Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has seemingly dodged being questioned under oath about the royal racist claims after successfully having her half-sister Samantha Markle's defamation case thrown out of court. The dismissal of the case, with prejudice, means that Samantha cannot raise the claim again, and Meghan will not have to give a deposition on the matter or address the royal race row.
Samantha Markle filed the defamation lawsuit against Meghan in March 2022, accusing her and Prince Harry's docuseries of spreading "malicious, hurtful, and damaging lies," among other claims. In December, it was reported that Meghan could have been forced to answer questions about the identity of the "royal racists" while under oath as part of the libel action.
Samantha's lawyer, Peter Ticktin, had claimed that he would demand both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex submit to a deposition where they would have been interviewed under oath. This could have potentially led to Meghan and Harry being questioned about the issue of which members of the Royal Family allegedly made remarks about the race of their unborn son, Archie, which was mentioned in their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Speculation about the identity of the royals in question grew when a Dutch version of Omid Scobie's book, Endgame, alleged that King Charles and the Princess of Wales were the two royals who raised 'concerns' about Archie's skin color. At the time, Samantha's lawyer, Mr. Ticktin, said the issue "needed to be explored."
However, Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell granted Meghan Markle's motion to dismiss the case, stating that Samantha had "failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation or defamation-by-implication" in either the book Finding Freedom, the Netflix series Harry & Meghan, or the couple's televised CBS Interview.
The judge's decision was based on her view that Meghan's comments about her childhood and relationship with her half-siblings were reflective of her personal perspective and not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof. "As a reasonable listener would understand it, Defendant merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings," Honeywell said when the case was initially thrown out.
Despite the judge's decision, Samantha Markle's legal team intends to fight the ruling. Peter Tickton, Samantha's attorney, expressed his disappointment with the outcome, stating, "Unfortunately, it now appears that our logic was missed by the judge." Tickton and his team plan to appeal the decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, hoping that a three-judge panel will see the case differently.
Tickton also addressed concerns about potential bias from Judge Honeywell, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2009. "Of course, this is very upsetting. We were concerned that this could happen when we moved to disqualify Judge Honeywell, but to be frank, there is no indication that she was biased, except that her decision is wrong," he said.
The dismissal of Samantha Markle's defamation case marks a significant legal victory for Meghan Markle, who has been the subject of intense media scrutiny and family drama since her marriage to Prince Harry. The decision also means that the Duchess of Sussex will not have to face questioning under oath about the controversial claims of racism within the Royal Family, at least in the context of this particular lawsuit.
As the legal battle concludes, the focus now shifts to Samantha Markle's legal team and their plans to appeal the decision. The outcome of the appeal will determine whether the case will be reopened or if Meghan Markle can put this particular legal challenge behind her.
