Tensions rose in Meghan Markle’s legal battle with her half-sister Samantha this week as the Duchess’s legal team hit back, claiming her team “erroneously” failed to use her royal title.
The Duchess of Sussex has been fighting a year long legal battle with her half-sibling around comments she made during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was aired on Netflix in 2022 – with Samantha suing for defamation.
The legal battle, which is now in the 11th circuit court of appeals, rumbles around Samantha taking issue with a comment that Meghan made about her changing her last name from Rasmussen to Markle, after news of Meghan dating Harry became public.
A secondary point of contention was Meghan’s remarks on the closeness of their relationship when children, with Meghan telling Winfrey in the interview “I grew up as an only child, which everyone who grew up around me knows, and I wished I had siblings.”
The ongoing proceedings relate to the use of Meghan’s title, with her lawyers claiming that throughout the trial she has not been referred to as her official title: Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
The error has been thought to be widespread in the case with official documents also naming the royal as just ‘Meghan Markle,’ without her official royal title.
But more than two years after the case started Meghan’s lawyers have used official court documents to take a swipe at how she was described, adding the word “erroneously.”
The statement is signed by Michael J. Kump, Meghan Markle‘s lawyer.
Reports say that even as recently as August 2, the court file read: “The Appellant, SAMANTHA MARKLE (hereinafter referred to as ‘Samantha’) was the Plaintiff below, and the Appellee, MEGHAN MARKLE (hereinafter referred to as ‘Meghan’), was the Defendant below.”
The case continues in court this month.
