LAW SUITS Meg faces video grilling in sis case
MEGHAN Markle’s sister wants a judge to order Prince Harry’s wife to be grilled by a lawyer on video.
The Duchess of Sussex, who shot to fame playing legal executive Rachel Zane in the TV drama Suits, could be questioned for up to seven hours while cameras roll.
The move is the latest twist in a bitter legal row between siblings Meghan, 40, and Samantha, 57.
It comes days after Meghan filed a 27page court bid in Tampa, Florida, to dismiss a defamation case brought by Samantha, who wants £60,000 damages.
She claims her reputation was wrecked by comments the duchess made about her childhood during last year’s tell-all TV interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Samantha also complains about claims in the book Finding Freedom – Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s bombshell biography of Meghan’s early days with Harry. The duchess later admitted to the High Court in London that the book was written with the help of her friends.
Last night Samantha’s lawyer Jamie Alan Sasson told us: “Our intention is to take this case to a jury trial.
“I feel confident we’ll get past the motion to dismiss. We expect to start taking depositions in this case within the next six months.”
He said a move could even be made to ask for evidence from Prince Harry, 37, although he could refuse. The lawyer said: “I think he would have relevant information.”
We think that Harry would have relevant
information
Discovery
Samantha claims she has been a victim of false and malicious statements which subjected her to worldwide humiliation.
She accused Meghan of concocting a “false narrative and fairy-tale life story”.
If Meghan’s questioning on video goes ahead, it would be as a deposition – part of what is called the discovery process in the US, where 99 out of 100 civil cases settle out of court before trial.
Prince Andrew was prepared to give one in his battle with sex accuser Virginia Giuffre before settling out of court on no admission of liability having strongly denied all her allegations.
Meghan’s legal team include high-flying lawyers Ronnie Bitman, who represented the estate of dead singer Michael Jackson, and Michael Kump, who has acted for TV reality star Kim Kardashian.
Samantha has until June 3 to file a response, which will be considered by a US federal judge who will then rule on whether the case can proceed. Meghan’s lawyers have claimed in their motion filed on May 13: “This is a defamation case without any merit.”
Referring to the book at the centre of the case, they added: “The authors of Finding Freedom made the statements, and there are no allegations – nor could there be – that Meghan wrote that book or otherwise controlled its composition and editing.”
Samantha and Meghan are half-sisters with the same father, Thomas Markle.