15 March 2024 , 13:46
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Meghan Markle won't be "making peace" with her half-sister after the Duchess of Sussex successfully had the defamation case against her thrown out of court.
Samantha Markle sued Meghan over comments she made to Oprah Winfrey and on her Netflix show, Harry & Meghan. Earlier this week, however, a judge ruled in favour of Meghan after she applied to dismiss the case.
In a brutal judgment, a Florida judge also ordered the case can never be brought back to court. PR expert Ryan McCormick believes this won't be the last time we hear from Samantha and suggested she could even follow in Meghan's footsteps by releasing a podcast.
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Samantha Markle's case was thrown out of court (Sunrise)Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, he said: "The Duchess winning a defamation lawsuit may have spared her a public trial however, it doesn't imply that her half sister is going away anytime soon. Samantha Markle wrote a book in 2021 called 'The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister.'
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"Regardless of what the court says, Samantha likely believes she was right. With nothing left to lose, I wouldn't be surprised if Meghan's distant half-sister started a podcast (about her)." Ryan added: "I don't foresee these two making peace anytime soon."
In a 58-page decision, Judge Charlene Honeywell said Samantha had "failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation or defamation-by-implication" as her case was thrown out of court. She added the half-sister's "third try at amending her complaint, in either the book Finding Freedom, the Netflix series Harry & Meghan, or Defendant and her husband's hour-long televised CBS Interview" is to be dismissed, with prejudice, meaning she cannot raise the claim again.
A judge ruled in Meghan Markle's favour (AFP via Getty Images)Meghan was accused by her half-sister of spreading "demonstrably false and malicious lies" to a "worldwide audience" in her 2021 tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. Samantha first brought the defamation case against her younger half-sister in March 2022, alleging the Duchess defamed her by giving information to an unauthorised biography called Finding Freedom and discussing their relationship with Winfrey on live TV.
The 59-year-old, who shares a father with the exiled royal, claimed Meghan "orchestrated the campaign to defame and destroy her and her father's reputation and credibility in order to preserve and promote the false 'rags-to-royalty' narrative [Meghan] had fabricated about her life to the Royal Family and the worldwide media."
Samantha alleged Meghan made comments seeking to "demonise" her and portray her as a "liar and fame seeker" in her show. She also claimed some of Meghan's fans launched "hate-filled smear campaigns" against her.
Meghan successfully had Samantha's original lawsuit dismissed after a Florida judge ruled in favour of Meghan and said the former Suits actress was expressing "an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-sibling".
Ryan McCormick is a PR expert who spoke to The Mirror on behalf of Goldman McCormick PR.