Prince Harry has been called upon to give evidence later this month with a videoed deposition, filmed under oath, in the defamation case brought by Samantha Markle against his wife Meghan. Ms Markle also wants Meghan, among others, to give a deposition, as shown by legal documents made public by the Florida district court. Ms Markle has accused Meghan of telling “false and malicious lies” about her upbringing at the expense of her family. She also contested Meghan’s claim she “grew up as an only child”.
The elder daughter of Thomas Markle Snr is seeking $75,000 (£57,000) in damages regarding statements made by the Duke and Duchess during their interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 as well as over allegations included in the flattering but unauthorised biography on Meghan and Harry titled Finding Freedom, first released in August 2020. These claims, Miss Markle alleged, subjected her to “humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale”. The Duchess’ lawyer, Michael Kump, said the proposed deponents had “no discernible connection” to the statements at issue in the original complaint. He has applied for the case to be dismissed, saying Meghan did not make most of the statements at issue which makes them not actionable. The statements Meghan did make, the lawyer added, were opinions described as “substantially true in any event”. The lawyer also applied for the discovery process to be delayed while waiting for the outcome of his dismissal application. Meghan’s legal team has also so far declined to provide any information for the case, describing the various requests as “irrelevant”, “vague” and “speculative”.
