Meghan Markle is going to keep moving forward in her lawsuit against Mail on Sunday and Associated Newspapers, the paper’s publisher. Her decision to move forward with the case comes after a pre-trial ruling from a judge that dismissed parts of her claim, People reports.
Markle is currently suing the paper for publishing excerpts from a letter to her father that she describes as “private and confidential.” The letter was published in August of 2018, three months after her wedding to Prince Harry.
In a written judgment made public on Friday, Justice Warby, the judge in charge of the case, agreed to strike out parts of Meghan’s claim that were put forward to the High Court in London on April 24.
Following Warby’s decision, the court will no longer be asked to rule on whether Mail on Sunday acted dishonestly, pursued a negative agenda against Markle, or deliberately tried to cause trouble between Markle and her father.
Now, the case will deal primarily with the question of whether Mail on Sunday invaded Meghan’s privacy or infringed on U.K. laws around copyright and data protection when they chose to publish excerpts from the letter.
“I do not consider the allegations in question go to the ‘heart’ of the case, which at its core concerns the publication of five articles disclosing the words of, and information drawn from, the letter written by the claimant to her father in August in 2018,” Warby said in his ruling.
The ruling is just the first stage of a lawsuit that is expected to go to trial in late 2020 or early 2021. Following the ruling, Markle’s legal team said that they would push forward in the case.
“Today’s ruling makes very clear that the core elements of this case do not change and will continue to move forward. The Duchess’ rights were violated; the legal boundaries around privacy were crossed,” a spokesperson for Schillings law firm said in a release.
The spokesperson said that, while they did not plan to dispute the ruling, they were surprised by Justice Warby’s suggestion that dishonest behavior was not relevant to the case.
Meghan’s legal team said that they felt honestly and integrity were at the core of the matter, and that Mail on Sunday had shown a lack of both qualities. Regardless of their feelings, they said that they respect the judge’s decision, and will move forward with the case, which they still believe is “strong,” especially with regard to the allegation that Markle’s privacy was violated.
