LONDON – A British media company on Thursday lost its appeal against a judge’s decision that it invaded the privacy of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
The Court of Appeals in London rejected the Associated Newspapers’ attempt to overturn a decision issued in February by the High Court, which found Meghan’s kindness.
The court dismissed the appeal, with Senior Judge Geoffrey Vos saying in a brief hearing that the contents of the letter were “personal, private and not of legitimate public interest.”
Meghan, 40, said in a statement that Thursday’s decision was not just a personal victory, but a victory for “anyone who was ever too afraid to stand up for what is right.”
“Most importantly, we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that is cruel to people and benefits from the lies and pain they create,” he said.
NBC News has reached out to Associated Newspapers for comment.
Meghan and Prince Harry, of Queen Elizabeth II grandson, previously announced a privacy suit against affiliated newspaper In October 2019, before he left Roles as Senior Royals, he sued the newspaper’s publisher for breach of privacy and copyright in February 2019, following a series of articles in which Meghan reproduced parts of a handwritten letter to her father in the wake of their May 2018 wedding. was presented.
Speculation about the presence of Thomas Markle dominated the construction of the star-studded ceremony at Windsor Castle. He was expected to walk his daughter down the aisle, although he eventually missed the event due to poor health and Prince Charles took over the role.
in February, Judge Mark Warby concluded that the Duchess had “a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private,” and that the articles had “interfered with that reasonable expectation.”
He ordered Associated Newspapers – the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline – to make an interim payment of £450,000 ($625,000) towards Meghan’s legal costs, and said further “financial remedies” would be dealt with later.
He said the issues relating to the copyright of the letter would have to be settled in a lawsuit.
Despite his victory, the appeal case did not go perfectly smoothly For the Duchess. Last month, he apologized for misleading the court about his association with the authors of a book about himself. to hurt, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
The newspaper group argued that Meghan had written the letter to her father, knowing it could be published. He said he made private information public by collaborating with “Finding Freedom” authors.
Although Meghan’s lawyers denied that the couple had worked with the writers, their former communications director, Jason Knauf, said he passed the information to the writers, and discussed it with Harry and Meghan.
“I had no desire or intention to mislead the defendant or the court,” she said in a witness statement made public last month.
Knauf also said in her witness statement that Meghan “asked me to review the text of the letter, ‘Obviously everything I drafted is there with the understanding that it could be leaked. “
Knauf said Meghan asked if she should address her father as “daddy” in the letter, adding that “in the unfortunate event it leaks, it will draw hearts.”
The publisher also argued that the publication of the letter was part of Thomas Markle’s right to respond, following misleading media reports that alleged he was the “brutally cold shoulder” at his daughter’s royal wedding. ,
But the Court of Appeals found that Sunday’s mail was “sprayed as a new public revelation”, focused on Thomas Markle’s response to the attack.
When he first filed suit, Harry made an angry statement against British tabloids, which he called “”.ruthless campaign“Against his wife.
“I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to such an extent that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person,” he said. “I lost my mother and now I see my wife falling prey to the same powerful forces.”
Both Harry and his brother, Prince William, have come under fire from the media for their immoral behavior and in particular their treatment of their mother, Princess Diana. brothers in may pressed for high journalistic standards A BBC investigation found that journalist Martin Bashir used “deceitful behavior” to secure a landmark 1995 interview with Diana.
Harry and Meghan shocked the world when they announced last year that they were step back from roles as Senior Royals, and then moved to California. In an explosive interview Last March with Oprah Winfrey, which escalated their ongoing royal feud, the Duchess of Sussex said she had been the victim of a “character murder” and the pressure to stay under a microscope has driven her to the point of self-harm Was.
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