The big news yesterday was that Justice Warby ruled in favor of the Duchess of Sussex in her summary judgment. This pertains to her lawsuit against the Mail/Mail on Sunday, which in 2019 published long excerpts from Meghan’s handwritten letter to her father, Thomas Markle. Meghan sued the Mail for copyright infringement, among other things. While Justice Warby allowed the Mail’s lawyers to grossly expand their defense and cause numerous delays for extended fishing expeditions into Meghan’s life, the judge ended up finding in favor of Meghan. The facts of the case were always pretty simple, and it would have been an open-and-shut case, but the Mail wanted to make it into a huge, years-long mud-slinging melodrama. In the Mail’s coverage of the case they lost, they noted “The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline said they would be considering an appeal.” The newspaper’s spokesperson expressed surprise and disappointment and proclaimed that they “carefully consider the judgement’s contents and will decide in due course whether to lodge an appeal.” LOL.
As for the summary judgment, it’s full of interesting details and, well, judgments from Judge Warby. As I’ve read more of the text of the summary judgment and more analysis, I understand that this really was a completely solid WIN for Meghan. Justice Warby said – in polite Brit-speak – that the Mail’s case is deranged and unhinged and they’re just out here claiming all kinds of ridiculous sh-t about Meghan. He rejected the idea that the People cover story in January 2019 necessitated Thomas Markle’s release/sale of Meghan’s letter. He rejected the notion that Meghan gave up her right to privacy by marrying Harry. He said plainly that all of the hysteria over what Meghan and her staff might have told Omid Scobie doesn’t mean anything to this case. He used words like “flimsy,” “hopeless,” “fanciful” and “unlawful” to describe the Mail’s actions and their defense. Goldburn P. Maynard Jr. did an excellent thread explaining the summary judgment:
Ok, I have my hands on the summary judgment. I will delay my nap to read it now. 😂
— Goldburn P. Maynard Jr. (@deathntaxesprof) February 11, 2021
Justice Warby set a date for the next hearing/trial/whatever for March 2nd, which will be when he possibly hears if there is any other other copyright claim for the letter, meaning if Jason Knauf or the other “Palace Four” want to come forward and say that they co-wrote the letter, now would be the time to do it. If not, damages will be awarded solely to Meghan for the violation of HER copyright. Speaking of, Meghan issued a statement after she won her case:
“After two long years of pursuing litigation, I am grateful to the courts for holding Associated Newspapers and The Mail on Sunday to account for their illegal and dehumanizing practices. These tactics (and those of their sister publications MailOnline and the Daily Mail) are not new; in fact, they’ve been going on for far too long without consequence. For these outlets, it’s a game. For me and so many others, it’s real life, real relationships, and very real sadness. The damage they have done and continue to do runs deep.”
“The world needs reliable, fact-checked, high-quality news. What The Mail on Sunday and its partner publications do is the opposite. We all lose when misinformation sells more than truth, when moral exploitation sells more than decency, and when companies create their business model to profit from people’s pain. But for today, with this comprehensive win on both privacy and copyright, we have all won. We now know, and hope it creates legal precedent, that you cannot take somebody’s privacy and exploit it in a privacy case, as the defendant has blatantly done over the past two years.
“I share this victory with each of you—because we all deserve justice and truth, and we all deserve better.
“I particularly want to thank my husband, mom, and legal team, and especially Jenny Afia for her unrelenting support throughout this process.”
Jenny Afia is one of Meghan’s lawyers at Schillings, the law firm Meghan hired to defend her in this case. Meghan didn’t go with one the Queen’s lawyers. That was important. Diana didn’t go with the Queen’s lawyers either for her legal matters. As for the statement… Meghan is deeply relieved to get this off her back. I doubt she imagined that it would drag on this long, and that the Mail would use her lawsuit to drag her even harder. I hope she ends up with a HUGE amount in damages.
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.
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) February 11, 2021
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
The darkness has held sway for far too long, I believe that with this ruling and the impeachment trial in the US that the light is breaking through and will shine bright again soon!
I really doubt it. The Daily Mail (and other newspapers) have lawsuit expenses built into their business model, whether budgeted or as insurance. This is likely just another business expense to them which generated lots of content and likely gained more page clicks rather than losing them.
Hi Mara, I was speaking in a larger sense of light breaking through and darkness receding not specifically to the BM.
Cool, do you mean the light breaking through just in the USA or elsewhere? Cause the British tabloids (tabloids, not media) hold a lot of sway in UK debate and its very unlikely that this judgement will change that.
There’s plenty of new and existing darkness around elsewhere, see coups in Myanmar, China rewriting pandemic history and oppressing Uighers, Russia arresting Alexi Navalny again, a Polish Court opening the door to historians being sued by Holocaust deniers, the rise in extreme poverty due to the pandemic…
Thanks for enlightening me about the coups on Myanmar and all of the the other points of darkness you mentioned. Now I feel rather silly and uninformed for writing what I did.
Hi Harla, don’t feel silly, although the world will always have difficult events, I agree that this moment of her winning is definitely lightness shining on us, even is it doesn’t last very long! The UK press will not stop, and in fact, may be even more vindictive because of this loss. But all of that is tomorrow, for today we can be happy!
“This is likely just another business expense to them which generated lots of content and likely gained more page clicks rather than losing them.”
One of the Daily Gestapo articles on Meghan winning her lawsuit had 7K comments in 8 hours. In the long run, The Daily Gestapo probably made a ton of $$$ and BPS off running stories on their lost court case and possibility of appeal.
Thank goodness Mara’s here to dash any and all hope!! Bonus points for making an optimistic person feel foolish. We wouldn’t want any light or hope to lift our spirits. No!! Let us instead focus on all the darkness and NOT let in any of the glimmers of light. Don’t celebrate yet everybody, Mara’s found more problems!!!
Cool. Way to go Mara, way to go!!!!!!!!!
A similar judgement against the media for publishing Charles’s journals in 2005/6 didn’t change their practices. I doubt this summary judgement will change tabloid behavior either.
Harla, don’t feel silly!!!! Yes, there are tremendously horrible things happening in the world that will continue to happen. But it’s important to celebrate and feel good about the small wins for our own mental health and continued enjoyment of life. Will bad things continue to happen? Of course. Does enjoying the small wins mean we don’t care or won’t continue to fight the other crappy stuff? Duhh, no! I’ve been thinking about this in my own life recently. I’m always thinking about the next issue, the next problem, that I don’t enjoy the small wins I’ve made over the years or enjoy where i am today and that’s not good. Seeing Megan win this, after two long years, made me feel good and dang it, I’m going to enjoy it for a bit.
Ps. I’m still holding out hope that the senate will find that orange fool guilty. Idky but I’m hopeful. And even if they don’t, this trial was still worth it.
@harla, I feel the same, there has been a shift in a number of areas.
I understood what you said, Harla, and I want to be more like you. More optimistic, more kind. I’m trying.
Placing this on par with the Trump impeachment trial made me literally lol.
I’m so happy for her that it’s so decisively over. There are those trying to claim that she has to go to trial on the copyright (I actually thought that was the case at first because of those people yesterday), but no, it looks like that’s just if Poor Jason wants to claim co-authorship and a portion of the damages.
They invaded her privacy, they violated her copyright and that’s a fact that’s been proven in a court of law.
Some of the royal reporters have been extraordinarily quiet about this though…
The RR’s know it’s done. I think they’ve been deluding themselves that Meghan and Harry would return with their tail between their legs and give them access. They know that with every lawsuit and win, with each project and success, those days are done and they’ve been ignored and defeated. They’re traumatized and are in a tailspin. They would rather not move on and accept what is. That’s why you have people like Angela Levin literally losing their marbles. None of their tactics have worked and have only made things worse for them.
I saw that one of the RRs was saying Meghan’s case was a win for the RF, because even royals deserve privacy. I believe it was Camila Tominey. My eyes rolled back so hard. Really? All of the royals deserve privacy now? Even Meg? They are such hypocrites. But other that, most of them have been silent. They’re probably trying to find an angle that makes Meghan look bad.
She’s so full of it. I think she’s saying that because Eugenie followed the Harry and Meghan playbook around her sons birth and the Cambridge aren’t using the Rota photographers and are move active on social media. She’s sees the Sussex influence on that family, they all do. But we all know that media has that family by the heel and the reason they’ve been obsessing over the Sussexes is because they won’t be controlled and used like the rest of them. They won’t play the game like the rest of them.
She really wrote a whole ass article saying Meghan’s case shows the royals aren’t public property. For real? The nerve of these people.
And I highly suspect that this win for Meghan, is really going to have the RF tap dancing to the BMs tune even more.
I think the outpouring of support for Meghan after she won yesterday caught some of the RRs off guard. It turns out most people DO think even royals are entitled to some privacy, and that most people DO remember William insisting on privacy for his family, and that most people DONT think tabloids should be able to print whatever they want.
So now we’re seeing this scrambling about how the royals are entitled to privacy – which some RRs have always said, but only for the white royals. Meghan was never entitled to privacy, except now that a court has said she was.
I’m really glad I don’t have Tominey’s nerve in my tooth.
The caucacity.
So happy about this. This should be proof to the palace and BM that enough is enough and stop with the harassment but I doubt it. I do wonder though how the BM and RF’s relationship will go forward because that family has no leaks, the Sussexes are clearly done and they will litigate without fear. That family is walking on eggshells at this point because those tabloids that have them by a string are going to need clicks and views again. Is it a coincidence that the Guardian had stories on Charles and the Queen, the Sun exposing the Tindalls? To me that was a warning shot. The media is sitting on loads of dirt about them including Will and Kate. I don’t think we have even seen the full aftershocks of Sussexit yet.
I agree Brit and don’t think that we will see the full aftershocks until the Queen passes.
I think the Guardian reporting probably is a coincidence. They’ve been proudly republican (with a small R) for a some time now and woould never miss an opportunity to investigate how the monarchy unduly influences Government (see their earlier reporting and campaigning on Prince Charles’ Black spider memos to ministers).
The Guardian has never particularly been pro-monarchy on a good day. That’s one of the reasons why, I suspect, they never really took up Meghan’s cause when she was still a part of the BRF, even though the issues she was facing wrt racism and misogyny were right up their alley in terms of discussion. Fair play to them for that, I guess, because at the very least they were consistent on the subject. But the Guardian is not a British tabloid by a long shot. They are very much a liberal-left leaning broadsheet who stay away from the sorts of talking points discussed in the pages of the Fail, or the Dim.
DM have buried this story. Hilarious. Even the snarky articles about her not wearing stockings got more prominence than this. Glad it’s being covered by CNN and others, that will get it into the permanent public consciousness. I hope there’ll also be some prominent think pieces or a documentary about the tabloid press assault on her.
Also let’s be clear, DM always knew they would lose. Their goal was to get her facing off with her father in court thereby generating more clicks and sells as well as feeding the rage machine against her and Harry. So the real victory here is that she won by summary judgement and they will never get their humiliating storylines.
I fully expect her sperm donor and his evil spawn to crawl out of the woodwork and somehow begin to paint this as a victory against him personally, as if the damages will come out of his pocket. I also fully expect for DMs new running narrative to be about her donating the damages to a charity. They’ll deny she did it, then they will claim it’s all just PR and then they’ll attack her for not topping up the donation with enough of her own money. With every victory opens new battle front lines. Stay alert Meghan.
Thomas Sr is truly evil and has lied about everything! If you read the court papers, Goldburn Maynard Jr as you see above, his twitter feed breaks down the whole summary. There is one part that details parts of her letter, how H&M offered to help him with the press before the wedding if he did collude with them, even if that would mean not being able to do this for their own children going forward, and he STILL lied and denied it. So sad how this shows how much worse he was than we thought, if that can even be possible!
The DM had a story late yesterday (UK) – early today (USA) which generated 7K comments in 8 hours. The DM is not throwing the story in our faces but they really are not hiding it.
I don’t know what you are looking at but the article currently has 2000 comments despite being up 24 hours. I don’t know if we are allowed to post links but it’s the article with the headline;
“Meghan Markle wins privacy case against Mail on Sunday and MailOnline over letter to father WITHOUT a trial. Publisher considers appeal”.
By Vivek Chaudhary and Ross Ibbetson For Mailonline
Its also did not premiere at the top of the scroll as all other negative Meghan news does. In fact it has not been in the top 10 even once.
Apparently the Queen’s lawyers told them not to sue. Plus, it was probably hard to trust lawyers that work for the Queen. Let’s see if Jason Knauf will claim copyright of Meghans letter.
He wouldn’t dare, I’m sure, as interesting as that would be. That would risk exposing faaaar too much about the palace workings if he had to prove he had enough involvement to claim copyright.
William would rage for days!
I doubt he’ll come forward. It’ll just set a precedent that aides can go to court and claim copyright over communications and whatever if they get leaked or something.
The BRF probably want to move on from this as well and won’t let Jason go to court and drag this out.
And the co-copyright claim is bullsh*t anyway. I don’t think Meghan would need a whole ass team to right a letter to her own father. Jason, or any of the palace four, probably just reviewed the letter for information regarding the palace as many of you here have said.
@JT: I think the judge said as much lol. He basically said that the Mail’s defence for copyright was bs (in judge terms) and that a trial will only go forward if anyone from the palace joins and then it’ll only be to decide if they get damages too.
@ Amy Bee, I am certain that Petty Betty’s lawyers were speaking at the request of her, any other attorney would have seen that Meghan had a case and taken it. There is no possible scenario that the Petty Betty would have been delighted in any circumstance that Meghan and Harry sue any RR publication. As we see now, they will hopefully get the idea that Meghan and Harry are willing to fight when they have been so viciously attacked by spreading lies and intend harm, as they all do.
QEII sued for copyright in the 1980s when one of her Christmas Speeches got leaked to some tabloid and the tabloid published the speech a day (may be two days) before the QEII gave the speech (address) on Christmas Day.
I would think that, ethically, the Queen’s lawyers could not take the case, even IF Meghan had wanted them to. They probably know dirt on the royal family that would create a conflict of interest and affect their loyalty to the client. I imagine it was the same with Diana’s situation.
The reaction by the haters on Twitter has been hilarious. I’m so glad MM won her case. She deserved it.
It has been hilarious watching their meltdowns. Their holding onto to the word “trial” without knowing/caring what that trial is going to be about aka should Jason get damages as well if he’s co-owner.
Reminds me of the QAnon nutters getting upset that Trump was inaugurated and Obama, Clinton and Biden weren’t arrested.
This. Some of the reactions are downright psychotic, though. The really unhinged are attacking Warby and claiming the judgement means an end to free speech for the “common” and “poor” folks. Like they don’t know the Fail is making big bank off their clicks and stupid comments. And, yes, @Sofia, some sound just like our home-grown extremists and MAGAs.
Funniest comments I read were the ones are attacking Warby along the lines of
‘How can the judge decide a case without having a trial and hearing the DM’s witnesses and evidence.”
“Warby wants a job in Hollywood.”
“Let’s start a “go-fund-me” fund to pay legal expenses of DM to file an appeal of the summary judgement”
“Comments about QEII taking away Meghan’s title at the one year review in March 2021” The posters were constantly reminded after every post that the review was cancelled and that the DM had written at least four stories on the matter.
“The real person whose privacy was viloated and infringed upon was Thomas Markle because he was the one who rightfully owned the letter and if he did not care that the DM violated him why should Meghan care if she was violated.”
“Why would Warby give all the money to Meghan when it really belong to Tom Markle, Sr as he owned the letter and his daughter abandoned him to grift off the Royal Family and steal the British taxpayer.”
I am not making any of this up!
DM drives this type of hate and thrives on it. The DM will eventually incite a riot and causing human physical harm to anyone who gets in the mob’s way.
I cannot get over some of those Poor Thomas Posts on social media about how Meghan “hurt him”. Never mind that he rushed to the media to bash her and he’s supposedly working on a “documentary” about Meghan. Ridiculous.
Some are saying they are done following Meghan because all she does is win LOL. Good!
This 4 year smear campaign didn’t work. Meghan has a lot more supporters now than she did before. People are seeing how awful she was treated.
Thomas really lost. He is just a sad footnote in all of this. He will always be remembered as a pathetic father that sold his daughter out for some money. The tabloids won’t want anything to do with him now. He lost the only daughter that gave a damn about him. Shame.
Yep. That’s the most tragic part about this. He really thought Piers and most of those losers gave a damn about him.
@Ginger & @Brit
Feeling both these things so strongly.
The best ones I saw were where people were saying, “She only won because the Queen had to step in and talk to the judge!” And the replies to those comments were sorta like, “So you admit then that the Queen is corrupt and can step in at any time and wield her influence?”
Crickets.
And aren’t these the same people who literally jump for joy telling everyone that the Queen hates Meghan and she’s going to strip her titles away.
Only for them to turn around and say that the Queen stepped in. For someone she supposedly hates.
Exactly. They don’t even know what they’re talking about or even what they are mad about. Their brains are simply telling them ‘hate Meghan! hate Meghan! hate Meghan!’
As if that 50-page legal judgment, full of sophisticated analysis, citations, and lots of big words, was just whipped up overnight by Judge Warby because the Queen said so. People are idiots. That judge is working in the legal arena and is going to follow and interpret the rule of law only, knowing that his critics will be his peers and not the psychos that troll the Sussexees.
I am too!!! I hope that they were all sacked and must now live in the streets🤬. In the gutter where they belong.
BOSS STATEMENT DUCHESS.
Thomas must be deflated, he thought he was going to be a star witnesses, turns out in court documents, he is a proven liar and had no bearing on the lawsuit.
Did Meghan twist the knife in thanking, Harry, Mom and the lawyers are a given.
Between this and no one caring about Samanthas book, the Markles know it’s over. I don’t even think the tabloids will even pay attention to them anymore and the US won’t touch them. Thomas literally got played and lost. He was used by the press and they’ll toss him aside like he’s nothing. That’s tragic to me.
And I still cannot name one of Meghan’s Black relatives except her mother, Daria.
Huh.
@Tiffany, there are out there working regular jobs and minding their business.
Doria’s parents passed, she was the only child from that marriage, 2 half brothers and half sister from her father.
Tiffany – Meghan’s mother Doria was an only child and Meghan was caretaker for her grandmother Jeannette until she passed in 2000. Doria’s father passed in 2011.
Doria has three half-siblings and a stepmother, and despite the stepmother talking to the Daily Mail we don’t know what Meghan’s relationship was to them.
A hater brought Samantha’s book and said it was very disappointing lol. The haters are having a bad time right now.
@Yoyo – I think that is what Tiffany was trying to say.
lol, I always knew from Day 1 , The Judge would never allow daddy’s MINOR TRIVIAL side show to be presented in court in Person..
What DM wanted was a Johnny Depp type trial Daddy vs Meghan. Meghan is not a fool.
Can’t wait to see if the palace 4 will put themselves out there for a slim chance at winning damages 🙂
I was actually wondering about them yesterday. It must be embarrassing to be caught out trying to level the playing field for The Mail, only for the judge to tell the whole world that your presence wasn’t really required. What the hell were they thinking trying to help The Mail?
If the Palace 4 did not help the Mail then the Mail would help themselves to a big helping of the Palace 4.
And I’ll say it again. This was won by Meghan. I seriously doubt the RF had anything to do with this. Just a few months ago the palace was helping the DM with their case against Meghan. I can’t believe after everything the royals have been doing to H&M since they’ve left, people would think that the RF shut this down. Please. They were praying for her to lose along with the BM, which is why they were assisting the defendants.
I’m sure she’s happy that 2+ years of this is all over. Both her and Harry can move on. It’s also a reminder that now Meghan will come to the UK when and if she wants to (for example funerals) as she has no /legal/ obligations to go there anymore (unless she sues again and that goes to court).
She had the entire establishment stacked against her and she still came out on top.
@ Sofia, she is certainly someone who was able to battle it out with not only the Fail, but The Firm as well!! I am genuinely happy for her as she has certainly endured more than I could ever encounter.
Meghan is a strong, smart, independent and fierce woman of her own making. The fact that she addressed everyone in her announcement displays a woman who is empathetic and humble that she is in a place to hold those accountable that are harmful to people and women especially.
And Harry was lucky to have met her and knew what a wonderful woman she is!! May they both be extremely happy!!
yes we do deserve better press. It’s so funny how much the ‘neutral’ royal reporters really wanted her to lose. They are hopping mad because they’ve likely been denied a dramatic trial. anti Meghan trolls are having a meltdown. Their last hope is the year review but some say if titles aren’t stripped they are going to become republicans lol.
I think the Fail is hopping mad because today they have an exclusive about Pippa’s husband & reality tv brother in law taking furlough. The Guardian also has an opinion piece on whether Liz should be the last monarch. The royals aren’t having a great week. Wonder how they will get out of this
As for Meghan. Phew i think the royals & the press underestimated the ‘American cable actress’. The press will continue to be trash but wonder if the firm will back off seeing as she’s shown she’s not afraid to clap back on certain matters. Or is she too useful as a distraction especially as Ghislaine’s trial approaches? this weekend’s papers will be interesting.
If the Fail wants clicks and to make some money from a scandal involving the royals, I did hear a story about William being friendly with his neighbour in Norfolk. I think she’s a Marchioness and is named after a flower and has a long surname. It’s on the tip of my tongue, I swear!
Although, I’m sure it’s nothing.
Yeah, absolutely nothing to see there LOL.
“Rose Who?”
They’ve definitely underestimated her. Most of the women marrying in have nothing, like Diana and Kate. Diana came from a broken home, had no familial support, and nothing to fall back on. She was completely stuck and oh so young. Kate had no career, no money of her own, no connections, and her mother was practically dating William herself. Meghan was a fully actualized woman, with her own millions and connections. She’s been hustling since she was a teenager and she couldn’t be broken or bent by them. She also wasn’t so star struck by royalty to lose herself in the machine. The firm was too used to dealing with fragile, broken women. Because I do believe both Kate and Diana were not whole woman when they married. Diana was becoming whole and Kate is still partial to me, if that makes sense.
It does make sense and I agree completely. They werent prepared for Meghan as a fully grown woman, someone who had been hustling (using that term in the best possible light) and working and making her own career for 2 decades before marrying Harry. She had connections and was great at networking, and she continued to forge connections after her marriage. the palace was not prepared for that – and they were not prepared for the international reaction to her either. They thought they could use the RRs to control the press and to control coverage of her, they werent prepared for positive twitter stories about her to go viral, for the New York times to take her seriously, for Oprah to consider her a friend – they cant control the international spin around her and they have no idea what to do about that.
Let’s not forget Sophie, who appeared to be a whole woman when she married in but was completely willing to dim her light in order to preserve those frail, fragile Windsor male egos and to play the mean girl to stay on the Cambridges good side.
@Harla – good point about Sophie, but I think the difference is that she doesnt have anything to fall back on. Yes she did PR work, but she doesnt have the millions that Meghan has, or the connections. When Harry and Meghan decide to walk, they had a contact list full of influential and powerful people who were there to support them. Sophie doesnt have that so I see her playing the game in a very different way – staying on the good side of the Queen and now William.
@harla @Becks1 Meghan also had American citizenship. If Sophie split, she would still be in the UK, where the royals could use their deep connections to power to negatively effect her life and career. The UK press could be as “in her face” as they chose. Meghan had the option to cross the ocean and come home, where she could be far away from the royal’s center of power. That distance protects her. On some level, Diana understood that. That’s why she was considering moving to New York.
Diana was totally underestimated by the Establishment IMO. She stayed in the marriage for 10 years although it was mostly a sham after the mid eighties. And she moved on, if she had lived she would have been espousing causes and doing charity work on her own. She died relatively young and had not fully realized her potential. Kate is what she is, she had no interest in working and espousing causes and not as proactive as Diana was. Diana was barely out of her teens when she married and unlike Kate, actually worked pre marriage (holding down two jobs). Kate married when she was pushing 30 and had ten years wait and did virtually nothing in the way of work, she just was waiting and waiting for the ring. She and her mother had to have strategy to make sure the wait led to the ring. Diana at least had an interest in working and had enthusiasm for it.
Harla
Sophie was older and had a career when she married in, but she was still not in the best position and leaned heavily into the BRF machine to dig her out of debt. Imo she could have made it out on her own, but she chose to be handed unearned funds if she entered a marriage to a man she mocks and a family where strong and intelligent women are disparaged.
She went in eyes open and she’s still playing the game.
@abritguest You caught that too,lol. I thought it was suspicious that the Guardian and Sun had articles exposing Mike Tindall, Queen and Charles and now the the fail is going after Pippa. That’s how you know they’re angry and the DM is clearly sending a message to William and Kate by going after Pippa. That’s why you don’t get in bed with the tabloids and make agreements with them. They’ll go after you.
@ Brit, I didn’t know what you are talking about, but I do now!! These two sniveling snakes took money from the government for furloughed employees and they are millionaires and billionaires?!?!? That’s horrendous!! I think they both married men with no scruples OR any form of a backbone, character or principal!
It also mentioned that Beckham did too but when it was published, she quickly returned it.
This case will be studied in some media law classes to come. Anyway, im so happy and relieved for meghan and looking forward to march 2nd
This statement is everything. YAS QUEEN.
I do think the initial reaction was confusing yesterday, since we were hearing that a portion of the copyright claim was still going forward, but just to determine who owned the copyright – in context of awarding damages it makes total sense. And no, I dont think anyone from the palace is going to be joining in, LOL.
This was a win not just for Meghan but for every celebrity who has been hounded by the tabs in Britain. If only Diana had someone like Meghan in her corner she would have been more protected.
Meghan thanking her mom was the icing on the cake though. I’m sure that didn’t escape her loser dad. Lol.
@Watson, you Meg thinking just her husband and no mention of the BRF would be escape that her loser in-laws?@🤣🤣🤣 I love this couple.
Meghan thanking only her mom and Harry was her making it VERY clear exactly (the only ones) who were on her side! Being diplomatic towards the BRF is officially out the window since those assholes went after her child! You never go after a mother’s child…ever! They will learn tahday!!😤
Agreed. This woman was so clever in her responses. Her excluding the royal family in her thank you said everything about how she is no longer willing to keep up the pretences about their relationship anymore. Her saying no one asked her if she was ok when she gave birth was the beginning, saying she was dictated to change her son’s birth certificate was an escalation. This lack of thanks speaks volumes. Curt. Precise. Shots. Fired.
Tungsten, Queen Meg at your service.
Why would she thank the BRF. They didn’t want her pursuing this, someone on Charles’ team denied he was supportive of the lawsuit when asked, and someone from the Fail stated in the last deposition that they has recently met with a senior palace member to get info on Meghan. It was completely appropriate to thank those who were her main support in this. What I found extremely annoying was some whiner from the BBC saying her statement was her lashing out, which is what they said about her comment on the erasure on the birth certificate. This is a terrible mischaracterization of both, and they were called out by many on it. Another comment said this shows that that there is no chance of the Sussexes reestablishing a relationship with the tabloids, when they know damn well there was never one and it was completely adversarial towards Meghan. When Meghan said women had a voice and should use it, she meant every word of it.
On social media, the Meghan critics go on about how Diana would have “seen through her.” It just shows they don’t know the story of Diana and the royal family. Diana was cast out and treated badly by the royals, she would have totally sympathized with Harry and Meghan. She and Meghan would have been the best of friends and maybe partnered in Charity work and causes.
So many people would’ve been dancing on her grave yesterday had she lost – but they were dead silent yesterday. A few tried to save face by saying the royal family tipped the scales, but we all know that ain’t true. They never tried to tip anything in Meghan’s favor and they wouldn’t start now.
That’s funny. The RF tried to tip this case in the Fail’s favor. They wanted MM to lose, to fall on her face, be humiliated.
I’m so happy for meghan, and she was right, this is a victory for all. The media have been able to destroy people’s lives without consequence for too long and it will continue to happen. Look at Diana, Caroline flack, Amy winehouse and Britney, all targeted by the media when they were emotionally at their lowest.
Then I started thinking about all those Keenbridge stans who want the mail on Sunday to win. Do these people not realise who they are rooting for? The British media do not praise to Keens because they re so lovely and nice, their loyalty is entirely conditional. The terms of their loyalty are high. The Keens will be held hostage to the British media for the rest of their lives. They are holding Williams affair over his head every time they want something from them and have the power to push the nuke button at any time.
What is worrying is that own media industry is answerable to no one. They have absolute power, that no one can fight.
Such a profound statement. I teared up reading it. I’m so happy for her. Her grit and determination won and even when it seemed she would back down, she persevered. Many people on Omids Twitter thread mentioned Caroline Flack, Amy Winehouse and Diana- women who’s souls were destroyed by the BM and who lost their lives in such tragic ways as a result. It doesn’t escape me that the BM gleefully wanted the same for Meg. Her foresight to leave on her own terms saved her and her family’s lives. It cannot be underestimated. Such a strong woman. And such evil people.
Notice she didn’t thank the RF or the Queen. A minor detail but notable. They colluded with the BM and I think Meg is at a place where she will move on but not forget. She will remain gracious but she knows she can never rely on them. They will surely regret it. Who needs enemies with a family like that.
The royal family have never liked strong independent women coming into the firm. Those who don’t take a back seat and fall in line are fed to the wolves (Diana, Fergie, Meghan) and have had their reputatations ripped to shreds. I applaud these women for not giving in and standing their ground.
YAY!!! 🥂🎊🎉
It’s funny how much emerged in court docs and dispelled some of the big smears. A lot of the reports about fancy fixtures for Frogmore apparently weren’t true& turns out the mysterious Melissa was let go rather than quit. Harry& Meghan did try to help her dad& still wanted him at the wedding even with his lies about the pap pics. Her dad generally came out looking a complete liar. He would have probably been a totally unreliable witness but think the Mail didn’t care as long as they had the spectacle
Was also interesting to learn that Meghan had appealed to the Mail to go easy during her pregnancy before any legal action started, which was rebuffed. That Meghan was apparently banned by KP from defending herself, a no comment policy was in place concerning damaging stories about her& Jason Knauf had assured a Mail editor in that regard. That senior royals had suggested writing to her father & she had coordinated with KP staff which kind of put paid to those reports that she wasn’t taking palace advice on how to deal with her father.
Once the letter was published her lawyers had requested the Mail remove it immediately which the judge pointed out if she wanted letter out there as part of a media strategy
, why would she request take down. He also noted that contrary to this strategy defence, the Mail hadn’t approached her for consent before publishing the letter, suggesting they knew she wouldn’t want the letter out there & were publishing against her will.
The Mail had access to 6 months of her comms but seemingly came out empty re alleged involvement with the People article. I think that’s why they went to the senior royal source for a Hail Mary to force a trial. But also VERY interesting that this source was even meeting with the Mail and knowing the importance of the case to the Mail, providing info to seemingly assist their defence.
it was far worse than I thought. She’ll never come back to the UK to live. Simply Horrible way to treat someone.
Isn’t this grounds for something? The more I am finding out, the less I like what the RF, Petty Betty and BP are. It’s no wonder so many people are crying for the monarchy to stop at Petty Betty!! They have too much power and control over everything in regards to the inner workings, parliament and the laws. I think the British people should start a revolution to end the monarchy. And all of the jewels that they stole from foreign lands returned immediately. If memory serves me, I think India has been asking for certain gems to be returned which they were rebuffed.
💯 agree. She was fed to the wolves by this family. She will probably never return unless she feels obligated to go to support Harry at funerals etc… Archie will never set foot in England until he is over 18 (my guess). That statement was brilliant. She is a class act
It’s honestly infuriating to see everything they’ve put her through. She was alone in a different country (and a different CONTINENT) dealing with so many major life changes. I’m still upset by the fact that these people made her life a living hell during her first pregnancy, an occasion that’s supposed to be one of the happiest times of your life. No one can claim that the media AND the palace didn’t want harm to come to her during that time. The palace has long told the media to be easy on royal wives during their pregnancies. It’s obvious that this was NEVER done for Meghan.
DailyMail are a bunch of rotten rats .
1, took advantage of a man whom I believe has some type mental illness.
2. Publish excerpts of the letter.
3. Published in a manner to make Meghan look bad .
I believe the Judge released the entire letter to reveal the sinister methods of Daily Mail.
I hope the damages are a large enough amount to force DM to think twice before publishing private letters without permission of the author.
The Judge didn’t release the entire letter but the Judgement does quote more from the letter than was in the Mail. This was done with Meghan’s agreement. It also contains extracts from her father’s messages. The additional quotes are made to correct misleading impressions from the Mail’s stories. One false impression was that Meghan gave no financial assistance to her father whereas in reality she gave regular financial support and Thomas thanks her. Another allegation was that her letter expressed no love for her father but extracts show this isn’t true.
Oh yeah I forgot there was a part where Thomas requests more ‘help’ & kind of sounds like he’s suggesting it’s the price for his ‘loyalty’. Might explain why he was initially quiet.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he agreed to work with the paps after Meghan didn’t give in to one of his money demands. My guess is when Meghan didn’t cancel the wedding to rush to his side& Doria got lots of praise for being Meghan’s loyal& classy relative at the wedding& was seen with the royals etc, he got triggered& that’s when he agreed to work with the tabloids & the likes of Piers Morgan in earnest.
This is a great victory and I hope H&M sue the pants off of any tabloid that publishes lies about them. I think they have paid off Thomas Markle for his silence — regular monthly money from them on condition that he never again speak to the press. I’ve heard of rich and famous folks managing to quiet down relatives or ex-lovers this way, and it would be smart, since that man needs money even above attention (or, apparently, his brilliant’ daughter’s love).
“I think they have paid off Thomas Markle for his silence…”
Um…..no.
If u mean H&M paid off toxictom for his silence, that wd be a “no.” No they hvnt. His daughter’s final words to him in that letter made even toxictom himself believe that she was telling him goodbye: “I ask for nothing other than peace, and I wish the same for you’.”
Paying off any of the Markles would lead to nonstop threats of going to the media about the payoffs to get more money. Harry and Meghan knew to avoid that dysfunctional merry-go-round. And that’s why the Markles were always running to any media parasite who waved cash in their face.
An aside — I do imagine Thomas thought he could moan to Piers Morgan about his only well-adjusted child and Meghan would still send him a check. Similar to how William thought he could undermine his brother and he would still support him as he makes his way to becoming Prince of Wales and ultimately, King of Brexit Britain.
Why do you think Tom needs money, he have a house/condo in California that he rents out, two pensions, social security and a work pension.
Why would they give him money after all the abuse he dump on them.
There is nothing left for him to sell or leak, he is just too toxic, and they have dealt with him, by having no contact.
Brilliant daughter where is that coming from? she is not his only child, she was just the ATM, that changed the password.
Let’s keep this party going!
I’m happy there is another story about Meghan’s victory today because I followed this story closely and am just so happy she did not give up!
The Meg haters are completely falling apart:
Taking social media breaks because they no longer believe in the justice system
Pulling the saddest Rachel Dolezal act by black fishing and using their newfound blackness to make outlandish claims about Meghan, their “black sistah”
Claiming they’re unbothered but not being able to stop posting their negativity
Claiming that they’re glad because they have friends, family, and they don’t have to wake up next to “ugly Harrry.” Never mind that Harry dashing their Aryan Princess dreams by marrying a biracial woman is the whole reason they’re pitching an entire shit fit in the first place. And if their friendships/spouses/etc were fulfilling relationships, they would t have invested so much in Becoming K-Anons (K is for Karen) and hoping Meg would lose big.
The Venn diagram between Q-anon and K-anon is a circle.
The usual carnival of so-called experts have been very muted regarding this win. What can they say, dispute the judge and his rulings? Are they going to fight the law now? They cape for the establishment and the judge and royal courts are very much at the heart of that. I think between Meghan’s very strong clap back regarding the birth certificate which made the royal family look just horrible, Harry’s recent win against the Mail, and now Meghan’s win, what have they got? I guess the satisfaction they managed to chase the Sussexes out of the UK and the best soft power and attention the Royal family had in a generation, exposure of their pettiness and racism, and the corrupt outsize power the tabloid press have to manipulate and lie. After the exposure of the Queen and Charles interfering in laws that affect their bottom line, are they still going to call for H&Ms titles because they talked about issues like racism and social media toxicity that William is now bandwagoning on? They made themselves look unprofessional and racist as hell, and exposed the awfulness and grift of the royal family to boot. Good job royal Rota.
“The usual carnival of so-called experts have been very muted regarding this win.”
Would love to hear what Lady Colin Campbell has to say on this matter. LOL! LOL!
All of this. And they’ve got two more major blows coming next month: Meghan’s “trial” to determine damages and the end of the ridiculous imaginary “one year review”. Two knock out punches and then it’s all over for them. It’s already been over for HM but the BRF and the BM have been holding on desperately. At the end of March, after all these wins, these people will officially be seen as stalkers if they keep messing with the Sussexes, two private citizens living and working in California.
LoL….@Nyro…..u underestimate the depths these critters will plumb in their insatiable neeeeed to fixate on H&M. After March 31 when, as u rightly point out, all their voyueuristic excuses shall hv dissipated, they will smply continue to hang on for dear life to their “strip-them-of-their-titles” fantasy.
But like it or not, H is not abt to erase his heiritage & tht of his son to satisfy the troglodytes of brexitstan (who wd NOT be satisfied, in any event.)
I am so happy for Meghan with this outcome. Ha, probably I will be doing cartwheels if my knees will let me. The judgement is being reported in the international press, yet the carnival of so called experts are silent😂
I want the Markle mutts to pay for their treachery, especially Bad Dad. It’s not enough the judge released most of the letter showing he lied. I wonder if Scammy is willing to do interviews now because of this ruling. The BM is already going after Mike Tindal and Pippa’s in laws. It’s going to want its pound of flesh from the Marbles especially if the Fail has to pay up a lot to Meghan on March 2.
I want to know how much money that sperm donor received from the BM and the BRF.
I hope some decent reporter will trace the money and get pulitzer prize for the story.
Its most pleasing to me & my homegirls tht #toxictom very likely will never ever see his most successful offspring in this life ever again and heres why:
1. M now knows that she can never write to him again…for obvious reasons.
2. She already knew she couldnt spk wth him on the phone again because not only is it highly likely tht Assoc. Newspapers bugged his phone, but H&M actually had the experience of talking to him (just before the wedding) while he was being fed lines by his handlers, such tht H had to ask him abt it. (#FF)
3. M also knows tht she shouldnt send anyone to his house because AN has laid seige to him by moving one of their people beside his house and very likely, his entire house might be ‘wired.’ (hidden cameras etc) just waiting for such a visit from H& M or their people.
So….no communication between them for the foreseeable future.
Maaaaybe….perhaps….it is possible that….it could happen that….if he lives long enough….like after a decade or so…..it might be safe for her to try to make contact.
This is a win for whatever charity/charities Meghan will donate her damages to. It’s not a win in how the tabloids will co duct themselves. They do this often and will do it again. Like nota said above.. this happened when they published pages from prince Charles journal and nothing really changed. It’s not about laws or ethics. Only money.
But it seems like there’s a shift happening. They’re attacking the Sussex less and going straight for BRF adjacent family. Open the flood gates.
Just read that she is expecting!
I just checked the Daily Mail website. Jesus Christ, the comments…
And now she’s confirmed she’s pregnant again!!! Double win!!!
Congratulations to her and Harry on their expected baby!
Congrats to H&M very happy for them 🍼