Duchess Meghan called herself an only child, which ‘defamed’ Samantha Markle?

Earlier this year, Samantha Grant decided to sue her half-sister, the Duchess of Sussex. The lawsuit is for “defamation” because… Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durant wrote some stuff about the White Markles in Finding Freedom. Note that Meghan didn’t write that book. Samantha also claims that Meghan defamed her in the Oprah interview. When Oprah asked Meghan about Samantha, Meghan said:

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about people that I really don’t know but I grew up as an only child, which everyone who grew up around me knows, and I wished I had siblings, I would have loved to have had siblings… The last time I saw her must have been at least 18 or 19 years ago, and then before that, 10 years before that. She changed her last name back to Markle, she was in her early 50s at that time, only when I started dating Harry, so I think that says enough.”

That was from a clip which aired ahead of the big interview. Samantha is nitpicking those statements because… Meghan said grew up as an only child. Which she did – she was Doria’s only child. Well, Samantha has filed some sh-t in court and Meghan’s lawyers have responded:

Samantha has alleged in previous court documents that Meghan defamed her by telling untruths in her interview with Oprah and by including “false information” in the book Finding Freedom, which was written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. Samantha claimed the book caused “substantial and irreparable prejudice, injury, and harm” to her reputation.

Meghan has previously admitted in a British court case that her communications secretary briefed the writers of the book at her behest. However in the new document filed in a Tampa court this week, Meghan’s legal team argued that whether or not a member of her team briefed Scobie and Durand is irrelevant, saying, “Meghan did not make the statements; she cannot be liable for them. It is that simple.”

Meghan’s team also contested Samantha’s claim that Meghan made three false statements about her in the Oprah interview, which Samantha said falsely portrayed her life as a rags-to-riches story. Meghan said in the interview, while discussing her half-sister, that she “grew up as an only child,” which Samantha said was intended to portray her as “a prevaricator who was attempting to cash in on the fact that her barely known half-sister married into the royal family. By publishing these false facts, she was making it apparent that her older sister was an opportunist of the worst kind.”

However in their response, Meghan’s lawyers said that Meghan was talking about her “perception” of her childhood, saying: “Meghan’s response to that question that she ‘grew up as an only child’ was obviously not meant to be a statement of objective fact that she had no genetic siblings or half-siblings. Rather, it was a textbook example of a subjective statement about how a person feels about her childhood…. This perception is inherently unfalsifiable. It is hard to imagine a more personal and subjective feeling than how one views their own childhood.”

Samantha has accused Meghan of running a “premeditated campaign to destroy” her credibility and whipping up her fans against her with a false tale of her childhood.

[From The Daily Beast]

Samantha claimed Meghan was trying to portray her as “a prevaricator who was attempting to cash in on the fact that her barely known half-sister married into the royal family. By publishing these false facts, she was making it apparent that her older sister was an opportunist of the worst kind.” Imagine using that as a legal defense?? “My sister correctly called me out for being a sleazy opportunist looking to profit from a hate campaign, I’m suing!!” What a mess. Anyway, I hope this sh-t gets wrapped up soon so Samantha’s broke ass disappears. What a trashy sideshow.

Here are interview clips which aired ahead of the Oprah interview:

Screencaps courtesy of CBS/Harpo.

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140 Responses to “Duchess Meghan called herself an only child, which ‘defamed’ Samantha Markle?”

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  1. Merricat says:

    Lol. I hope the judge imposes a fine on Samantha for wasting the court’s time and money.

    • Jessamine says:

      Literally all I know about civil law comes from following Popehat on twitter, but this suit seems designed for anti-SLAPP and testing the patience of the judge

    • Elizabeth Regina says:

      Someone is paying for Scumantha’s lawyers. Follow the money and you will find who is truly pulling her strings. Sadly her own ill-written, rambling book confirms her motives.

      • Is there NO way to find out who is paying for her lawyers? Freedom of info act?
        I know in the NXIVM case, they found out it was one of the members paying everyone’s lawyers because that affected the case. (Ie-would member speak out against NXIVM if their lawyers were being paid or by NXIVM) And if the royal family and/or a tabloid is paying for Samantha’s, this REALLY affects the case and her motivations for it.

      • The Recluse says:

        Someone is funding this. Who?

      • kirk says:

        Wow. Elizabeth Regina – can’t believe you actually read Samantha’s book!

        As far as who’s funding Sam’s legal expenses, the Brit tabloids have most to gain for continuance of this silly Guessing Sam’s $75K damage claim is mostly based on lost book sales, since she’s probably still demanding payment for radio and TV appearances, and it w/b hard to point to Meghan as the sole cause of lost employment. Don’t really know why initial motion to dismiss was denied, but seems like the bulk of Sam’s case is based on ‘Finding Freedom’ that Meghan did not write. But wait says Sam, what about Meg’s 2018 email to Jason Knave giving information about her to the book authors? Duh, outside of FL 2-yr statute of limitations for defamation.

      • nina says:

        @Kirk. Apparently the motion was denied on a technicality because Samantha’s lawyers had amended the complaint just before Meghan’s motion to dismiss. The motion to dismiss was related to the old complaint and the new complaint made a number of changes. So Meghan’s lawyers will have to file a new motion to dismiss based on the new allegations and amendments. In fact the court stated that the new amended complaint rendered the motion moot.

    • PrincessK says:

      I don’t understand America. How can lawyers or anyone for that matter take all this nonsense from Scammy seriously??

      • Lorelei says:

        We don’t. At least not the sane ones among us. This should absolutely be tossed out as frivolous.

        Honestly Samantha started running her mouth in, what was it, 2016? And has consistently lost at everything she’s tried. Isn’t she exhausted by now? Give it up, Sammy.

    • Joan Rivers says:

      I have a half sister I rarely saw & wasn’t raised with; she was raised by her mom. If she had been raised w/her dad & my mom it’d be different. It always varies.

  2. Elizabeth Phillips says:

    I was the youngest and after my sister and brother had moved out, I frequently felt like an only child, so I understood what she was saying. Plus, she was Doria’s only child.

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      This, exactly. Meghan grew up with no other siblings in her house and she was her mother’s only child. Her half siblings had lives and moved away. That imo makes them a relative at best.
      Whoever is funding Samatha’s lawsuit is going to have to pay Meghan’s legal fees when this is all done. Those aren’t cheap.

    • Eating Popcorn says:

      There are 9.5 years between my two children, I often said I have two only children.

      • Mel says:

        There’s 16yrs between my first and second child and 19 between him and the youngest. He loves his brothers but he is an only child, he spent the majority of his childhood with just me.

    • Lorelei says:

      It’s so subjective! No court is going to rule on it. I can’t with this idiot anymore.

    • Debbie says:

      Many people are describing situations where the SAME set of parents had multiple children who were born many years apart. Some others were talking about “blended” families, like when two divorced people with children then marry one another, which is very different from Meghan’s situation too. In Meghan’s case, Toxic Tom had divorced the woman he had kids with, then married her mother. So, two different households, with the kids separated by more than a decade.

      This is just Scamantha making a money grab at Meghan’s expense – again. And what reputation did Scamantha have to ruin? But for her running around talking about Meghan or writing about Meghan, no one would know who she was.

  3. C-Shell says:

    Admittedly, this isn’t my area of law, but from the snippets of Scammy’s pleadings I’ve seen, I’m agog that this matter even got this far. I mean, my response (if I were Meghan’s counsel) to the representation “a prevaricator who was attempting to cash in …” would be a full throated “YES, agreed.” This idiocy will never survive the motion to dismiss.

    • SAS says:

      @C-Shell, exactly! I was stunned to continue reading Meghan’s lawyer’s kind of nebulous argument around “well it’s her perception of her childhood which is subjective”.

      It’s fair, and makes sense, and I’m sure is very legally sound. But could going on the attack not be an option? That woman is abhorrent!!

      • C-Shell says:

        You’ve gotta laugh, though — Scammy’s “legal” arguments are making Meghan’s case FOR her. Her legal counsel barely needs to counter. My fundamental question about this whole spurious suit is, who is paying for Scammy to do this? I can see that they’d love to get into some discovery to generate a whole slew of new articles they can dine out on for months, so maybe Murdoch or Rothermere? Maybe KP?

      • Lorelei says:

        Maybe some lawyer desperate to “make a name for himself” thinks that somehow this will do it? Having his name linked with MM’s?
        It’s a joke. I’m surprised it wasn’t thrown out already. It’s nonsense.

      • Wiglet Watcher says:

        In the past didn’t piers and DW have ring leader links to the Markles latest stunt? Of course someone else is funding this. This family only scams as others will pay.

  4. Amie says:

    This is so dumb. Her comment was very obvious in what she meant. I never thought she meant she was an only child. I thought she was talking about HER feelings. I hope the judge tosses this case. Samantha ruined her own reputation by being tying herself to the nutters.

    • The Hench says:

      The bit I don’t get about the ‘only child’ comment is how does Meghan saying that defame Scammy? Aside from it being perfectly obvious from both the maths and the fact that Meghan is Doria’s only child, even if they HAD grown up together in some way, Meghan could be accused of being inaccurate but not defamatory?

      Or is this part of Scammy’s wider point that Meghan’s point underscores her being an opportunistic grifter rather than a real sister – in which case, yeah, that’s exactly what the facts do. Sammy did not grow up in the same house as Meghan, she was an adult before Meghan grew out of being a toddler and M saw her twice in 20 years. Sooo….

      • Owlsyn says:

        If Meghan keeps saying she grew up as an only child, it hurts Samantha Grant’s ability to exploit their very very close sibling relationship for her own personal gain.

      • The Hench says:

        Indeed it does but that’s not defamation.

  5. Shawna says:

    Same projection/reversal here as we get from Cannot and Willnot. Meghan is the victim of a calculated smear campaign, not Samantha.

  6. Becks1 says:

    LOL, Samantha is so desperate. Meghan DID make it obvious she was an opportunist of the worst kind, but she did so without ever saying those words.

    Anyone who has siblings with a large age gap knows that the sibling relationship is different, maybe even non-existent. My husband has younger half siblings who are 11 and 13 years younger than him and while he wouldn’t say he’s an only child, he would certainly say that he grew up as an only child. He did live with them full time so there are some shared experiences, but there’s a definite difference between how he views his siblings and how I view mine (I am the youngest of 4 kids born within a 5 year time span, no choice but share every experience, lol.)

    My husband also has another half-sibling (from his dad) that he has met only a handful of times and I think he forgets about her a lot to be honest. Like I have never heard him say he has two sisters, just that he has a sister and brother. So while she’s closer in age to him, she’s not a part of his life at all, like Samantha and meghan.

    • Nic919 says:

      Meghan is literally the only child of Doria and Tom Markle and so even if she simply said she was an only child she would be correct. Besides that she qualified it to “grew up as an only child” and with half siblings over a decade older and with whom she didn’t live, again, the truth.

      This lawsuit is frivolous and only derangers try to pretend that there is any merit to it.

    • GlamGirl says:

      My kids are 8 years apart and I often tell people that it’s like having 2 onlies (and mine live in the same house!)

    • TigerMcQueen says:

      My dad’s parents died before I was born. I had two grandparents growing up.

      But my maternal grandfather saw me a handful of times when I was very young, and I went for well over a decade without seeing him, and then only once as a teen, and then never again.

      After my maternal grandmother (they divorced when my mom was a teen) died, I’d tell people I didn’t have any grandparents, totally forgetting that my mom’s dad was still alive.

      Scamantha is a grifter, and I hope the judge reads her attorneys the riot act (and makes her pay for Meghan’s attorney’s fees).

  7. Snuffles says:

    I frequently have nightmares where something or a group of somethings are attacking me. I fight back. I land significant blows, I shoot them, I slash them but they keep getting back up and continue coming after me – like zombies.

    That’s what these people are. The Markles, the British Media, The Firm. They keep losing. They keep getting their assess handed to them. They keep embarrassing themselves. BUT THEY WON’T STOP. Seriously, where is the limit with these people?

  8. WiththeAmerican says:

    Defamation is hard to prove to begin with, but to sue over something someone else wrote… and someone’s perception of their own childhood is pathetic. She’s such a toxic mess I hope she gets slapped down.

  9. Lolo86lf says:

    If I only saw my much older half sister twice in my lifetime I would feel like an only child too. Well at least Samantha accomplished one thing: Kowledge of her existence by millions of people around world. I didn’t know she exists until I read this post. Dear Samantha you can forget about being invited to Montecito ever sweetheart.

  10. Noki says:

    The ridiculous things that are entertained by lawyers or the courts in US is hysterical.

    • North of Boston says:

      The sad thing is that if this made it to the Supreme Court for some bizarre reason, the current SCOTUS would probably decide in SM’s favor in order to “own a lib” and a POC.

      • Ramona says:

        😅😬 I hope you don’t really believe that… Anyway I hope this ridiculous case be dismissed pronto

      • C says:

        It’s obviously a facetious comment but I wouldn’t be surprised at this point. Look at Alito trying to “own” Harry!

  11. AspenEmerald says:

    This is so stupid. I have a younger brother who is 19.5 years younger than me. Our other brother is 16.5 years older than him. The youngest grew up without us around; he is an only child. He does not have the same experiences with siblings that I have. We do not have the normal brother/sister relationship. We were not around each other every day. I love the kid, but that sibling relationship is not there.

    • Lyra says:

      But you love your siblings even if you aren’t there everyday nor share the same experiences. A relationship with a sibling decades older/younger is different from someone with the same age rage but it still exists. Though in Meghan’s case she had no relationship with Samantha, period. Age rage could had influenced the distance but it’s not the only factor of the non existent relationship between both sisters. That’s why she said she is an only child – she is the only child of her mother with her father, she had no considerable fraternal relationship with Samantha; though apparently you have a relationship with your younger brother since you mentioned you love him.

  12. Elizabeth says:

    I understood what Meghan meant. I have three half-siblings who were 26 to 17 years older than me, so of course, I was raised as an only child. I was not raised with my siblings. They were out of the house and living on their own when I was born. And she’s right, Samantha and Tom Jr. could have cared less about her until she started Prince Harry.

    • Snuffles says:

      I had a friend who had half sisters much older than her. The entire length of our friendship I can count on one hand how many times I saw them. And outside of that she rarely mentioned them. They simply weren’t a part of her life. From my point of view she was an only child.

    • Lorelei says:

      We all understand what she meant, and I bet even Sammy does too, but that won’t stop her from trying to make another spectacle of herself. Poor Meghan. These people are the worst.

  13. S808 says:

    She is a sleazy opportunist and I hope Meghan bankrupts her.

    • Flower says:

      But what is there to Bankrupt ?

      This is the woman who sold her two oldest children to her first huband to get out of a financial bind and because she knew she would loose.

      She would have done the same with the third except Noelle’s father is broke himself so instead she shipped her off to her grandmother.

      This case is about extracting $75k from her sister.

      I am willing to bet that this case is being fought on a contingent basis by TOD’s lawyers, because I can’t see how she is funding the retainer needed.

      • HeatherC says:

        I hope Scam is held responsible for Meghan’s legal fees, which will be considerable, her great lawyers are not cheap. Then when Scam tries to give interviews, sell whatever, whatever she is paid is garnished.

      • Wiglet Watcher says:

        HeatherC
        It was said very early in Samatha revealing herself that she might not be reporting her income honestly. She said to get SSI for disability and you do have to qualify for some, but not all of those benefits by showing income.

        Someday that’ll bite her.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Heather that’s what I was wondering! I don’t think Sammy thinks that far ahead. If she’s found liable for Meghan’s legal fees too, she’s screwed. She’ll have to think of some new sham to make some more $ off of M in order to pay it all off.

      • aquarius64 says:

        Meghan is asking the court to have Scam paid her attorney fees and court costs if she wins.

      • Nic919 says:

        If Samantha is basically bankrupt then whoever is paying for her lawyers is getting dangerously close to champerty. Which is not allowed in most jurisdictions. (Champerty is when a person with no direct interest in litigation is funding it.)

  14. MrsCope says:

    I am the oldest of four children from the marriage of my parents. My father had three older children 20+ years before I was born. I have always referred to myself as an oldest child, not a middle child because I wasn’t RAISED WITH THOSE PEOPLE! This is crazy.

  15. aerohead21 says:

    Ok as a child of a blended family I can understand why she feels like an only child and I can understand that she actually, in fact, is not an only child. I think there was a lot of opportunity for improved wording like, “I was raised as an only child because my siblings are so much older.” Either way, Samantha is just trying to make money off of her sister. That’s messed up.

    • Jan says:

      Well she did tell Toxic Tom, your other daughter, implying she wanted no connection.

    • Blithe says:

      Well, I’d go even further to say: “…my HALF-siblings are so much older.”

      If the onus is on Samantha to show or somehow prove that she was defamed, it will be interesting to see what data she has to support her position. If she has to somehow prove that she has had a close, sisterly bond with Meghan throughout their lives, she should have pictures, descriptions of events, emails they’ve exchanged, etc. I actually do know a family with a significant age gap between the older kids and the younger ones. The siblings are all very close —and would have absolutely no trouble “proving” it.

      • Both Sides Now says:

        @ Blithe, you are spot on!!! The onus is on Scammy to prove her supposed defamation? Which she won’t be able to. The attorney that chose to take this case for Scammy is suspect and I am willing to bet that someone across the pond paid the retainer as Scammy has no money to her name. The only defamation that Scammy has experienced has been by her own making, not anyone else.

        I will be delighted when Scammy loses this lawsuit and must pay for Meghans attorney fees as well as all monies that are awarded to her.

        I want to know who is funding these lawsuits for Scammy!! This is the devil in the details that must be exposed!!!!

  16. equality says:

    Meghan’s siblings would have been 17 and 18 by the time she was 2, hardly “children” she grew up with. She would certainly have no memories of them as fellow children. Anybody who can do simple math can refute Sam’s claims.

    • Snuffles says:

      Pretty sure Scammy dipped the moment she turned 18. Not long after she was married and having babies of her own. She was demonstrably not a part of Meghan’s childhood.

      • Debbie says:

        I hear that Scamantha dropped out of high school (perhaps she was pregnant), so Meghan’s graduating from college was another thing she resented about her. This woman made her own life decisions, if they didn’t work out well that’s her own problem, not Meghan’s.

  17. Jan says:

    Scammy’s new lawyer represents Trump, and his lawyers have not won a case in years.
    The Dailyfail, pegging guy or someone else is financing this lawsuit, but it may end up costing Scammy the trailer she is living in.
    Meghan may go easy on her sperm donor, but with this creature, the lawyers can deal with as they wish.
    Part of the lawsuit, Scammy claimed she use to take Meghan to music lessons and other places, and Meghan’s lawyer said, Meghan left with her mother at 2 yrs old and it is not true.

    • Flower says:

      ^^ This.

      Scammy is on her grift and maybe it’s a good thing because now she will shoot herself in the foot by having to list and disclose the occasions on which she has had contact with Meghan in order to rebut Meghan’s ‘subjective’ assertion of being an only child.

      This may end better for Meghan in the long run.

    • Lorelei says:

      Her lawyer also represents Trump?? Lmfao!! And I thought this story couldn’t get any stupider.

      • Both Sides Now says:

        I know!!! We all know how unscrupulous his attorneys are!! Many of whom are now in the crosshairs of the Jan. 6th probe!!! May they all lose their license to practice and serve jail time as well!!

  18. Ginger says:

    Samantha had 14 (!!!) twitter accounts that were used to defame Meghan. She interacted with the hate group to spread conspiracy theories about Meghan and she SERIOUSLY thinks she has a case to sue Meghan for being defamed? She has always had a bad reputation WAY before Meghan and Harry got together. Sammy desperately wants Meghan’s attention and this lawsuit is the only way. She is a lowlife and very pathetic.

    • Flower says:

      I wonder if US Law has equitable principles as per UK law from which it is largely derived.

      Under UK Law we have a maxim that says ‘those that come to equity, must come with clean hands’.

      ^^ Essentially this means that TOD would likely fail on any defamation action against Meghan for the reasons you state above.

    • Jaded says:

      She got kicked off twitter due to a “ban evasion”. It’s like stopping whack-a-mole — every time she’d create a new twitter handle the twitter police would find out and suspend it. She’s making herself look worse and worse, and this will not end well for her. I imagine the Fail or whoever is funding her will turn off the money taps when they realize they’re throwing good money after bad, because she certainly doesn’t have the money to fork over to unscrupulous lawyers on an unwinnable action.

  19. Bisynaptic says:

    I’m surprised the lawyer’s statement is so tepid.

    • equality says:

      My bet would be that there was far more to the statement and the DB (founding editor Tina Brown and accuracy, being generous, maybe 50%) chose what to quote to make it seem less favorable to Meghan.

  20. Petra (Brazen Hussy Uppity Phenpmenal Woman) says:

    To me, I’m an only child though there are about 12 people out there from one of my parents. I should thank the gods I’m not famous cause those people can suit for me to recognise them as siblings. Who or institution is funding the sister from another mother?

  21. W says:

    You notice that the media has been silent about this lawsuit for months and THIS is when they finally decide it’s interesting? Meghan saying she’s an only child, which she’s been saying for years, is the big news they feel needs to be reported? Why are they really trying to force a relationship that’s not there? Is it because Scammy and the other Markles are the only family in Meghan’s life that are willing to sell her out and they have to make it look like they were close so they have credibility? When this lawsuit is dismissed, I really want Meghan to sue the sh*t out of her. Imagine making up rumours about your half-sister’s fertility and pregnancy but having the CAUCASITY to claim you had a close relationship. These Markle hillbillies needs to be put in their place!

    • equality says:

      Please don’t insult hillbillies by comparison to these people. Many of my ancestors were decent mountain people.

  22. Talie says:

    I can’t imagine how exhausted I would feel to be in her position. Not only is she dealing with the craziness of the British Royal Family, but then her own family is just relentless about joining in on the party too.

  23. Yeah Right says:

    Is she or is she not the only child of Doria and Toxic Tom?

  24. Flower says:

    This isn’t going anywhere.

    Meghan is free to define the ‘subjective’ nature of her relationships how she sees fit.

    Also objectively she was an only child in the sense that her siblings were considerably older (17 and 19 years older I think ??? someone please confirm/ correct this) and the marriage between her parents broke down when she was 18 months old.

    Thereafter she had very little contact with her siblings, so much so that they were not present at the major milestones of her life.

    TOD has been prolific in her vitriol and this is just the next chapter of Annexing herself to the Sussex Royal Brand. I can see this case being dismissed if Meghan’s legal team are able to lay adequate foundation to TOD’s real motives of harassment and financial enrichment.

    And in any case just because a Court declares that you are someone’s sister does not make it any more true or impose an obligation on that person.

    I hope Meghan has AMAZING Lawyers who will leave no lacuna’s in the event that god forbid anything happen to her. TOD is the kind of parasite who would fight literally to the death for a hairbrush owned by her Princess sister.

    Every time this family pipe up I feel terribly sorry for Meghan to achieve so much in life against the backdrop of this very loud dysfunction is incredible. I am exhausted just reading about their antics let alone reading experiencing them.

    • CheChe says:

      I concur! Meghan owes the other markles nothing…there are like dust to her after all the negative press stories.

    • Emmitt says:

      The lawsuit will likely not go anywhere because Meghan doesn’t need to prove anything, the burden of proof is on Scamantha to prove Meghan claiming she grew up as an only child hurt her reputation and hurt her financially. If Scam and Bum Jr. were 15-17 years older than Meghan and from a different mother, then they could not possibly claim they “grew up with her” …they had already graduated high school before Meghan was in kindergarten. But even if Meghan did grow up with them, her saying “she grew up as an only child” or “she was an only child” only hurts Scamantha reputationally and financially is if Scam’s finances are dependent upon her being the very close sister of Meghan Markle and thus an authority on how much of a piece of trash Meghan is.

      If she’s proven not to have had much of a relationship with Meghan, then any intimate details she promises to tell don’t have much merit and that would hurt her financially so maybe Scam does have a case?

      IMO the real target of this lawsuit is Doria, not Meghan.

      • Flower says:

        @Emmitt my main issue with TOD’s action is that as you state above she has to prove harm done to i.e. her reputation and / or business interests.

        The kicker here is that SCAM has repeatedly disparaged Meghan very publicly and printed salacious rumours about her. So logically being linked to Meghan would = harm to SCAM’s reputation following the logic of the elements of defamation.

        Also Meghan has previously referenced SCAM as Sperm donor’s ‘other daughter’ thereby acknowledging their ‘genetic’ link, so the issue here isn’t whether they’re related by blood but rather Meg’s perception of growing up as an ‘only child’ with Doria.

        Also, when applying the reasonable standard of interpretation of the Oprah interview it’s clear what Meghan actually meant i.e. that owing to the breakdown of her parents marriage and differences in age with her siblings she ‘felt’ like an only child.

        I think that the real issue is that Meghan does not publicly acknowledge SCAM. She did so in a private letter to her father, but publicly she does not acknowledge SCAM (for this very reason !!!). Anyone who has been in proximity with a Narc knows that the quickest way to send them to anger is to pretend that they don’t even exist. Classic cluster B – I hate your guts but be my friend crap.

        Personally, I think it would be poetic justice if Meghan’s lawyers absolutely handed SCAM her a^se in this way. It would be the best way to permanently shut her up – especially if she suffers the financial consequences and loses her trailer.

        It’s just tragic how the Markles are so easily manipulated for money and then seem shocked when they fall on their own swords.

    • aftershocks says:

      ^^ Thanks @Flower, for your great points. One important correction though: Scam and Markle Jr are half-siblings to Meghan, not ‘siblings’.

  25. Amy Bee says:

    Where’s the lie? The Oprah interview was not the first time Meghan said that she grew up as an only child.

    • Mary says:

      Exactly, Megan did not state that she was an only child. She stated that she grew up AS one. Like one. As if she were. . . . As though . . . . Samantha is trying to argue that Meghan’s statements undercut Sam’s authority to speak knowingly about Megan’s childhood and, hence, make money. I believe Sam is claiming that it hurt her book sales. So basically Sam is arguing that Meghan is making Sam out to be a money-grubbing opportunist which hurts Sam’s ability to be a money grabbing opportunist. Isn’t truth a defense to defamation?! 🤣

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        I don’t know why anyone would misunderstand Meghan’s comments. She makes it clear she doesn’t know Scamantha and said she was RAISED as an only child. She didn’t say she was an only child. She didn’t say she doesn’t have half sibs.

        I think (whether all of the info Meghan’s attorneys briefed the court about have been told or not) the attorneys are simply answering a rather simple lawsuit with enough info to get it dismissed. The last thing that Meghan or her attorneys want is to actually give the royal reporters anything to pounce on.

        As far as Omid’s and Carolyn’s book is concerned, Scamantha needs to sue them. It has nothing to do with Meghan, which is what the attorneys told the court.

        It would be interesting to know what Scamantha responded to Meghan’s brief. I wonder why that isn’t talked about? This is a motion to dismiss, correct? Not a summary judgment motion?

      • Debbie says:

        @Saucy&Sassy: This Scamantha was so desperate to create an impression of closeness to Meghan that she rebuked people in the press for only describing her as Meghan’s “half-sister.” Scamantha, who regularly takes money to spew poison at Meghan, said that even if they didn’t share the same parents, half-siblings can be close, and people should consider the Kardashians-Jenners. I kid you not, Scam actually said that. So, if someone is pulling out the Kardashians as a model, that should tell how desperate they are to hold someone in a death grip.

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        Debbie, well she’s outing herself–that’s hilarious. There isn’t any way to change the facts of either of their childhood’s. Certainly, the dates of Scamantha’s marriage and children will show she didn’t live with Meghan. She’s not a very forward thinker, is she?

  26. MsIam says:

    I wonder why no one has brought up the TMZ interview where Samantha basically admits she’s cashing in and doesn’t see a problem with it? Maybe they are saving that in case it goes to trial? Which it hopefully won’t. Samantha has no chance of winning, this whole thing is just to give the Daily Fail some “exclusives” to write about. That’s who my money is on as far as who is funding this. Good, take ALL of Rothemere’s money, Meghan’s lawyers say “Thanks!”

    • aquarius64 says:

      Scam in one of her filings she never received money for interviews. Meghan’s lawyers presented a YouTube clip from a verified GMB account from 2018. On that show Samantha is on tape admitting she had been paid for five to six interviews since 2016. Sounds like perjury to me.

      • equality says:

        Wonder how truthful she was with the IRS.

      • Julia K says:

        I’m wondering the same, for 2 reasons. She is on disability, it’s been reported, for an MS diagnosis, but there are reports that she doesn’t have MS, but an alleged back injury that led to her being in a wheelchair. The next reason; has she filed as income all the money she’s been paid for her interviews, travel expenses etc. Also reported that she has avoided a paper trail about income. Does this mean under the table cash or money gifted to her indirectly? I am not up on ways to avoid declaring income so passing on info that’s out there.

      • Debbie says:

        If an intrepid reporter just asks Scam where she gets the money to pay for her lawyer, that could open up a lovely can of worms. I’d love to know how she can give interviews about Meghan and sell books about her, and travel to KP in England and Italy, but still continue qualifying for “disability” benefits.

  27. HeatherC says:

    When you’re closer in age to your niece and nephew (Samantha’s first 2 children) than you are in age to your half sister…you did not grow up together.

    When your half sister is closer in age to your mother than you…you did not grow up together.

    So yes, she was raised as an only child. Both her siblings were out of the house by the time she was in kindergarten.

    Also Sam is on gettr (I know) saying her father raised Meghan because Doria was absent for large chunks of Meghan’s life.

    This is all getting ridiculous and someone needs to shut Samantha down and force her back into obscurity.

    • aquarius64 says:

      Why are Scam’s lawyers let her run her mouth on any social media platform? Anything she says is admissible in court. The Trump lawyers may be expensive but they are stupid.

    • aftershocks says:

      @HeatherC: “Sam is on gettr (I know) saying her father raised Meghan because Doria was absent for large chunks of Meghan’s life.”

      LOL, Bad Dad did visit with Meghan and Doria, and Meghan did occasionally stay with her Dad. Whenever Doria had Bad Dad help out in taking care of Meg, it was because Doria worked long hours on more than one job.

      Meghan learned a hard work ethic from both her parents, and especially from Doria. She also learned from Doria and from her grandmother, Jeanette, and her grandfather, Alvin, the importance of caring about others, which Meghan has applied and demonstrated ever since she was a pre-teen.

      All the OTT jealousy of Meghan by her own half-siblings, by derangers and Karens, by rota ratchets, by her husband’s brother, and by the brother’s wife, truly needs to STOP!!!!

      • Elizabeth says:

        Meghan lived with her father for part of high school, I think and spent weekends with her mother, but she moved back in with her mother because she wasn’t getting along with Tom. There is a video of Meghan telling Ninaki Priddy that she and Toxic Tom weren’t getting along.

  28. Ragna says:

    I have three half siblings, but the youngest of those three siblings are 20 years older than me. The oldest is nearly 60 and I’m in my 30s.

    I’ve always called myself a more or less only child because there were no other children growing up in the house with my parents besides me. That’s how I view my childhood.

    I can view it that way and still acknowledge that I have half siblings, but since we are really not close (haven’t seen most of them in years and it wasn’t very different as a child) it’d be bizarre to describe my childhood as growing up with siblings. I didn’t, I hardly saw them! Heck, one of them gave me 1 birthday gift during my entire childhood.

    Do I have siblings? Yes, three. Did I grow up as an only child? Yes.

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      Ragna, you make great points. In a different post I discussed my daughter being an only child while having half siblings. She did not grow up with them. Point blank. No one can dispute that my daughter grew up as an only child. The fact that I have relatives, that are completely surprised, when they find out my husband is not her bio father is kind of the best thing ever. My husband and my daughter’s biological father do not look a like at all. It would be like comparing Anthony Bourdain to Greg Olsen(Professional Football Player), DH being on the Greg Olsen end. It’s actually been fun (and I didn’t/don’t correct people) when people would say she looks more like my husband than me. My bit of pettiness with what I went through. Your last sentence is on point.

      Basically, Samantha Whateverthef*ckherlastnameisnow, is saying that as a 17/18 year old, when Meghan was born, she had no life/dreams of her own whilst living her life as a half sibling to a baby she obviously resented? Them d*mn blueberries…they always suck you in when you have to clean up after them. /s

  29. Moderatelywealthy says:

    This is the Johhny Depp effect. Not only victims of doemstic abuse cannot openly say they are victims of domestic abuse now with fear of such a lawsuit, but any jerk who gets called out now wants to do the same. Kyle Rittenhouse is looking into it. That boy that mocked native americans wearing a Maga Hat has done it, but lost.

  30. Athena says:

    The judge could have dismissed this case back in June but did not. I’m starting to feel uneasy about this judge.

    • aquarius64 says:

      This is simply a procedural process. The judge is just being methodical. Scam is demanding a jury trial and the judge has not granted it. The judge hasn’t even set a trial date. I think this judge knows Scam wants a show trial and that’s not going to happen on her watch. She’s looking to have this settled by the lawyers IMO.

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        aquarius64, well first there would have to be some evidence in order to push for settlement. I think we wait to see what the judge does with the motion to dismiss. I think (I’m not an attorney) that will be granted. If not, they can go for a SJM. There’s enough public info out there that will pretty much blow up in Scamantha’s face. Do they really want to go there if she has to say where she’s getting the money to pay an attorney?

        I don’t think Meghan has a choice about just settling this. First, it’s a stupid lawsuit. Second, if she does it once, she’ll be sued all of the time. No, this has to be stopped here.

    • Lucylee says:

      No need to feel apprehensive about this judge. She is very methodical and does not want her decision overturned.

  31. jferber says:

    Oh, FFS. She is her mother’s only child and the half siblings are vipers, particularly the blond one.

  32. aquarius64 says:

    There’s a website called Justia that tracks federal court cases. This is Markle v. Marble and Scam and her attys have been messy. 1) her first lawyer requested to be withdrawn from the case and it was granted; the Trump lawyers are the replacements. 2) Scam tried to get the current judge kicked off the case because the judge was appointed by Pres. Obama, and because the Sussexes interacted with the Obamas in the past it gives the appearance of bias to Scam. The judge smacked her down. 3) The judge ordered Scam to explain in writing why she missed a filing deadline for some paperwork. Scam had 14 days or the case would be dismissed. She may the deadline. There’s more mess to be continued.

  33. Tessa says:

    Samantha alienated her own children and her own mother she is such a hypocrite

    • Both Sides Now says:

      @ Tessa, I know!!! How Scammy doesn’t understand how poorly that reflects on herself is absolutely hilarious!!!

  34. teehee says:

    In her subjective experience, she grew up alone, because by the time she was born, her “sister” was already gone
    And thats exactly what the lawyer also recognized. You cant deny someone their experience. Experience may not be the same as an objective truth; but subjectives cannot be proven true or false.

    Even if you don’t LIKE what someone says is their subjective experience…….it’s not for you to decide.

    • Debbie says:

      By the time Meghan was born, “her ‘sister’ was already gone.” Gone from where though? Different mothers, each with their own separate homes. So, it’s not like mom & dad had another child late in life. I think that factor (and a divorce) adds another layer of separation so that even if Scamantha were still living in her mother’s home, and Meghan was a baby in Doria’s household, it wouldn’t matter; hence Meghan was right – she grew up as an only child.

      • aftershocks says:

        ^^ Scammy (at age 17) and Markle Jr (at age 15), were living with Bad Dad and Doria, when Meghan was born in 1981. They had been sent by their mother (who was in a neighboring state at the time) to live with their Dad in L.A., after he had achieved success as a lighting director on General Hospital. I believe Markle Jr and Scam (then called Yvonne), were around 12 and 14 (going on 13 and 15), when they moved in with Bad Dad. Soon afterward, he married Doria, whom he had met on the set of General Hospital. I don’t know when Scammy moved out of her father’s house. When Meg was two, Doria separated from Bad Dad and moved out. Scam was 19 by then, and may have left by that time.

  35. Case says:

    It’s very common for people who have much older siblings or half-siblings to say they grew up as an only child. I had a friend with a brother 15 years older than her — he left home before she went to kindergarten. She loves her brother but grew up as an only child.

  36. AmelieOriginal says:

    Samantha is an opportunist of the worst kind, lol what else does she think she is. She only came out of the woodwork due to jealousy that her young half-sister who she barely knows was getting all this attention for being with Harry. I get she feels like she was dealt a rougher hand in life and she has MS and is stuck in a wheelchair. Anyone would have complicated feelings about that but you don’t get sympathy once you lie and look completely crazy in the press.

    • C says:

      I get the feeling that if, before all of this, she had ever offered Meghan a true and genuine olive branch Meghan would have been glad to accept. Obviously that will never work now, but Meghan is not unreasonable and vindictive.

    • kelleybelle says:

      But she does NOT have MS. Scam’s own mother confirmed it. She has a spinal cord injury, not MS. So that’s another lie we can add to her list.

      • Jaded says:

        Just about to post the same thing kelleybelle. The grift is long in Scammy.

      • kelleybelle says:

        Bitch is unreal. She’s been lying on Meghan DAILY for six years and sues Meghan for defamation? Jesus Christ.

  37. L4Frimaire says:

    I don’t understand what exactly she wants from Meghan. I have a younger half brother 18 years younger, my dad’s kid. He lived with his mom and grew up an only child. I was in college and didn’t see him much so he grew up as an only child. Meghan barely saw Scammy, is Doria’s only child. They didn’t live together, had very different childhoods. How can she says Meghan defamed her while she blatantly works with tabloids and hate accounts to constantly attack Meghan. Even before Harry, Meghan had nothing to do with Scammy, and you can tell she’s been resentful of her since childhood.

    • C says:

      She wants Meghan to pay attention to her and validate her existence. She never will, so she’s enraged and wants to go after her attention at all cost.

    • Jaded says:

      Scammy is pathologically jealous of Meghan. Meghan was a success in her own right before Harry came into the picture — she had a good career, she was involved in charity work focused primarily on women’s issues and social justice, she had a successful blog, she had money and beauty and youth. Scammy’s life, on the other hand, has been nothing but a hot mess. When Meghan and Harry started seeing each other her jealousy exploded and she started selling her out any way she could to make bank and to “get back” at Meghan. It’s sick — Scammy is one of the most psychologically twisted people I’ve ever seen and doesn’t appear to have a grip on reality or any sense of honesty, respect or understanding of right and wrong. BPD/NPD in its worst form.

      • aftershocks says:

        Yes @Jaded. Yet it’s even worse than that because Scammy’s first stated goal after hearing that Meghan and Harry were dating, was to try and break them up. Fat chance! And then she expected to be invited to the wedding, and attempted to deny and to make excuses for her earlier lies and defaming attacks. Scammy is still so bitter and jealous toward a younger half-sibling whom she’s 15 years older than. None of Scam’s behavior makes logical sense. It’s all scary crazy and contradictory.

    • Eurydice says:

      She’s a penny-ante grifter who wants money, that’s it. It was easy to sell stories to the tabloids, it was easy to monetize hate on social media and she thought it would be easy to sue Meghan for a relatively small amount of money. But now it’s turning out to be not so easy.

  38. Mila says:

    I’m so sick of Samantha. U were never close with Meg. And u never will be. Get over it. She’s a psychopath

    • kelleybelle says:

      Mentally ill, severe anger issues, addition issues, abandonment issues. Sr. never cared enough to get her help. No hope for her.

  39. Tessa says:

    Sam followed Meghan to the UK (uninvited) and posed for photos with her cameraman taking pictures. They posed in front of Harry and Meghan’s home. I wish some restraining order had been placed on her after that.

  40. aquarius64 says:

    Scam is demanding punitive damages in her amended complaint. (You only get one shot for that in federal court.) She claims she lost income as a mental health counselor because of the Oprah interview. You have to have a license to practice mental health counseling in FL. Scam has not presented an official copy of a current license to practice MH counseling or shown her books where she lost income post Oprah interview.

    • kelleybelle says:

      Complete BS, totally. Wheels barely has a GED, obtained in her 40s. There are no licenses, degrees or jack shit. She can’t even understand basic punctuation. Can barely string a sentence together. She hasn’t got the brains God gave a gopher.

      • Julia K says:

        A quick Google search shows she has a bachelor degree in psychology and a master’s in counseling.

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        Well, no wonder she can’t make a living as a MH counsellor. Would you hire her for that job if you had read/heard everything she has said about Meghan?

      • kelleybelle says:

        Google is WRONG. There are NO Master’s degrees. She had neither the time, the money nor the brains. That’s so bloody laughable. Master’s in what sort of counselling? LOL Her last paying job was that tiny role on Matlock. Are people really that gullible?? There are zero, absolutely zero degrees. You’d have to get a B.A. first, no money, time or brains for that either. Does that make sense to you?

      • kelleybelle says:

        @Julia K: Google doesn’t even know the difference between every day and everyday. Not in the least reliable. And they’re wrong again here.

  41. LRob says:

    An entity like the Mail or other murdoch pubs would fund this just for the headlines they could monetize. Even the Telegraph had a headline on the case and the only child arguments yesterday. gets the haters bragging ( stupidly) and churns the story. what a total waste of the court’s time.

    • Hopey says:

      @Julia K
      A quick google search will show u how & from which source u can purchase any academic degree u wish.

  42. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    I caught a YouTube video by Southern Law and the gentleman broke it down and said there’s nothing that defamed Samantha at all. Everything that Madame Duchess said in her Oprah interview and everything she has said is the way Meghan sees it, that is HER truth.
    He didn’t come right out and say it, but I got the impression if HE were the judge, the suit would get tossed.

  43. aquarius64 says:

    @Julia K – a diploma only shows Scam studied mental health counseling and received a degree; it’s not the same as a license to practice.

    Also, Scam can be sanctioned for filing a frivolous lawsuit on top of paying Meghan’s lawyers. For federal court, the maximum penalty is $25,000 USD. This will cost her.

  44. ZeeEnnui says:

    I wonder how long Scammy’s mysterious legal backers are going to keep bankrolling these absurd lawsuits.

    My best friend growing up was raised as an only child and referred to herself as one. Her parents were both in their second and third marriages. She was her mom’s only child, and I want to say her dad had 5 or 6 kids from his previous marriages. Her siblings were all out of the house, out of college, and had their own thing going on when we met in the 5th grade. So, yeah, for all intents and purposes she was an only child. And it wasn’t as if she didn’t acknowledge that she had brothers and sisters. She did. There never seemed to be any bad blood but they definitely were not a close family (and in hindsight, I don’t remember ever meeting her older siblings or them coming to visit for holidays).

    I hope the judge slaps Scammy so hard with a fine for wasting the court’s time it makes her wheels spin.

  45. blunt talker says:

    Meghan is an only child of her mother Doria-Doria parented Meghan as an only child so it makes sense this is how she feels and thinks-those two older half siblings need to leave her alone and work on their relationship with their mother and father which does not include Meghan-who has a mother and the only relationship(God forbid) she may consider is her father if she wants to-Scammy keeps bothering and annoying Meghan to keep her name in the news to make money period.

  46. Julia K says:

    This is not about being an only child or not. It’s a red herring. The people backing Sam are interested in only one thing; getting Meghan on the witness stand and questioning her to their hearts content. That would be worth millions to the Daily Fail.

    • L4Frimaire says:

      Exactly this! They really feel cheated out of a trial because of the summary judgement and basically shopping for lawsuits. They really are so desperate to Salem witch trial her.

  47. Janice Hill says:

    Meghan didn’t grow up with her half-siblings in her household. She said, “I grew up AS an only child.” That’s a different statement than I grew up an only child or I am an only child. Meghan’s not dumb. She knows anything she says can be misconstrued and is misconstrued.

    • TEALIEF says:

      JH, exactly!  She used AS a conjunction, specifically, a correlative conjunction. As you said, she didn’t say I Am, or, I grew up an only child. AS is a comparison, and is also used to indicate the manner of her upbringing, as that of an “only child”. She meant what she said and it isn’t a perception. Based on what I read above, her attorneys should have used the actual grammar in the sentence, its construction, as well as the objective facts of her upbringing in the response. She was not brought up in the same household as Samantha. Perception comes across a bit like “recollections may vary”. This is briefing before the judge where facts should be hammered.

      • Janice Hill says:

        I would have referred to it as a simile that compares unlike circumstances. But why nit pick when we’re both excellent grammarians. We should have been lawyers.

  48. Robin Samuels says:

    Samantha Markle will talk herself into a jail cell if she’s not careful. She is desperately trying to preserve her reputation as a good source of information amongst the prominent anti-Meghan trolls. Samantha was the originator of the “moon bump” and threatened to write that Pushy Princess book in 2017. The book only surfaced because the trolls continued to press her on the publication date; in the end, they laughed at her failure to deliver the punch she declared it would.
    She’s a pathological liar, and her attorney has yet to discover that. The only one in the British media who may be holding out for a win with her is Dan Wooten. I’m not sure KP dealt with her directly. I don’t think the others, including Australia and Piers Morgan, bother with her anymore. She and her brother are not best friends, and Toxic Tom is still unable to speak (eye roll). She’ll declare bankruptcy to avoid paying the legal fees.

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      Tom is fine. He’s being left alone because he went public claiming the heart attack before the wedding was a scheme from very high up people to stop the wedding. Now no one wants to use him.

  49. Joanna says:

    This is stupid! I say I have one brother. I also have a half sister whom I’ve seen maybe twice in my life. She wanted nothing to do with our dad after he divorced her mom. Mom says dad also fathered a child out of wedlock that was put up for adoption. I don’t mention this to people either, it’s like airing out your family’s dirty laundry. Poor Meghan! Every time they try to smear her name, I just feel more sorry for her.