Meghan Markle could face legal action again by her half-sister Samantha Markle, who has appealed against an original case which saw her try and sue Meghan for defamation. It has been reported this week that the Duchess of Sussex’s lawyers have been asked by a judge to attend the United States Courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida, on September 9.
The lawyers will have to argue against Samantha’s case, with Meghan’s half-sister claiming that the duchess, 43, had defamed her during the bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. She said that her reputation was damaged by Meghan’s claims that she “grew up as an only child” and didn’t have much of a relationship with her.
Samantha, who shares the same dad as Meghan but has a different mum, also alleged that this damaged the sales of her book “The Diary Of Princess Pushy’s Sister Part 1”.
In the original case, which Samantha lost last year, Samantha also said she had to move homes and “retract from public outings” after facing death threats following the 2022 Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan.
As reported by The Mirror, this was claimed in a previous court filing.
Meghan was also accused by her half-sister of having damaged her personal and professional reputation by suggesting that Meghan did not know her growing up.
Samantha lost the original defamation case in 2024 when a judge decided that the public statements made by Meghan were “substantially true”.
However, Samantha, 60, launched an appeal last year against this ruling and claimed that the judge failed to take into account implied defamation created by omitting facts.
The appeal case is now set to be underway soon, with a legal document having been sent to Meghan and Samantha’s lawyers by a clerk at the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
The lawyers have been told they must be present at the hearing and will be given 15 minutes each to present their argument to the judge, who has not been named.