Meghan wins payout from newspaper publisher in final victory

London: Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has agreed “financial remedies” with British newspaper The Mail on Sunday after a three-year legal battle.

The newspaper printed a notice acknowledging that the wife of Prince Harry had won her copyright infringement claim after it and Mail Online published extracts of a letter she sent her father.

The Duchess of Sussex called her court victory “for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what’s right”.Credit: AP

The duchess, 40, sued Associated Newspapers over five articles reproducing parts of a “personal and private” handwritten letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle, 77, in August 2018.

“Financial remedies have been agreed.”

A judge previously ruled that the publisher must pay 90 per cent of Meghan’s legal expenses. Before the appeal they were estimated at £1.5 million ($2.7 million) but are expected to have increased.

In February, she won her case after a High Court judge ruled in her favour. The publisher was ordered to print a statement on the front page and a notice on page three stating it had “infringed her copyright”. Associated Newspapers launched an appeal in November, insisting the case, which included a breach of privacy claim, should go to trial.

Prince Harry and Meghan released a Christmas card featuring son Archie and the first public photo of their daughter, Lilibet.Credit: Alexi Lubomirski/Archewell Foundation

The publisher’s lawyers argued evidence from Jason Knauf, former communications secretary to the Harry and Meghan, suggested she wrote the letter with the understanding it could be leaked. That challenge was dismissed by Court of Appeal judges.

A new front page statement reads: “The Duchess of Sussex wins her legal case for copyright infringement against Associated Newspapers for articles in The Mail on Sunday and posted on Mail Online.” On page three was the statement: “Following a hearing on 19-20 January, 2021, and a further hearing on 5 May, 2021, the Court has given judgment for the Duchess of Sussex on her claim for copyright infringement.

“The Court found that Associated Newspapers infringed her copyright by publishing extracts of her handwritten letter to her father.” Although the amount of “financial remedies” was not in the article, it has been estimated the company faced a legal bill including costs of £5 million, that could rise if the parties agreed to the Duchess receiving a share of the company’s profits in respect of the copyright claim stories.

The Duchess had pledged to give any damages to an anti-bullying charity.

The Telegraph, London