Meghan Markle's half-sister Samantha Markle attempting to take the Duchess to court again

Things are not going well between Meghan Markle and her half-siblings, and might even get worse as her half-sister Samantha Markle is trying to drag her to court.

In 2022, Samantha filed a case against Meghan for defamation after her Oprah Winfrey interview. After losing that battle, Samantha tried to come at Meghan again for her remarks about Markles in their Netflix Docuseries Harry and Meghan.

She made claims that Meghan and Prince Harry’s Netflix docuseries spread ‘malicious, hurtful, and damaging lies’ about her, in April 2023. Now, in another attempt to get at her half-sister, Samantha Markle is trying to overturn the verdict which saw Meghan emerge victorious. Here’s what’s happening now!

Meghan Markle could be dragged to court again by Samantha Markle

Despite being victorious in court after Samantha Markle brought a case accusing Meghan Markle of making disparaging comments about her during interviews, the Duchess may battle her all over again.

As reported by The Sun, Meghan's sister filed her appeal on 2 August, just two days before the royal turned 43. In the court documents which have been obtained by the tabloid, there are claims that Samantha has not been able to live her daily life as normal. It says, as stated by The Sun:

She has made it so Samantha cannot work, or even enjoy the most mundane of activities, like going to the grocery store without harassment.

Samantha also alleges in the documents that Meghan 'discredited' her by claiming she did not know her while growing up and 'destroyed' her publicly.

They have previously argued that Meghan’s comments about Samantha were ‘disparaging, hurtful, and false’ statements that suggested she is:

a stranger, a liar, and a . . . deceptive fame-seeking imposter with avaricious intentions.

Newsweek reported in early July 2024, when news came out that Samantha was given a deadline for her appeal, that in the new filing, her lawyers are trying to prove that the first verdict by Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell was not taken considering everything. The court filing read:

Cumulative inferences and remarks made by [Meghan] have caused a cumulative meaning, which the court did not consider.

The 59-year-old is attempting to argue that Judge Honeywell previously analysed Meghan’s statement in isolation without considering the cumulative effect they could have.

What were Meghan Markle’s remarks about Samantha Markle?

In Meghan and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Duchess claimed she was principally raised as an only child, reports BBC. Meghan told Oprah:

I grew up as an only child, which everyone who grew up around me knows, and I wished I had siblings.

She added that Samantha only changed her last name to Markle ‘when I started dating Harry.’ Judge Honeywell confirmed in her ruling that these comments made by Meghan were either substantially true or opinions that did not plausibly defame Samantha. She said:

The court has taken notice of the fact that [Samantha] used the surname Rasmussen in September 2016 and Markle two months later, soon after [Meghan's] royal relationship was first reported.

Therefore, the gist of the statement - that [Samantha] switched to her family name a short time after it was reported [Meghan] was involved with Prince Harry - is true.

Regarding her only child remark, Judge Honeywell said that the statement was Meghan's expressed opinion of the relationship.

Other comments cited in the case are Meghan’s remarks made in her Netflix docuseries. She said in Harry and Meghan:

I was with my mom during the week and with my dad on the weekends. And my dad lived alone, he had two adult children who had moved out of his house. I don't remember seeing her [Samantha] when I was a kid at my dad's house, if and when they would come around.

What happened to the initial defamation case Samantha filed against Meghan Markle?

Judge Honeywell dismissed the original case stating that Meghan ‘barely mentions [Samantha], to say only that at some point during [Meghan's] childhood, [Samantha] moved out of her father's house.’ She added:

It is not plausible that [Samantha] would be exposed to hatred, ridicule, or contempt as a result of this statement.

Samantha’s lawyers are attempting to appeal on the basis that Meghan Markle was ‘constructing a broader attack’ across multiple interviews against her sister Samantha. Samantha also tried to accuse Meghan of defaming her by sharing information to an unauthorised biography called Finding Freedom but the case was thrown out last year as the Duchess couldn’t be held liable for the contents of the book as she didn’t publish it.

Whether the two half-sisters ever had a relationship is under debate, but it is clear that whatever connection they have is more strained than ever. But how did their feud start and become this public?

Meghan Markle and Samantha Markle: A look into their relationship

Meghan Markle is an only child of her father Thomas Markle with her mother Doria Ragland. However, she has two half-siblings from her father’s side and Samantha Markle is one of them. Samantha is Thomas Markle’s daughter from his previous marriage to Roslyn Markle.

Samantha has been pretty vocal about criticising her sister after she joined the Royal Family, reports The Sun. In 2021, she wrote a book - The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister - that detailed her relationship with Meghan Markle and shared ‘never seen before’ photos. While the sisters had been feuding for a while, the public feud started in 2018 when Samantha laid into Meghan on X (formerly Twitter) for not getting an invite to the Royal wedding. Interestingly, she was also not invited to Meghan’s first wedding to Trevor Engelson in Jamaica in 2011.

According to Daily Record, Samantha has claimed that she was close to Meghan while they were growing up. These claims have been reported to be untrue as the two were 17 years apart and didn’t grow up at the same time. A Vanity Fair article published in 2018 reported that Doria and Thomas moved in together a couple of years after Meghan was born, with Samantha and Thomas Markle Jr. who were said to be ‘unruly.’

Meanwhile, Meghan openly told Oprah Winfrey that she never had a relationship with Samantha, write Yahoo!. Speaking about her ‘tell-all’ book, Meghan said:

I think it would be hard to ‘tell-all’ when you don’t know me. This is a very different situation than my dad. When you talk about betrayal, betrayal comes from someone that you have a relationship with.

The last time I saw her must have been at least 18, 19 years ago, and before then, 10 years before that.

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Sources Used

Newsweek: How Meghan Markle and Sister's Battle Lines Are Drawn in Court Appeal

BBC: Defamation case against Meghan Markle brought by half-sister dismissed in US

The Sun: Who are Meghan Markle’s siblings?

Daily Record: Meghan Markle's sister Samantha's life from 'growing up together' to decade-long feud

Yahoo!: Meghan Markle Shuts Down Samantha Markle: “You Don’t Know Me”

The Sun: Fresh blow for Meghan Markle as estranged sister Samantha tries to sue her AGAIN for defamation