Meghan Markle Gets Unusual Apology From U.K. Tabloid
Meghan Markle has won a big legal battle against U.K. tabloid Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, which is owned by Associated Newspapers, earlier this month and now the company will issue a public apology to the former royal.
According to PEOPLE, a judge ordered Associated Newspapers to publish a front-page apology in the Mail on Sunday. The statement from the judge read, "The Duchess of Sussex wins her legal case for copyright infringement against Associated Newspapers for articles published in The Mail on Sunday and posted on Mail Online.”
The statement continued, "Associated Newspapers infringed her (Meghan's) copyright by publishing extracts of her handwritten letter to her father in The Mail on Sunday and in Mail Online."
This apology will appear on the home page of MailOnline "for a period of one week" and include a hyperlink to the official judgment and summary under the wording, "The full judgment and the Court's summary of it can be found here."
In April of last year, the Duchess of Sussex sued Associated Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Mail, for publishing parts of an emotional handwritten letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, in August of 2018 — just three months after he decided not to walk her down the aisle at her wedding to Prince Harry.
During a pre-trial hearing at London’s High Court, Meghan’s attorneys said she was “deeply shocked and upset” by the newspaper’s reporting, which “intended to portray her in a false and damaging light.” She also accused the publication of “harassing” her father.
Additionally, Markle’s legal team argued that the Mail had been the primary cause of the breakdown of the relationship between Meghan and Thomas. They claim the publication was responsible for “harassing” Thomas and “exposing him to the world as a royal scammer” after they reported he had staged paparazzi photographs.
Additionally, Meghan Markle is facing a new complaint of bullying during her time at Kensington Palace. The allegations, made by anonymous palace aides, curiously popped up just days before Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, is scheduled to air on CBS.
The Times newspaper claims the Duchess of Sussex allegedly drove two personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of a third member of staff. According to her spokesman, Markle is “saddened” by the report and labeled it the “latest attack on her character.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s sit down with Oprah will air Sunday night (March 7) at 8PM ET/PT on CBS News.
