Permission refused for appeal against Meghan privacy ruling
THE MAIL On Sunday has been refused permission to appeal against a High Court ruling granting the Duchess of Sussex victory in her privacy claim against the newspaper without a trial.
Meghan, 39, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) – the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline – over a series of articles which reproduced parts of a handwritten letter sent to Thomas Markle, 76, in August 2018.
She claimed the five articles in February 2019 involved a misuse of her private information, breached her copyright and breached the Data Protection Act. Last month, Meghan was granted summary judgment in relation to her privacy
claim, meaning she won that part of the case without having to go to trial, as well as most of her copyright claim.
ANL’s lawyers applied for permission to appeal against that ruling on 10 grounds. But Lord Justice Warby refused permission to appeal, saying it had “no real prospect” of success.
The judge added: “The Court of Appeal, of course, may take a different view and the defendant has a right to renew this application to a Court of Appeal judge.”
Lord Justice Warby also granted Meghan “a final injunction restraining misuse of private information”. But he refused to grant an injunction in relation to Meghan’s copyright claim, saying it would not be “appropriate” while parts of that claim are unresolved.
The Duchess’s lawyers earlier asked the judge to order ANL to hand over any copies of the letter and destroy any electronic copies of it or any notes made about it.