Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Face Crucial Week as Crunch Court Appeal Looms
Meghan Markle is preparing for a new showdown with a U.K. tabloid over a letter she sent her father begging him to stop talking to the media.
The Mail on Sunday lost a privacy and copyright case against the Duchess of Sussex in February, but it is appealing against the U.K. High Court's decision.
The hearing has been extended to a third day, having initially been listed for two, and will start tomorrow, Tuesday, November 9, running until Thursday, November 11.
If Meghan wins, then her original victory will be re-enforced, finally bringing an end to a lawsuit that has run for more than three years and at times threatened to expose the inner workings of her media operation.
However, if the newspaper wins the appeal, the case will likely be sent for a trial in which Meghan would have to give evidence and be questioned by its lawyers.
Raising the stakes further still, the Mail on Sunday would be entitled to demand the disclosure of documents and messages by Meghan and potentially a group of her friends.
The case centers around a letter Meghan sent to her father in August 2019 in which she begged him to stop talking to the media about her.
Their relationship disintegrated in the run-up to Meghan and Harry's royal wedding in May 2018, when he was caught staging pictures with the paparazzi.
However, there will be plenty happening this week to distract the couple from the finer legal points of the case as they have several appearances planned.
Meghan will be speaking at the New York Times Dealbook online summit on Tuesday, November 9, on the question: "How can women reach economic and professional parity?"
The duchess will appear alongside Mellody Hobson, co-chief executive of Ariel Investments, at 2 p.m. ET for half an hour.
Prince Harry will speak at Re:Wired on November 9 at 4 p.m. on a panel titled "The Internet Lie Machine."
It comes after research by Bot Sentinel showed 70 percent of online hate directed at Meghan came from 83 Twitter accounts.
An event description read: "As social media algorithms reward shock value over reality, as the line between fact and fiction weakens every day, as media propaganda and online hatred run rampant, we must ask: how did we get here and how do we get out of this mess?"
The Duke of Sussex will fly to New York for the Intrepid Museum's 2021 Salute to Freedom gala, where he will present an Intrepid Valor Award on Wednesday, November 10.
