Samantha Markle's Lawyer 'Confident' in Meghan Markle Libel Case

Samantha Markle's lawyer is "confident" after a make-or-break hearing in the defamation lawsuit against Meghan Markle.

The Duchess of Sussex is being sued by her half-sister over comments made to Oprah Winfrey in 2021, as well as aspects of the December 2022 Netflix show Harry & Meghan.

The royal applied to have the case thrown out. If she is successful that will be the end of the line for Samantha, in a case where she argues Meghan's comments damaged her capacity to make money out of her book The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister Part 1.

Lawyers for both sides went head-to-head in a crunch court hearing attended by Samantha Markle, but not Meghan, on November 8, and are still waiting for Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell to arrive at a decision.

Peter Ticktin, Samantha Markle's attorney, told Newsweek: "I feel confident. Once I explained how and why Meghan did what she did, to discourage readers from reading Samantha's book which was titled with the name 'Princess Pushy' in it, the whole case made more sense.

"No matter which way Judge Honeywell decides, I am confident that she is being fair and thoughtful. I love it when I am before bright and fair judges."

Meghan told Oprah she "grew up as an only child" and added: "Everyone who grew up around me knows, and I wished I had siblings."

Her lawyers argue that was an expression of opinion about how she felt about her childhood rather than a statement that Samantha Markle was not her half-sister.

And during the Netflix show, Meghan said: "I was with my mom during the week and with my dad on the weekends. And my dad lived alone, he had two adult children who had moved out of his house."

Addressing Samantha Markle, she added: "You're telling people you raised me."

The case has at its heart Meghan's own childhood story coupled with a long-term dispute between the half-sisters over whether Samantha Markle has had enough proximity to the royal to be in a position to comment publicly about her.

At one stage, Thomas Markle, their father, offered to give evidence on Samantha Markle's behalf, but that would only happen if the case got as far as a trial.

The duchess is hoping it will be thrown out before it gets that far, which would also spare her having to be deposed.

Meghan's lawyers said in a court filing: "Three times [Samantha Markle] 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."

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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