Why is Meghan Markle’s half sister reportedly suing her? Samantha Markle files papers for £60,000 in damages

Samantha Markle has reportedly filed papers in the Florida district suing half-sister Meghan Markle for £60,000 in defamation damages. Samantha is suing her sibling over comments Meghan made during her infamous TV interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

The 58-year-old has claimed her reputation has suffered after Meghan’s interview, as well as her biography Finding Freedom which was released in 2020. Samantha said that Meghan made “demonstrably false and malicious statements” about her when discussing their childhood, saying she was subjected to “humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale” due to the remarks.

Samantha Markle became widely known in 2018 during the run up to Meghan and Prince Harry’s wedding and thereafter for taking part in multiple interviews discussing her relationship with the former TV star, as well as slamming her behaviour towards their father.

Within her filing, Samantha Markle has also made a request that Prince Harry give a deposition on video and under oath later this month for the case. She has also requested that the Duchess of Sussex make 38 separate admissions in the case, one of which states that neither the late Queen Elizabeth II nor King Charles III are racist.

Just last month Samantha gave an interview to Dan Wootton on GB News in which she criticised Prince Harry in light of the media storm surrounding the publication of his confessional memoir Spare. She said: “I think he is lacking in empathy, remorse and shame”.

Samantha’s case has also called on her and Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, who has also been very public about his relationship with Meghan, to provide a statement. The legal action also calls for Samantha Markles estranged daughter Ashleigh Hale, who is still close with her aunt to provide a statement  along with the royal couple’s former communications secretary Jason Knauf, and data analyst Christopher Bouzy, who appeared in the recent Harry & Meghan Netflix documentary.

The Duchess and her team have already responded seeking to have the case dismissed. Meghan’s lawyer, Michael J Kump has said the demands made are irrelevant to the issues involved in the case. Meghan’s team has argued that the complaint “has no place in this court or any other” because they believe it amounts to asking jurors to define the meaning of a “close” relationship.

Kump said: “She is asking the court to decide whether she and Meghan had ever ‘been close,’ how many times the two ‘crossed paths’ as adults and whether Meghan’s feelings that she ‘grew up as an only child’ are ‘true’ or ‘false’”.

On behalf of Meghan, Mr Kump has applied for the discovery process to be delayed. However, should the case be given the go-ahead, a jury trial could be held in Tampa next year.