Meghan Markle is having a great week!
One day after her 39th birthday, the Duchess of Sussex had more cause for celebration: a BIG legal win in her ongoing case against Associated Newspapers. ICYMI, this legal matter is centered around the publishing of a letter sent to Thomas Markle, which was written by Meg in August 2018, three months after her wedding which he did not attend.
Related: Kate Middleton ‘Devastated’ By Tell-All Revealing Meghan Markle Feud Details
On Wednesday, Justice Mark Warby ruled in favor of the birthday girl in her fight to block the public naming of five friends who anonymously spoke with People in 2019. Her team shared after the verdict:
“The Duchess felt it was necessary to take this step to try and protect her friends—as any of us would—and we’re glad this was clear. We are happy that the Judge has agreed to protect these five individuals.”
Per The Telegraph, Warby said in his ruling:
“I have concluded that for the time being at least the Court should grant the claimant the orders she seeks, the effect of which will be to confer protection on the sources’ identities. That is confidential information, the protection of which at this stage is necessary in the interests of the administration of justice. This is an interim decision.”
Note that this is an “interim decision,” meaning it could be changed down the line depending on the judge’s ruling… An application was first filed one month ago to stop the publisher from publicly identifying the names of those five friends, with the monikers being provided confidentially to a judge instead. A witness statement from the Suits alum argued that:
“Associated Newspapers, the owner of The Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, is threatening to publish the names of five women—five private citizens—who made a choice on their own to speak anonymously with a U.S. media outlet more than a year ago, to defend me from the bullying behavior of Britain’s tabloid media.”
The defense continued:
“These five women are not on trial, and nor am I. The publisher of the Mail on Sunday is the one on trial. It is this publisher that acted unlawfully and is attempting to evade accountability; to create a circus and distract from the point of this case—that the Mail on Sunday unlawfully published my private letter. Each of these women is a private citizen, young mother, and each has a basic right to privacy. Both the Mail on Sunday and the court system have their names on a confidential schedule, but for the Mail on Sunday to expose them in the public domain for no reason other than clickbait and commercial gain is vicious and poses a threat to their emotional and mental wellbeing.”
Meghan may have just won a battle, but the war certainly isn’t over yet!!
[Image via John Rainford/WENN.]
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