TODAY’S TALKER

Duchess once known as Meghan Markle to get 1 pound in privacy case

The Duchess of Sussex will receive the nominal sum of 1 pound after a court found that Britain’s Mail on Sunday invaded her privacy.

Theguardian newspaper reported the figure Wednesday, 10 days after the Mail decided to forgo further appeals and published a statement acknowledging that the American-born duchess, formerly known as Meghan Markle, had won her lawsuit.

The figure covers only the duchess’s claims for invasion of privacy. The Mail will pay another unspecified sum for infringement of copyright and lawyer fees, the Guardian reported, citing court documents.

The Mail on Sunday’s statement, which appeared Dec. 26, said“financial remedies have been agreed” but provided no details.

The settlement brings to a close a long-running lawsuit filed after the Mail on Sunday published a series of stories in 2019 based on a personal letter Meghan wrote to her estranged father after her marriage to Prince Harry.

“I think they just kind of cut their losses,” said Mark Stephens, a London attorney who wasn’t involved in the case, citing the seven-figure legal fees incurred by both sides. “So I think it probably was right of both parties to draw a line in the sand and … close this particular case.”

Meghan, a former actress, sued Associated Newspapers for misuse of private information and copyright infringement.

The newspaper’s lawyers disputed Meghan’s claim, arguing that she crafted the letter knowing it might be seen by the news media.