Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has successfully defeated a defamation lawsuit filed by her half-sister, Samantha Markle, in a US court. Samantha Markle had accused Meghan of defamation and “injurious falsehood,” including stating she was an “only child” during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Samantha sought $75,000 (£62,000) in damages.
However, a Florida judge dismissed the case, asserting that Meghan was merely expressing an opinion, which cannot be proven false. US District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell stated in court documents, “As a reasonable listener would understand it, defendant merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings.” She added that Meghan’s statement is “not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof.”
Samantha Markle filed the civil case in March last year, alleging that Meghan exposed her to “humiliation, shame, and hatred on a worldwide scale,” misrepresented their relationship, falsely claimed to be an “only child” during the Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021, and pursued a “false rags-to-royalty narrative.” In the Oprah interview, Meghan stated that she grew up as an only child and wished she had siblings.
Samantha Markle also alleged that the Duchess defamed her through information provided for the unauthorized 2020 biography titled “Finding Freedom.” However, Judge Honeywell determined that Meghan could not be held liable for the book’s contents since she did not publish it.
