Meghan Markle wins court case against Mail on Sunday: Meghan letter to dad deemed breach of privacy

Meghan Markle has won her court case against the Mail on Sunday after a years long battle. The news was accompanied by a powerful statement from the Duchess, explaining that this win wasn't just for her and her family.

• Earlier this year a judge ruled in favor of the Duchess in the privacy and copyright case.
• The Court of Appeal rejected Associated Newspapers' attempt to have a trial over its publication of extracts from Meghan's letter to her father.
• In other royal news, Princess Diana features in film narrated by Prince Harry on World AIDS Day

Only days after Meghan Markle's lawyer hit back at one of public's biggest 'Sussexit' criticisms insisting they never 'took a vow of silence', there's been more legal news from the Sussexes. This time, however, it's news that Meghan Markle wins her court case over a letter to her dad.

The letter in question, from August 2018, to her father Thomas Markle was published in the Mail on Sunday. The BBC reports that the case was previously thrown out, as the judge said the issues were so clear cut there was no need for a full hearing. The publication's bid to appeal the ruling, in the hope of taking the Duchess to trial, has failed after three judges upheld the original hearing.

Following the ruling, an official statement from Meghan read, "This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what’s right."

"While this win is precedent-setting," she explains, "what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel, and profits from the lies and pain that they create."

"From day one, I have treated this lawsuit as an important measure of right versus wrong. The defendant has treated it as a game with no rules."

Meghan continues, "The longer they dragged it out, the more they could twist facts and manipulate the public (even during the appeal itself), making a  straightforward case extraordinarily convoluted in order to generate more headlines and sell more newspapers—a model that rewards chaos above truth."

"In the nearly three years since this began, I have been patient in the face of deception, intimidation, and calculated attacks. Today, the courts ruled in my favor - again—cementing that The Mail on Sunday, owned by Lord Jonathan Rothermere, has broken the law."

"The courts have held the defendant to account, and my hope is that we all begin to do the same, " she adds. "Because as far removed as it may seem from your personal life, it’s not."

"Tomorrow it could be you, " explains the Duchess. "These harmful practices don’t happen once in a blue moon—they are a daily fail that divide us, and we all deserve better."

Although their relationship has been hugely damaged in recent years, heartbreaking old footage of teenage Meghan Markle shows her sweet relationship with father Thomas before they fell out.

Meghan's lawyers had said her letter to Thomas Markle in August 2018 was "deeply personal" and "self-evidently was intended to be kept private." The ruling agreed with this, with the three judges hearing the appeal stating that the letter's contents were, "personal, private and not matters of legitimate public interest."

The judges also said, "It was hard to see what evidence could have been adduced at trial that would have altered the situation."

"The judge had correctly decided that, whilst it might have been proportionate to publish a very small part of the letter for that purpose, it was not necessary to publish half the contents of the letter."