Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be questioned as part of a defamation case brought by Meghan’s half-sister.
Samantha is suing the Duchess of Sussex for “defamation and injurious falsehoods” following the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
In a filing submitted in the US last March, the 58-year-old claimed that “demonstrably false and malicious statements” were made by her half-sister to a “worldwide audience”.
Samantha alleged she was defamed by Meghan in the CBS interview when she “falsely and maliciously” said that she was “an only child”.
The filing stated: “Plaintiff – who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair – brings this action for defamation based on demonstrably false and malicious statements made by her half-sister to a worldwide audience, including roughly 50 million people in 17 countries who watched the Oprah Winfrey interview with the Defendant, Meghan Markle, and her husband, Prince Harry of England.”
“Meghan – who was featured with Prince Harry on the cover of Time Magazine’s annual feature on ‘The World’s Most Influential People’ published and disseminated false and malicious lies designed to destroy Plaintiff’s reputation and which have subjected Plaintiff to humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale.”
The filing also added that the Duchess had used “the powerful resources of the royal family’s public relations operation” to disseminate and spread “lies worldwide” about Samantha and their father, Thomas Markle.
It continued: “Defendant orchestrated the campaign to defame and destroy her sister’s and her father’s reputation and credibility in order to preserve and promote the false ‘rags-to-royalty’ narrative.”
“(It was) a premeditated campaign to destroy their reputation and credibility so they could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairy tale life story concocted by the Defendant.”
Meghan previously filed a motion to stop depositions in the case from taking place, but this was dismissed by Florida judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell on Tuesday.
The documents, obtained by the PA news agency, stated: “Defendant Markle does not show that unusual circumstances justify the requested stay, or that prejudice or an undue burden will result if the court does not impose a stay.”
“Defendant Markle does not satisfy the high standard required to stay discovery pending the resolution of a dispositive motion.”
