent then they are joint Defendants in Meghan’s claim against the MOS. Either way they are screwed.
im so happy for her. at times i thought it’d be best for her to let it go, because the abuse was relentless. but she was courageous and resolute, and has been rewarded accordingly.
I am so happy for Meghan! I am also happy that the haters are so upset. Seeing their reactions have made my day.
They’re soooooo salty on Twitter, nit-picking every word of her statement. I love it.
I saw a few of the haters tweets and it really is pathetic. They are so emotionally invested in her losing the case that they don’t know what to do with themselves. They think the system is rigged in her favor and that she lied to the court. Some are making all kinds of crazy accusations on the Courts social media pages. Sound familiar, like the MAGA Qconspiracy crew. I think a lot of Meghan’s fans weren’t expecting much in terms of justice so while very happy about the outcome and appreciate everything being on the record, they had moved on and looking forward to their next steps. This just showed how corrupt and damaging the mainstream media are in the UK and how they single out individuals for abuse if they don’t fit the right wing mold. Also pleased by how many others were happy with the outcome, those not interested in royal nonsense and gossip. The royal reporters need to move on from their nastiness and find a new beat or stick to tiaras, teas, and receptions.
Piss Morgan is clearly HUGELY affected, he’s literally just come on the One Show (7pm U.K. time) and has just mock-freaked out by saying “You’ve INVADED MY PRIVACY by showing a childhood photo of me!”
He’s constantly thinking of Meg, the absolute creep.
He’s also being deliberately obtuse the subject of privacy. He knows what she means when she talks about privacy. He knows it’s not about a childhood photo. He is unhinged and seriously needs to go to some sort of MM rehab.
Piers is obsessed with her. Her and William freak me out with how obsessed they are with hurting/defeating her. They have a very Colonialism ownership vibe with her and I am glad she is an ocean away.
He is not affected. He is just pretending because he needs the oxygen from the attention.
Dollars to donuts, Thomas markle have been torn to shreds by Meghan’s lawyers.
I think he knows his relationship with Meghan is over, there is no going back.
Could Tom claim copyright ownership and a payout for himself? He could claim he has ownership of said letter and was duped by DM? The perennial victim.
I don’t think he can claim anything. Not sure how UK law goes, but in the US he would have ownership over the physical copy of the letter Meghan sent him, but not over the words. Similar to how if you buy a book or someone gifts you a book, you own the physical book but you don’t own the words in the book. And apparently Markle never gave the Fail the actual letter, just a copy. So if UK law is similar to US law on this, then he is S.O.L.
No because he gave them the letter and at the end of the day in the copyright case only Meghan can claim copyright because she wrote it, that was the whole point. Tom as receiver of the letter is owner, but does not own the copyright and while he can give/show to whomever he like, the media legally needed Meghan’s permission as the copyright holder before publishing all or any part of the letter under UK law. The other issue was privacy invasion which she also won and he doesn’t receive a share in that either. So no, he can’t get anything, that loser needs to crawl away and hope Meghan turns up to his funeral some day.
I just love how she “particularly thanks” Harry and her mom, but (rather specifically) makes no mention of her royal in-laws. By saying nothing, she all but shouts a big, fat, “Ha!!” in their faces. It’s perfect. 🙂
And the British press was just saying how close the Queen was to them and how sad they are that they can’t see Archie and how often they have Zoom meetings. Pathetic. The Sussex’s are done with the RF.
Congratulations to the Duchess of Sussex! This is a much deserved and long overdue win. Now, I only wish the Fail would f’off and leave her alone. But, we all know she is their “royal” news cash cow, and they will continue to skirt the laws of privacy and libel to get those clicks.
Good for her
Yay Meghan! 💚 Happy for her!
I’m so happy for her, she deserves this win. It has made me so mad the last 4 years seeing them dehumanise her on a daily basis. She had some of the most powerful people in the UK collude against her and they all thought they were untouchable. That they could do whatever they want without consequence. Meghan has had to live with this villainized caricature image that they created. I’m so proud of her for fighting back. And I’m so proud of the fact that throughout this 4 years smear campaign, Meghan never once slandered and leaked anything about that family. The were throwing mud at her on a daily basis, and she walked out with her head held high. She has remained absolutely credible throughout all of this, whilst they are left looking like the racist trash they are.
I am so happy for Meghan! She deserves that justice.
From her statement:” I share this victory with each of you- because we all deserve justice and truth, and we all deserve better” Thank you Meghan! Seeing the petty trolls reacting to the news does make me feel like I won a personal victory lol
So so happy for Meghan! How awesome it is that Archie has such a courageous mom who is willing to stand up for herself and him and Harry and Doria, even against powerful institutions.
I wonder if Eugenie is getting pressure to release baby name ASAP as a distraction? Hope she can ignore and choose when she wants to release it.
I am so happy for the Sussexes and their allies.
What a GREAT day.
I take joy in the fact that 2 fat egotistical blowhards are sure to be disappointed in this verdict – Thomas Markle and Piers Morgan. The double-vile twins.
To me the judge did slap down Bad Dad:
“It was, in short, a personal and private letter. The majority of what was published was about the claimant’s own behavior, her feelings of anguish about her father’s behavior — as she saw it — and the resulting rift between them.
“These are inherently private and personal matters.”
TT gave written testimony that he gave the letter to the Fail and instructed the rag use excerpts. The judge ruled TT he had the right to defend himself on the People article but not use the letter. The judge ruled Bad Dad is the Bad Guy here.
I mean, if any of the Palace Four end up having to testify, any lawyer with half a brain will be asking them how much direction came from senior members of the RF, and who they were. Meghan’s lawyers seem to have way more than half a brain, so I’m guessing the RF isn’t so keen to see this trial go forward either. There’s just so much potential here for so much dirty laundry to spill out.
The trail is over, it is all about awarding damages, the Dailyfail is claiming someone helped Meghan with the letter and they have to prove it now.
If the palace wanted to end the case why did a senior royal source meet the fail 3 months ago to assist their defence (which legal experts had generally opined was hopeless on copyright infringement)? Or did this source go rogue or go to them under duress?
The judges decision here seems consistent with legal precedent & lack of proof from the Fail (especially given they had access to 6 months of Meghan’s correspondence).
When the Fail was allowed to amend the defence to include Finding Freedom, the court did say didn’t mean their argument was compelling. Fact the book came out so long after their article & referenced the Fail’s article re the letter apparently meant it wasn’t helpful. I also think the Fail was given leeway with it being a high profile claimant to ensure judge would be seen as fair & provide less opportunity for appeal.
Thomas Markle was thoroughly exposed as a liar by the judge. I wonder if media will still go near him.
Well done Meghan and team. I wonder what the palace is briefing reporters for this weekend’s papers.
They keep telling on themselves. Notice how the palace did not send the royal source to support Meghan’s position that she owned the copyright. They sided with the Fail that she did not own the copyright. It’s literally working against one of their own. They are spiteful and I don’t know how this aspect is not reported on more. This alone should tell us what the heart and soul of the people in the palace is like. Cold as ice.
Now the whole world (emphasis on bullies William and Kate, the courtiers, the Royal Rota and the rest of the carnival of so-called royal experts) knows that the Duchess of Sussex is no push over. She is courageous and brave to fight for her rights no matter who the opponent is. Much respect. Prince Charles called her tungsten for a reason. I’m glad the coverage of her win is on a global level. It teaches all those marginalized individuals to not be afraid to stand up to those who play god. “ Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”- MLKjr
There are so many ignorant people about laws and privacy. These trolls on the other site keep talking out of the side of their necks-really don’t understand the laws in which they live-these must be 10 year olds writing on these sites-I wonder what they have to say about Meghan and Harry’s privacy when they lived in the Cotswolds-the tabs sent a copter to look inside their house and took pics of the rooms in the house-did they ask the Sussexes permission to do this-no they did not-All these sites that are hating on Meghan or Harry are stepping in shit up to their necks-Meghan and Harry’s people will be looking for false info trying to smear them-If I were these sites I would watch what I print and comments of others smearing without any facts-Harry and Meghan have already stated they will not talk to tabloids about anything they are doing-They will communicate when they need to about things important to them to publications that are doing news accurately and fairly-Making up bullshit is not the way to go-God bless the Sussex family.
I am super happy for megs, Harry ,Archie and Doria. A break in stress from the toxic British media and the British royals. Go continue to live your best lives without them breathing down your neck. I hope that sperm doner she once called her dad can find some decently within himself to finally be a real man and father and shut the f up for once in his pathetic life.