Samantha Markle's Plan To Tap Kate Middleton In Lawsuit Against Meghan Totally Backfires
The feud between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle has been simmering away for years, and it's unlikely that their relationship will improve until their husbands, who have also been at odds for a while now, make amends. But there's one person who potentially stands to benefit from the sad situation: The Duchess of Sussex's estranged half-sister. Samantha Markle's defamation lawsuit against Meghan got an icy ending in March 2024 when a Florida judge dismissed the charges. Samantha objected to statements Meghan made during her infamous Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry and in the "Harry & Meghan" Netflix docuseries, which indicated that she and Samantha didn't have a close relationship. This, her lawyers argued, falsely painted Samantha as "a deceptive fame-seeking imposter with avaricious intentions."
The judge disagreed, ruling that Samantha had failed to prove either that the statements were demonstrably untrue or that they'd caused her serious harm. The story didn't end there, though. In fact, Samantha's legal team just filed an appeal. And, on "Dan Wootton Outspoken," her lawyer, Peter Ticktin, confirmed that he intended to seek a deposition from the Princess of Wales. "I felt that Princess Catherine might have some very important light to shed on what had occurred because obviously something is really, really wrong between these two," Ticktin said.
He also suggested that the beloved royal might be able to confirm rumors that Meghan used to bully palace staff, which could help support Samantha's claims of malicious behavior. Then, in a moment of extremely bad timing, the Princess of Wales announced her cancer diagnosis just four days after the appeal news. Now Samantha is taking heat even from the anti-Meghan faction.
Royal fans demanded that Middleton be left alone
If Samantha Markle hoped to take advantage of the bitter feelings between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton by convincing the Princess of Wales to give a witness report for her appeal to overturn the judgment in her case against her estranged half-sister, those hopes were summarily dashed. Even if Middleton were inclined to dish about the duchess, she's currently focused on her health and her children. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Dan Wootton's announcement of the appeal filing was met with outrage — "Leave Catherine alone" was the overwhelming reaction.
As one user railed, "She has enough on her plate to deal with. Why exacerbate her situation by adding her estranged sister-in-law's dysfunctional family into the mix?" There were even a few respondents in Meghan's corner for once, with one pointing out, "From a woman who has not seen or talked to her half [s]ister for 20 years. How embarrassing for Meghan. It's true what they say [...] you can't pick your family [...] more['s] the pity."
Responding to the backlash, Samantha followed up in another chat with Wootton (via the Daily Mail). "I think it's important everyone know that this was out there by my attorney before anyone was aware of her health challenges," she clarified, adding that the princess's "cancer recovery is [the] priority." Still, even after Middleton returns to royal duties, it's a safe bet she won't get involved in the case. In keeping with palace protocol, she hasn't made any statements about the Sussexes even after their most shocking allegations; why would she make an exception now?