Prince Harry claims to have been assaulted by his brother 0:41
(CNN) --
Prince Harry and Meghan must testify as part of a defamation case against the duchess in the United States brought by her stepsister, Samantha Markle, a Florida judge ruled Tuesday.
Markle sued Meghan for "defamation and prejudicial misrepresentation" after the couple's 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, and seeks damages in excess of $75,000.
Prince Harry suggests the royal family planted negative media reports about him and Meghan Markle
Markle's March 2022 lawsuit claims that Meghan made "demonstrably false and malicious statements... to a worldwide audience," including the "approximately 50 million people in 17 countries" who viewed the interview.
Samantha Markle pictured during an ITV interview in 2018. Credit: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock
Meghan filed a motion in September last year to stop depositions, the extrajudicial testimony under oath of a witness used to gather information, in the case.
The presiding judge, Charlene Edwards Honeywell, dismissed the motion, ruling that Meghan "does not demonstrate that unusual circumstances warrant the requested stay, or that undue prejudice or hardship will result if the Court fails to impose a stay," the court reported. British agency PA Media.
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"Defendant Markle does not meet the high standard required to suspend proceedings pending the resolution of a dispositive motion."
Markle said in the opening appearance that Meghan smeared her in the interview when she said she grew up an "only child."
The filing says that "Meghan...published and disseminated malicious and false lies," which have subjected Samantha Markle "to humiliation, shame and hate on a global scale," and spread "lies around the world" about her father, Thomas Markle.
Meghan is alleged to have orchestrated "a premeditated campaign" to "smear and destroy the reputation and credibility of her sister and father in order to preserve and promote the false narrative of 'rags to royalty'."
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The latest developments in the case follow the release of Prince Harry's memoir last month and the couple's six-part Netflix series that aired in December, in which Meghan opened up about her relationship with Markle.
"My stepsister, who I hadn't seen in over a decade, and that was only a day and a half, suddenly I felt like she was everywhere," Meghan said in the documentary.
"I don't know your middle name. I don't know your date of birth. You're telling these people that you raised me and gave me the nickname 'Princess Pushy'."
A statement shown in the episode read: "Samantha Markle maintains that she and Meghan were close until 2018 and that the media fabricated quotes that have been attributed to her."
-- CNN's Amarachi Orie contributed to this reporting.
Meghan Markle
