British royals news reveals that Meghan Markle has asked a British court to keep a newspaper from publishing the names of five friends who defended her while speaking to People Magazine under the guise of anonymity. Meghan made the request in a witness statement for her lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Mail on Sunday. Meghan’s lawsuit is suing the outlet because it published excerpts from a private letter that she wrote to her father Thomas Markle.
In Meghan’s civil lawsuit, she accuses the publisher and the Mail on Sunday or copyright infringement, misuse of private information and violating the UK’s data protection law. The publisher maintains that there is a public interest in the royal family and its members, and that this extends to their personal and family relationships.
In Meghan’s statement, which was filed in Britain’s High Court, she says that the Daily Mail has threatened to publish the names of five of her friends who spoke to People Magazine anonymously. As it turns out, those friends are also named in confidential court documents that are part of the ongoing lawsuit.
Meghan said in the statement that for the outlet to “expose them in the public domain for no reason other than clickbait and commercial gain is vicious and poses a threat to their emotional and mental well-being.”
Meghan also stated that the outlet was “playing a media game with real lives” and that she thought the publisher was trying to create a distraction.
In the publisher’s response, it said it had no intention of publishing the names of the five friends this weekend, but it wants the Court to decide whether Meghan Markle’s friends should be entitled to confidentiality in the way that Meghan is claiming.
It’s the opinion of the publisher that there is “no reason why their identities should be kept a secret.”
But Meghan said in her statement that neither the five women nor herself is on trial, and that the publisher is simply trying to “create a circus and distract from the point of this case – that the Mail on Sunday unlawfully published my private letter.”
Meghan Markle and her legal team believe that the publisher’s threat to publish the names is an attempt to intimidate Meghan and her friends in the lawsuit.
It sounds like a big mess, and one can certainly see why the royal family has traditionally chosen to not respond or give any credence to media stories.
It really is becoming a circus for Meghan Markle, and now she and Prince Harry have to deal with all of this, as are Meghan’s friends. One wonders if it really is making the whole situation worse than if Meghan would have simply moved on and put the publication of the letter behind her.
At any rate, the British Court should make a decision in the matter of the confidentiality of Meghan’s friends, and if it doesn’t go Meghan’s way, she might wonder if this lawsuit was such a great idea. Keep checking back with us here at CDL so you don’t miss any of the latest British royals news and updates.