Meghan Markle Wins Lawsuit Against Sister's "False and Malicious Statements"

Ever since Meghan Markle became a household name after she started dating Prince Harry, her half-sister, Samantha Markle, has been an issue. Early on in her relationship with the royal, her sister started doing interviews with tabloids and saying some not-so-nice things about her. Then, she went on to write a book inspired by her relationship with Meghan. After Harry and Meghan tied the knot and Meghan started opening up about her relationship with Samantha in a series of interviews, that is when her sibling really took fire against her by suing her for defamation. Last week, the Duchess of Sussex celebrated a major win against her sister with the lawsuit getting tossed out of court. 

Judge Ends the Court Battle

US District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell ended the court battle between Meghan and her estranged sister Samantha once and for all by dismissing the lawsuit. She agreed with Meghan that all of the statements she made about Samantha were her opinion and "not capable of being proved false."

Meghan Was Only Sharing Feelings, Judge Explains

Judge Honeywell points out that anyone listening to the interviews would understand that Meghan was only sharing feelings. "As a reasonable listener would understand it, Defendant merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings," she explained. 

It Couldn't Be Proved True or False

Therefore, she doesn't believe that anything Meghan has said could be proven true or false. "Thus, the court finds that Defendant's statement is not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof…. Plaintiff cannot plausibly disprove Defendant's opinion of her own childhood," the judge continued. 

Statement "Nowhere to Be Found"

One of Samanta's biggest issues with Meghan was when she allegedly told Oprah that she had only met her "a handful of times." However, the judge said that statement was "nowhere to be found in the interview transcript."

Judge Addressed Another Samantha's Allegation

Judge Honeywell also addressed Samantha's allegation against Meghan that Meghan had said that she only changed her surname to Markle after her half-sister started dating Prince Harry and that she did so to "cash in on her newfound fame." According to the judge, that claim was found to be "explicitly contradicted" by the transcript.

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Meghan is Not Responsible for Her Biography, Judge Says

As for the things written about Samantha in Meghan's biography Finding Freedom, the judge agrees with Meghan that she can't be held accountable since she didn't write the book. "Defendant argues that the claims based on Finding Freedom must fail because she did not publish the book," the judge continued. "The Court agrees… a defendant must publish a defamatory statement for it to be actionable."