Samantha Markle's Lawsuit Against Meghan Gets Icy Ending
While the rift between Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and the royal family seems to be ongoing, that's not the only family relationship that has broken down for the Sussexes. There's the relationship between Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex and her half-sister Samantha Markle as well, which seemed to irretrievably break down after Samantha wasn't invited to Harry and Meghan's wedding. Things didn't get better in the years after that, and got so bad that Samantha sued her half-sister for $75,000 for defamation — just one of a shocking number of lawsuits that Meghan and Harry have been involved in. But a judge in Florida has now dismissed Samantha's defamation lawsuit, which just adds one more piece to the timeline of drama between Samantha and Meghan.
The court documents with the ruling from March 12, 2024, stated, "[Samantha] has failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation or defamation-by-implication by this point." It was the third time that Samantha had amended her lawsuit to try and keep it moving forward, but now, she can't refile the suit, as it was dismissed with prejudice. This seems to leave Meghan in the clear, and whether Samantha will have to pay Meghan's legal fees, we'll have to wait to find out. However, the court documents at the end say, "Defendant indicates she will move for [payment of fees] upon dismissal."
Samantha Markle doesn't seem happy with the judge's dismissal
Some of the statements that Samantha Markle took issue with and were trying to claim were defamation included comments that Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex made during the bombshell interview she and Prince Harry had with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. Others came from the Netflix series "Harry & Meghan." The judge ruled on each of the nearly 20 statements Samantha took issue with, determining that there was enough truth to what Meghan had said or that they were justifiably her opinions on her own life.
While it may seem as though the door is now closed on the defamation claims towards Meghan, Samantha doesn't seem to think so. She posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a number of times on the day of the ruling. One post read: "It's OK, we are appealing because the rule of law has not been applied to the facts of a case because evidence has not been seen by a judge or jury ...that is not Justice. All of the evidence is going to come out one way or another. The opera is not over."
Meghan's fans and Samantha's fans are posting to social media about the decision
Samantha Markle doesn't seem to be taking too kindly to the judge's ruling against her in her defamation case against Meghan Markle. In another post to X on the day of the ruling, she wrote, "Book #2 coming sooner now xx." Samantha's first book about Meghan was titled "The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister Part 1." Samantha's fans and anti-Meghan fans have posted to Samantha's page in encouragement of her appeal, though there are some who are questioning whether there's any option for that now that it was dismissed with prejudice.
On other social media posts, Meghan fans are coming out with congratulations of the dismissal, including in comments to Omid Scobie's X post about the decision. Scobie's book "Finding Freedom" about Prince Harry and Meghan was also named in Samantha's lawsuit. Meghan and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex haven't personally commented on the judge's decision in the case. However, Meghan's lawyer released a statement that said, "We are pleased with the court's ruling dismissing the case," via People.