Meghan Markle’s legal team are “going to be willing” for the duchess to be deposed in her half-sister’s libel lawsuit, Samantha Markle’s lawyer tells Newsweek.
The Duchess of Sussex is being sued by Samantha for defamation after comments made to Oprah Winfrey about being raised as an only child.
Samantha’s team had been struggling to arrange depositions and asked the judge for a motion to compel Meghan’s side to set dates but the move was rejected.
Her lawyers appear hopeful that they will depose her though there is still the looming threat of an application by Meghan to have the whole case thrown out, which the judge is yet to rule on.
Jamie Sasson, an attorney at The Ticktin Law Group, who is representing Samantha, told Newsweek they are now confident Meghan’s deposition will go ahead but have hit a roadblock over Prince Harry’s.
“It appears to me from what I’m seeing that they’re going to be willing to let us take Meghan’s deposition. It just hasn’t been co-ordinated yet, and the logistics. But I’m pretty certain there’ll be an issue regarding Harry and they’re claiming it’s not relevant,” Sasson said.
“So far we haven’t got any dates provided to us for Meghan, so I guess you could read between the lines but our goal is to take her deposition. I’m still hopeful we will prevail on the motion to dismiss,” hey said.
The case revolves not only around the Oprah Winfrey interview but also passages of the best selling biography Finding Freedom. Meghan authorized an aide, former Kensington Palace Communications Secretary Jason Knauf, to brief the authors, including about her relationship with her half sister.
Samantha’s lawyers say Harry is relevant to the case because he also encouraged Knauf to meet the authors in messages that were released during a separate lawsuit between Meghan and The Mail on Sunday at the UK Court of Appeal.
In an email to Knauf, seen by NewsweekHarry wrote: “I totally agree that we have to be able to say we didn’t have anything to do with it. Equally, you giving the right context and background to them would help get some truths out there.”
Sasson said: “It’s not like he didn’t insert himself in this based on that email that was uncovered in the Jason Knauf case. Obviously, he was there [during the Oprah interview]. Were there discussions? What was discussed beforehand? I do think it’s relevant.”
He acknowledged that aspects of the case relating to the book Finding Freedom were more vulnerable to be stripped out of the case but said he was “fairly to very” confidant in relation to the claims about the Oprah interview.
However, he also raised the prospect that the complaint could be amended to include material from Harry & Meganthe couple’s six-part Netflix documentary, in which Samantha’s daughter Ashleigh Hale was interviewed.
“There might be a claim to possibly amend the complaint with some of the new stuff that came out in the documentary,” Sasson said. “There were certain things that were said about Samantha in the documentary and her relationship with [her daughter].”
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Meghan Markle’s legal team are “going to be willing” for the duchess to be deposed in her half-sister’s libel lawsuit, Samantha Markle’s lawyer tells Newsweek.
