Meghan Markle scored a legal victory Tuesday as her years-long legal battle with half-sister Samantha Markle came to a close.
Samantha’s defamation lawsuit, originally brought against Meghan in 2022, was dismissed with prejudice by Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell. The dismissal with prejudice means Samantha cannot file the claims again.
“[Samantha’s] claims will be dismissed with prejudice, as she has failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation or defamation-by-implication by this point, her third try at amending her complaint, in either the book ‘Finding Freedom,’ the Netflix series ‘Harry & Meghan,’ or [Meghan] and her husband’s hour-long televised CBS Interview,” Honeywell wrote in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. “As such, the Third Amended Complaint will be dismissed, with prejudice.”
A representative for Meghan did not respond to Fox News Digital’s immediate request for comment.
Meghan Markle won her legal battle with half-sister Samantha Markle Tuesday. (Samir Hussein)
Samantha had claimed she was defamed by Meghan during the Duchess of Sussex’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey along with the Netflix series “Harry & Meghan.”
“Meghan made these false claims, which are now believed to be true by the public, making it appear that Samantha is a fame-seeking stranger to Meghan,” Samantha’s lawyer, Jamie Alan Sasson, previously told Fox News Digital.
Samantha’s original lawsuit was dismissed as the judge ruled the comments made during the Oprah interview by Meghan were her opinion about the actress’s own childhood.
Oprah Winfrey interviewed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for a special in 2021 in which they revealed their struggles with royal life. (Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese via Getty Images)
“As a reasonable listener would understand it, Defendant merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings,” the judge wrote at the time.
“Thus, the Court finds that Defendant’s statement is not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof. Plaintiff cannot plausibly disprove Defendant’s opinion of her own childhood.”
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Samantha Markle sued Meghan Markle for defamation in 2022. (7News Spotlight)
However, the royal’s half-sister was allowed to file an amended complaint. The claims were brought again in court April 13, 2023.
Samantha’s legal team insisted Meghan’s comments during the interview falsely portrayed the actress as an only child who had no relationship with her half-siblings. Additionally, Samantha emphasized that she didn’t change her last name to Markle to “cash in” on the “Suits” actress’ fame as Meghan alleged during the 2021 interview.
Samantha and her legal team believed the amended complaint would prove “Meghan has defamed her sister and that the case will … be heard by a jury.”
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Samantha Markle’s claims against Meghan Markle were dismissed by a judge. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/Ben Birchall/WPA Pool)
Peter Tickton, Samantha’s lawyer, revealed they plan to appeal the latest ruling.
“At the hearing on the motion to dismiss, we thought that the judge got it, as her questions as to what was in the complaint were on point, and it showed that she understood our arguments,” Tickton told Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, it now appears that our logic was missed by the judge.
“Of course, this is very upsetting. We were concerned that this could happen when we moved to disqualify Judge Honeywell, but to be frank, there is no indication that she was biased, except that her decision is wrong. I cannot say that she didn’t call it the way she saw it, and that is the problem, as perception varies to fit preconceived notions.
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“We will be appealing this decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and hope that the three-judge panel sees it differently,” he added. “They will decide looking at the same complaint from the beginning, what they call ‘de novo,’ meaning to start the analysis all over again. We do not need to show that the judge misused her discretion, just that the judge did not read the complaint right as a matter of law. We have a decent chance to see a completely different outcome. So, don’t count us out, just delayed.”
