Meghan Markle's lawsuit against the British tabloid started its first hearing virtually Friday and her lawyers said that the press "exploited" her father to satisfy their readers' curiosity. The Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry's wife, is suing the Associated Newspapers for invading her privacy after the publication printed the letter she sent to her father before her 2018 royal wedding.
According to reports, the first court hearing was held online in a virtual platform because of the coronavirus lockdown. Prince Harry and Meghan got up at 4:00 a.m. in Los Angeles as the case was being heard in the High Court in London with Justice Warby.
Prince Harry and Meghan's legal counsel is led by David Sherborne, the former lawyer of Princess Diana, who specializes in defamation cases. The Associated Newspapers, on the other hand, has Anthony White as its counsel.
Meghan's lawyer said in its pre-trail statement that this case as a privacy lawsuit that led to the estrangement of Meghan and her father, Thomas Markle. The prosecutors contended that Associated Newspapers and its news outlet, Daily Mail, specifically picked out portions of the private latter to publish so that it can manipulate and stir up the readers in their campaign against the Duchess of Sussex.
Sherborne argued that Daily Mail did not attempt to contact Meghan to validate or clarify. Instead, the news outlet was deliberate in its move to secure a scoop or story.
The publication's lawyers argued, however, that Meghan made these allegations without talking to her father. The Duchess of Sussex admitted that she has not spoken to Thomas since her wedding because of the rift caused by this publication.
The Duchess of Sussex also accused the Daily Mail of harassing her dad and exposing him as a "royal scammer." However, the paper argued that Thomas had the right to share his side of the story against his daughter, a royal public figure.
Within the week, Warby is expected to rule if there will be a full trial. If so, this case could become a long court battle that will put Meghan and her father on the witness stand and reveal personal details about their life.
It comes as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently announced that they will no longer have any contact with the Daily Mail, as well as The Sun, Daily Mirror and Daily Express because of the distorted and invasive stories. The couple said in the past that their mental health suffered as a result of being in the royal spotlight with the press watching their every move.
