By Gabriel Princewill-
Meghan Markle has won a legal bid to Protect the identities of her friends in her court battle against the Associated Press.
A judge ruled on Wednesday that the Mail on Sunday cannot name the friends who came to Meghan’s defence anonymously in last year’s cover story.
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The latest ruling is part of Meghan Markle’s legal suit against the publisher’s of The Associated Newspapers and the Mail on Sunday for printing extracts of a “private and confidential” letter sent to her father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018.
Justice Warby acknowledged a reversal of roles in the usual circumstances involving the press in relation to the legal fight for and against the release of the identity of anonymous sources.
“Normally, when such an issue arises it is the claimant who seeks disclosure of the sources,” Justice Warby said, alluding to the past tendency of the Associated Newspapers’ to upend the journalistic principle of anonymity for sources.
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Justice Warby described the ruling as an “interim decision” which could change if one or more of the Dutchess’s anonymised friends gives evidence at a future trial.
“The weight to be given to the relevant factors may well change as the case progresses,” he added.
Justice Warby: Image: Photoshot
Criticism
The judge also criticised both parties in Meghan Markle’s high profile legal battle for engaging in a “tit-for-tat” PR battle outside the High Court courtroom.
He wrote: “It is… clear that neither side has, so far, been willing to confine the presentation of its case to the courtroom.
“Both sides have demonstrated an eagerness to play out the merits of their dispute in public, outside the courtroom, and primarily in media reports, “he said.
Press interest in the court battle has been inevitable given the tense relations the Dutchess of Sussex and her husband, Prince Harry have had with the British Press since her marriage into the royal family. Prince Harry in April announced he would never deal with outlets from the British media, declaring ”zero co-operation” with the mainstream press ahead of the present ongoing court battle.
Court documents revealed during the opening stages of the court early in July that Meghan Markle claims to have suffered mental health issues as a result of continuous negative press coverage on a daily basis during her pregnancy.
They expressed the “tremendous emotional distress” the former U.S actress endured in the face of a daily stream of detrimental press stories against which she was “prohibited from defending herself” during her pregnancy with baby Archibold.
False Stories
The Duchess of Sussex was displeased with Kensington Palace communication team’s strict policy of “no comment” to stories in the media she insists were false and which she says was always released “without any discussion with or approval by the Claimant”
“The claimant had become the subject of a large number of false and damaging articles by the UK tabloid media, specifically by the defendant, which caused tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health,” Meghan’s lawyers said in written depositions to the court.
However, allegations from Ms Markle that the Associated Press had pursued a negative agenda against Meghan, or deliberately stirred up trouble between the Duchess of Sussex and her father, Thomas Markle, was eliminated from proceedings during the pre-trial hearing last May.
That ruling forced Ms Markle to compensate the paper with £67,000 in costs as a result of that early set back. That ruling exposed shortcomings in her legal suit, leaving the rest of her case to future judicial scrutiny on a date yet to be set.
A book ”Finding Freedom” penned by journalist Omid Scobie is due to be released in a few days, with excerpts from the bool already appearing in The Times and The Sunday Times
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