Thomas Markle at centre of defamation suit involving Channel 7, paparazzi photographer

A paparazzi photographer alleges he was defamed by the Sunrise program after a live interview with Thomas Markle.

Meghan Markle and father Thomas Markle.

The estranged father of Meghan Markle is at the centre of a legal battle between Channel 7 and a US-based paparazzi photographer.

Jeff Rayner, the photographer who famously collaborated with Thomas Markle Snr, resulting in the total breakdown of the relationship with his daughter Meghan, is suing the network for defamation.

Mr Rayner, who took set-up pictures of the former Hollywood lighting director just before Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry, is suing Seven in the Federal Court of Australia.

The legal action comes after the network aired a live interview with Mr Markle in September last year, where he allegedly made defamatory claims about Mr Rayner on Seven’s flagship Sunrise breakfast program.

In the interview the subject of the defamation proceeding, Mr Markle claimed Mr Rayner, whose wife is Australian and whose mother lives in WA, worked for former Hollywood movie executive and “notorious rapist” Harvey Weinstein by taking “compromising” photographs of his victims, court documents reveal.

The statement of claim alleges Mr Markle implied Mr Rayner “is a dishonest management consultant who conned Mr Markle (by deceiving his daughter Samantha) into participating in a photographic shoot as part of a plan to disrupt the royal wedding of Meghan Markle”.

Thomas Markle was interviewed on Seven’s Sunrise. Picture: Seven

In a transcript of the interview filed to the court, Mr Markle claimed he was “set up” by Rayner and a business partner.

“The whole thing was a plan to actually mess up the wedding, I was just part of it,” he said.

“Basically they went to my oldest daughter and convinced my oldest daughter to convince me to have photographs to clean up my image because the photographs before that were always making me look bad.

“I mean I’m tempted to sue him. If I fail in suing him I hope to see him someday with Weinstein because he was also shooting young women for Weinstein to make them look bad so they couldn’t sue him for rape,” Mr Markle alleged in the interview with Seven.

He states that Seven should have been aware there was a “reasonable likelihood” that Mr Markle would have made defamatory comments about Mr Rayner due to previous comments he had made.

Mr Rayner is now seeking an unspecified amount in aggravated damages due to “hurt and harm” caused by the comments.

Coleman-Rayner CEO Jeff Rayner, who is suing Channel 7 for defamation. Picture: Facebook

“The respondents nonetheless broadcast the interview live, without pre-recording, reviewing and editing its contents prior to publication,” the statement of claim said.

The day after the interview, Sunrise hosts Natalie Barr and David Koch broadcast a 47-second apology, saying Thomas Markle had made “unfounded allegations”.

Mr Rayner says the apology was “inadequate” and delivered in a “sarcastic and flippant” manner.

Last month Mr Rayner successfully obtained a restraining order against Mr Markle, after Meghan’s father allegedly claimed he would kill him in quotes published in a book.

According to the order seen by The Australian, Mr Markle was banned from being within 100 yards after threatening to hill Mr Rayner in a book by Tom Bower titled “Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors”.

“I got screwed by Rayner,” he is quoted as saying. “I’m going to find a way to screw him over before I die. I want to tear him down. If they tell me I’ve got terminal cancer, then I’ll kill him because I have nothing to lose”.

A senior Seven source said the network was “perplexed” by the action as they had previously agreed a form of apology with Mr Rayner.

The source said the network would be “vigorously defending” the matter, and would be applying for security for costs as Mr Rayner is based overseas and “has no assets let alone reputation in Australia”.

Mr Rayner was contacted for comment.