A royal expert has warned that Meghan Markle might lose her major lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL). The duchess was in court earlier this month in the hope that she could win a summary judgment in the case. The judge said he will deliver his ruling later in February. If he decides to continue the lawsuit, Meghan will likely be called to the stand to testify — which is believed to be a first for the royal family.
According to The Daily Express , experts have suggested this might be the result after noting that ANL has an “iron-clad” defense that would be difficult for Meghan to overcome.
“It seems like they have an iron-clad defense going on here,” expert Christina Garibaldi said.
“It might be hard for Meghan to kind of prove them wrong in this one,” she added.
To briefly summarize the case, Meghan and her legal team sued The Mail on Sunday ‘ s parent company ANL for both invasion of privacy and breach of copyright after the media company published a letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
However, the defense argued that Meghan waived her right to privacy about the correspondence after having friends discuss the letter in an earlier People magazine article. Meghan claimed she was unaware her friends would discuss the matter, but Garibaldi expressed her skepticism of the claim.
“I doubt Meghan’s friends told People Magazine about that letter without having either her blessing, or acting on her instructions,” she said.
Moreover, The Mail on Sunday claimed during the hearing that they had been in contact with a “high grade” palace source who was willing to testify Meghan had not been truthful in some of her statements, as was previously covered by The Inquisitr .
Chief among the allegations was that the duchess had collaborated on the letter with her communications team as well as Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie — and should the accusations be proven true, they could damage both her claims of privacy and copyright.
“The whole legal lawsuit has so many different layers to it,” concluded Garibaldi.
Though Meghan is believed to be the first British royal to take the stand, she would not be the first to lose a case. In 2002, Queen Elizabeth’s daughter, Princess Anne, was convicted after her dog bit two children. However, the princess did not testify or mount a defense, instead opting immediately to plead guilty to the charge of losing control of her dog, per The New York Times .
