Meghan Markle wins defamation case filed by her half-sister Samantha

Samantha Markle's defamation case against her half-sister, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell, who granted Meghan's petition to dismiss. Samantha filed the lawsuit in March 2022, alleging Meghan of defamation and false information during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, among other things.

Samantha also said that Meghan's Florida audience was upset with her half-sister, as was a sizable portion of her hometown's population. Meghan's comments during the Oprah interview, according to the court, did not slander Samantha. According to the court, a reasonable listener would not believe Meghan's claim that she has no half-siblings or that Samantha does not exist.

The court also determined that Meghan's testimony was an expression of her personal feelings regarding her childhood and relationship with her half-siblings, which could not be objectively validated or supported by empirical evidence. As a result, the court shielded Meghan's statement from a defamation suit.

Samantha also claimed that Meghan told Oprah that they had only met "a handful of times," but the court was unable to confirm this claim. Similarly, Samantha's assertion that Meghan altered her surname for notoriety was rejected because the transcript expressly contradicted it.

For those unversed, Samantha alleged that her half-sister gave the authors of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Creation of a Modern Royal Family incorrect information. But, the court agreed with Meghan that the Discovering Freedom allegations must fail because she did not publish the book.

Samantha's allegations were dismissed without prejudice, and she was given 14 days from the ruling to file an amended lawsuit.