Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are expected to take the stand in court in the defamation case that Samantha Markle, Meghan’s step-sister, is bringing against her.
Samantha Markle’s legal team filed paperwork on Friday, February 4, demanding that the Duke and Duchess testify in court in her defamation lawsuit to prove Meghan made some false and malicious statements about her in the couple’s explosive March 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview.
Samantha’s goal is that Meghan makes 38 separate admissions during her deposition. She not only wants Meghan to admit that she lied to the entire world about her upbringing and relationship to create a false “rags to riches” tale, but also wants Meghan to state that the late Queen Elizabeth II was not racist and that King Charles III is also not racist.
In the suit, Samantha, who has the same father as Meghan but a different mother, accused her half-sister of withholding evidence.
Their father, Thomas Markle, is expected to take the stand. Others expected to testify include Jason Knauf, a former royal aide; Ashleigh Hale, Samantha’s daughter; and Christopher Bouzy, an online security expert.
The two half-sisters, who have an age gap of over 15 years, with Samantha being 58 and Meghan 41, had been clashing for years before the 2021 Oprah Interview. Meghan repeatedly accused Samantha and her father of selling false narratives about her to the British press.
Samantha, whose lawsuit is seeking $75,000, filed the document after Meghan said she essentially grew up as an only child and allegedly lied to Oprah about the last time the sisters saw each other. According to Samantha, Meghan’s lies during her interview subjected her to humiliation and hatred.
Samantha, who also has multiple sclerosis, was shocked and angered by claims that the couple made in their 2020 biography titled Finding Freedom.
She has continuously said that her sister and brother-in-law were spreading false information about her, even as they continue publishing memoirs and documentaries.
Michael J. Kump, Meghan’s lawyer, said the demands by Samantha for depositions do not relate to the issues she raised in the defamation suit.
The two parties hired Mary Ruth Houston, a British lawyer, to mediate the case to find a solution and avoid a trial.
