Samantha Markle’s Lawsuit Against Half-Sister Meghan Markle: Here’s What You Need to Know

You’ve probably heard that Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, has been at odds with certain family members over the years. Her estrangement from half-sister Samantha Markle even led to Samantha filing a defamation lawsuit against the Duchess last March, in which she accused the royal of making false claims in her intimate and (in)famous Oprah Winfrey interview. 

According to TMZ, Samantha has accused Meghan of fabricating her “rags to royalty” narrative. Specifically, Samantha says Meghan falsely claimed she grew up in poverty as an only child and hasn’t seen her half-sister in decades. Samantha was also angry over Meghan’s claim that she only changed her last name back to Markle after Meghan and Harry started dating (implying that Samantha took on the name for publicity reasons).

Samantha’s list of allegations against Meghan goes on — she even alleges she has “actual proof of the falsity” of statements made by her half-sister. For example, Samantha has said their shared father, Thomas, paid Meghan’s tuition at “elite and expensive private schools” and financially covered her education and living expenses at Northwestern University, plus her dance and acting classes. 

For her part, Meghan’s legal team moved to have the lawsuit dismissed. They clarified that it was a “feeling” and not a “fact” that Meghan was an “only child.” Meghan’s legal team has also argued that Samantha is amplifying her past relationship with the royal merely for personal gain. One of her concerns, for example, is with Finding Freedom, a book written by British journalist Omid Scobie with the assistance of Meghan and Prince Harry. But while Samantha’s suit contends that the book disparages her for losing custody of her children, Meghan argues she cannot be sued for a book she didn’t write.

Still, a Florida judge has now given Samantha the go-ahead to proceed with her case, and they’ve set a date for the lawsuit to go to trial. If both parties cannot settle or resolve the case in mediation beforehand, the trial is set for October 2, 2023. 

This isn’t the first time Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, have been involved in a lawsuit. According to Newsweek, the royal pair has filed a total of 10 lawsuits since 2019; most involve what the Sussexes say are false stories about their private lives published by the media. Harry and Meghan also filed a lawsuit in America after a paparazzi agency used a drone to photograph their son, Archie, in 2020.

We hope this contentious case has a shot of being resolved amicably!