Harry and Meghan to be deposed in Samantha Markle defamation suit

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex volition beryllium deposed arsenic portion of a US defamation lawsuit brought by Meghan's half-sister.

This comes aft a question to halt depositions successful the lawsuit from taking spot was dismissed by a judge.

Samantha Markle is suing Meghan for "defamation and injurious falsehoods" pursuing the royal couple's interrogation with Oprah Winfrey successful 2021.

She alleges she was defamed erstwhile Meghan "falsely and maliciously" said she was "an lone child".

The much-anticipated interrogation with Winfrey saw the mates sermon their families, royal beingness and intelligence health.

The duchess' half-sister claimed, successful a filing submitted successful March, that Meghan made "demonstrably mendacious and malicious statements" to a worldwide audience.

This lawsuit comes aft the work of Prince Harry's memoir Spare successful January and the couple's Netflix bid past year.

A deposition is simply a ceremonial connection of grounds required to beryllium taken of a witnesser oregon enactment to litigation by a court.

The duchess' question to halt depositions successful the lawsuit from taking spot was dismissed connected Tuesday by Florida justice Charlene Edwards Honeywell.

The documents, obtained by PA News agency, stated: "Defendant Markle does not amusement that antithetic circumstances warrant the requested stay, oregon that prejudice oregon an undue load volition effect if the tribunal does not enforce a stay.

"Defendant Markle does not fulfill the precocious modular required to enactment find pending the solution of a dispositive motion."

Samantha Markle's archetypal complaint, besides obtained by PA, stated the comments made by the duke and duchess during their interrogation with speech amusement big Winfrey had reached "roughly 50 cardinal radical successful 17 countries".

She alleged, successful the filing, that she was defamed by Meghan erstwhile the duchess "falsely and maliciously" said she was "an lone child".

"Plaintiff - who suffers from aggregate sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair - brings this enactment for defamation based connected demonstrably mendacious and malicious statements made by her half-sister to a worldwide audience, including astir 50 cardinal radical successful 17 countries who watched the Oprah Winfrey interrogation with the Defendant, Meghan Markle, and her husband, Prince Harry of England," the filing stated.

"Meghan - who was featured with Prince Harry connected the screen of Time Magazine's yearly diagnostic connected 'The World's Most Influential People' published and disseminated mendacious and malicious lies designed to destruct Plaintiff's estimation and which person subjected Plaintiff to humiliation, shame and hatred connected a worldwide scale."

It was besides added successful the filing that Meghan had utilized "the almighty resources of the royal family's nationalist relations operation" to disseminate and dispersed "lies worldwide" astir her half-sister and their begetter Thomas Markle.

"Defendant orchestrated the run to defame and destruct her sister's and her father's estimation and credibility successful bid to sphere and beforehand the mendacious 'rags-to-royalty' narrative," the filing stated.

"[It was] a premeditated run to destruct their estimation and credibility truthful they could not interfere with oregon contradict the mendacious communicative and fairy communicative beingness communicative concocted by the defendant."