Icon: enlarge
Duchess Meghan: Now lives with her family in California
Photo: Mark Large, Daily Mail / dpa
With a virtual hearing at the London High Court, the dispute between Duchess Meghan and the gossip press has entered a new round.
Specifically, it concerns a lawsuit against the publisher of the "Mail on Sunday", Associated Newspapers.
In early 2019, the publisher quoted in several articles from a private letter from Meghan to her father Thomas Markle.
Attorney Justin Rushbrooke described this as a "clear and serious interference with the right to privacy."
There is no "sound defense" that the publisher can bring forward.
In one of the newspaper articles the newspaper itself wrote that it was a "very personal handwritten message".
The publisher, however, argues that there is a legitimate public interest.
Meghan's father, Thomas Markle, responded in writing: "The letter was not an attempt at reconciliation, it was criticism of me," he wrote in a statement.
Meghan did not show any real compassion or interest in her letter.
"He showed the end of our relationship."
Judge Mark Warby must decide after the hearing whether the royals must appear in person and testify.
Meghan wants to avoid this appointment.
Your lawyers therefore want to get a quick procedure, a so-called summary judgment.
According to Meghan's defense lawyers, a judgment should be made in favor of the 39-year-old, without the actual hearing with witness statements.
"My greatest fear is that history will repeat itself"
The negotiated case raises the question of who should be in control of a private letter, attorney Rushbrooke said.
"Is it the author of the letter or an editor of the Mail on Sunday?" There could only be one answer, said the lawyer.
It is not decisive whether the author is a duchess or a completely normal citizen.
"The answer is not the editor of the Mail on Sunday" "
Duchess Meghan's husband, Prince Harry had already drawn parallels to his mother in 2019.
Princess Diana had suffered extremely from the media persecution.
"My greatest fear is that history will repeat itself," Harry wrote on his website at the time.
"I lost my mother and now I see my wife fall victim to the same powerful forces."
At the same time, the interest in their lives for Harry and Meghan is also relevant to their financial future.
They want to produce documentaries and feature films for Netflix, and the contract they have signed brings them more than 110 million euros.
The couple also signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Spotify streaming platform and even had one-year-old son Archie in front of the microphone when they made their podcast debut.
Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry were married in May 2018.
In March, the couple officially retired from the front row of the British royal family.
The family now lives mainly in Meghan's homeland, California.
Icon: The mirror
bbr / dpa