WINS ID GAG Identities of five friends to stay under wraps before court case
Kate with Harry
THE Duchess of Sussex yesterday won a High Court bid to keep secret the identities of five friends who gave an anonymous interview about her to People magazine.
Meghan, 39, who is suing the publishers of the Mail on Sunday, had fought for their anonymity to be protected in her legal tussle with the newspaper. Mr Justice
Warby granted an order preventing the five from being identified “for the time being at least”.
He said it would shield them from the “glare of publicity” in the pre-trial phase and a “frenzy” of media attention would not be in the interests of justice.
However, his judgment did not rule out changing the order at next year’s trial “in the interests of transparency”. A source said Meghan was “happy” with the decision. She is suing Associated Newspapers over an article which reproduced parts of a “private and confidential” letter she sent to her estranged father Thomas Markle, 76, in 2018.
ANL claims Meghan’s pals had brought the letter into the public domain in their interview.