Duchess of Sussex wins privacy claim against Mail on Sunday

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Victoria Ward
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Meghan Markle
Meghan Markle

The Duchess of Sussex has won her privacy claim against the Mail on Sunday after a High Court judge ruled that the publication of a “personal and private” letter to her father was "manifestly excessive" and unlawful.

The former actress successfully applied for a summary judgment, a legal step that will now see the privacy aspect of the case resolved in her favour without witness testimony.

Mr Justice Warby, who heard the application over two days at the High Court last month, said: “The claimant had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the Letter would remain private.

“Taken as a whole the disclosures were manifestly excessive and hence unlawful. There is no prospect that a different judgment would be reached after a trial.

“The Court is persuaded, however, that there should be a trial limited to issues relating to the ownership of copyright.”

The Duchess sued Associated Newspapers for breach of privacy and copyright relating to the publication of five articles featuring extracts of a letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle - two on MailOnline and three in the Mail on Sunday - in February 2019.

The judge said an electronic draft of the letter “would inevitably be held to be the product of intellectual creativity sufficient to render it original in the relevant sense and to confer copyright on its author or authors”.

But he said the question of whether the Duchess was “the sole author” – or whether Jason Knauf, former communications secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, was a “co-author” – should be determined at a trial.

In a statement, the Duchess accused the Mail on Sunday of "illegal and dehumanising practices."

She said: "These tactics (and those of their sister publications MailOnline and the Daily Mail) are not new; in fact, they’ve been going on for far too long without consequence. For these outlets, it’s a game. For me and so many others, it’s real life, real relationships, and very real sadness.

"The damage they have done and continue to do runs deep."

The Duchess described the ruling as a "comprehensive win on both privacy and copyright" and said she hopes it creates legal precedent, adding: "I share this victory with each of you—because we all deserve justice and truth, and we all deserve better."

An Associated spokesperson said: "We are very surprised by today’s summary judgment and disappointed at being denied the chance to have all the evidence heard and tested in open court at a full trial.

"We are carefully considering the judgment’s contents and will decide in due course whether to lodge an appeal."

Antony White QC, for Associated had argued that the letter the Duchess was sent with the full knowledge that it was likely to be made public.

He argued that it was intended for use as part of a media strategy to enhance her image, which was why, when drafting it, she had consulted members of the Kensington Palace communications team.

There was “no other good reason” to discuss its contents with the Kensington Palace communications team, he told the judge.

But the Duchess accused Associated of a “triple barrelled” breach of her rights, for publishing extracts of the “private” letter, sent in August 2018.

Her legal team described the letter as “a message of peace,” a desperate plea, begging him to stop talking to the press.

Mr Markle, 76, described it in rather different terms, revealing in his witness statement that the critical five-page missive “signalled the end” of their relationship.

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