Meghan Markle’s legal showdown has been delayed. Is it because she’s pregnant?
The ten-month delay has sent pregnancy rumours soaring
She was supposed to finally face off against her father Thomas Markle in court in January, in what promised to be a highly explosive start to the new year. But last week, Meghan Markle won her legal bid to delay proceedings for her High Court privacy claim against Associated Newspapers until October 2021, after lodging the request in a private hearing on a “confidentiality ground”. No further details were given, but that didn’t stop speculation soaring that Meghan wants to wait ten months because she and Prince Harry are expecting their second baby.
“Bet she’s pregnant,” wrote one follower last week, after the judge granted Meghan a trial delay. Another weighed in, “If she’s three or four months gone now, she’d give birth in April or May, which would give her three months of full-time attention to the baby. Takes it to October.”
Meghan is currently suing The Mail On Sunday’s parent company Associated Newspapers, following the publishing of excerpts of a letter she wrote to her father in 2018. Thomas claimed at the time that he had shared the letter with the press only after its existence had already been mentioned in a People article that vilified him – and he has promised to fly to the UK and take the stand against his estranged daughter as part of the newspaper’s defence. Last week, Thomas slammed the judge’s decision to delay the trial, saying his failing health meant he “could die tomorrow”.
“This case is causing me anxiety and I want to get it over with as quickly as possible,” said Thomas in a statement shared by Associated Newspapers’ lawyers. “I am 76 years old, and as a result of my heart condition and surgery, I am on blood thinners, which have had an effect on my breathing. None of my male relatives have ever lived beyond 80 years of age. I am a realist and I could die tomorrow. The sooner this case takes place, the better.”
Despite Thomas’ protestations, Mr Justice Warby said he’d made “the right decision in all the circumstances to grant the application to adjourn”. If indeed Meghan is pregnant, it would certainly explain why she can’t fly to the UK in January to take the stand – despite insiders previously telling us she’s agreed to appear in court “if that’s what’s required of her”.
As heat’s told you, the Duchess of Sussex – who turned 39 in August – has said to friends that she wants another baby before she’s 40, and she and Harry are keen for their one-year-old son Archie “to have a sibling who’s as close to his own age as possible”.
Still, some fans have suggested Meghan’s simply delaying the inevitable –that she’s fighting a losing battle, especially after her legal team lost their bid to prevent Associated Newspapers from using the royal biography Finding Freedom in their defence. They are claiming that Meghan cooperated with the authors and spoke openly about the letter for the book. Either way, it seems we’ll have to wait that little bit longer before the truth becomes clear. n