Meghan Markle Is Reportedly Being Sued by Half-Sister Samantha Markle Over Netflix Documentary
It’s no secret that Meghan Markle hasn’t always been on great terms with her father’s side of the family. When she and her now-husband, Prince Harry, first started dating, the press wasted no time digging into Meghan’s life and her half-sister Samantha Markle wasn’t shy about trying to tear down the Duchess of Sussex any time she had the chance.
Now, reports have come out that Samantha is supposedly suing Meghan over comments Meghan made in her both her 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview and her 2022 Netflix documentary with Harry, where the husband-wife duo highlighted the difficulties they faced with the media during their time in the royal family.
Samantha Markle is reportedly suing her half-sister Meghan Markle
The battle between Meghan and her half-sister, Samantha Markle, first started shortly after Harry and Meghan began dating. It escalated when Samantha made negative comments about the duchess, who claimed she was raised as an only child. Now, Newsweek reports that Samantha has filed a lawsuit against Meghan for libel over things Meghan said in previous interviews.
“Meghan continues to participate in and perpetuate the lies around her family and upbringing, and where Meghan could have set the record straight, she did not,” the lawsuit says, per Newsweek. “Instead, Meghan continues the hurtful lies being told about her sister, Samantha; lies that have defamed Samantha and the negative fallout that has therefrom occurred.”
Meghan’s lawyers are reportedly trying to have the case dismissed; they say it does not have merit. “Three times [Samantha] has tried — and failed — to turn a personal grudge into a federal case for reasons unbeknownst to Meghan, relying solely on non-actionable opinions and third-party statements. This action should be dismissed with prejudice,” the court filings read, per Newsweek. The duchess’ lawyers added that “none of the statements in the Oprah interview are defamatory. Meghan’s statements in the [Netflix] series are just more of the same.”
Meghan Markle is not on good terms with any of her father’s family
When Meghan and Harry started dating, Meghan had a good relationship with her father, Thomas Markle. However, as Meghan’s fame skyrocketed, her father was caught staging paparazzi photos, which led to problems between the duchess and her dad. Meghan mailed a letter to her father asking him to stop with the paparazzi and fame-chasing, of which parts were ultimately published in a British tabloid (Meghan later sued the tabloid and won).
Thomas had a medical emergency just days before the wedding and did not wind up walking his daughter down the aisle. And since then, he and Meghan have reportedly not talked. Thomas has done several interviews about the duchess and his desire to repair their relationship, but some could argue that the more Thomas talks about his daughter, the less likely Meghan is to come around.
Meghan also has almost no relationship with her husband’s family; she last visited the United Kingdom in September 2022 to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, but she chose to skip King Charles’ coronation ceremony in May 2023. Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, are quite close.
