Duchess emerges victorious! Meghan Markle wins plea to keep friends anonymous in UK court trial

LONDON: Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, on Wednesday won an attempt to keep five of her friends anonymous in her ongoing High Court legal action in London over breach of privacy against ‘The Mail on Sunday' newspaper owners Associated Newspaper Limited (ANL).

Lawyers for Markle, who turned 39 on Tuesday, had argued for the friends who gave an interview to ‘People' magazine to remain anonymous in reports of the proceedings. The legal team for ANL, which denies all allegations, had resisted the application.

"I have concluded that for the time being at least the court should grant the claimant the orders she seeks, the effect of which will be to confer protection on the sources' identities,” said Justice Mark Warby in a ruling at the Royal Courts of Justice.


"That is confidential information, the protection of which at this stage is necessary in the interests of the administration of justice. This is an interim decision," he noted.

The ‘People' article referenced in court involved the former actress' friends speaking out against her alleged bullying and they have so far only been identified in confidential court documents, according to ‘The Daily Telegraph'.

Markle, the wife of Prince Harry, says her friends gave the interview without her knowledge, and denies a claim made by ANL that she "caused or permitted" the article to be published in ‘People'.

The UK court battle revolves around the reproduction of sections of a "private and confidential" handwritten note Markle sent to her estranged father, 75-year-old Thomas Markle, in August 2018.

The focus is on five articles in total – two in the ‘Mail on Sunday' and three on ‘MailOnline' – which were published in February 2019 and reproduced parts of the letter.

Markle is seeking damages from ANL for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the UK Data Protection Act.

Publishers ANL wholly deny the allegations, including the claim that the letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning, and have pledged to strongly contest the case.

The court has previously heard that Markle became "the subject of a large number of false and damaging articles" in the press while she was pregnant with her son Archie, which caused her "tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health". The case will proceed to trial at a later date.

Harry and Meghan are now based in the US with their one-year-old son Archie after they stepped back as frontline royals earlier this year. The couple recently also began court proceedings in July in Los Angeles after drones were allegedly used to take pictures of their baby boy.

On Tuesday, members of the royal family took to social media to wish Markle for her 39th birthday. A picture of Markle with Queen Elizabeth II was posted on the British monarch's official Twitter account with the words: "Wishing The Duchess of Sussex a very happy birthday!".

A similar message also appeared on the account of Harry's brother Prince William and wife Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.