Meghan Markle’s half-sister Samantha to refile ‘even stronger’ defamation case

Meghan Markle’s estranged half-sister Samantha Markle is planning to refile an “even stronger” defamation case against her, according to a report.

The Duchess of Sussex emerged victorious last week after the defamation lawsuit brought forward by Samantha was tossed out by a Florida judge.

Samantha, who filed a $75,000 lawsuit against the exiled royal for allegedly making “demonstrably false and malicious statements” about her to a world audience during her and Prince Harry’s bombshell March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, is reportedly gearing up for round two in court.

Samantha’s lawyer Jamie Sasson said it was “unfortunate” that the judge decided to dismiss her initial suit, saying “we vehemently oppose the narrative” that the duchess won.

“We look forward to presenting an even stronger argument for the defamation and losses that our client has had to endure,” Sasson said in a statement to the Telegraph.

Samantha’s legal team has 14 days to amend their complaint, which was filed after Meghan told Oprah that she grew up as an only child, which subjected Samantha to “humiliation and hatred,” she claimed.

“This upcoming amendment will address certain legal issues that are related to our claims for defamation as it specifically relates to the Oprah interview on CBS,” Sasson added.

On Thursday, US District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismissed Samantha’s lawsuit, saying Meghan’s remarks were opinions and “not capable of being proved false.”

“As a reasonable listener would understand it, Defendant merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings,” Judge Honeywell wrote in her order.

“Thus, the Court finds that Defendant’s statement is not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof. Plaintiff cannot plausibly disprove Defendant’s opinion of her own childhood.”

Samantha, who shares a dad with the exiled royal, claimed Meghan “orchestrated the campaign to defame and destroy her sister’s and her father’s reputation and credibility in order to preserve and promote the false ‘rags-to-royalty’ narrative [Meghan] had fabricated about her life to the Royal Family and the worldwide media.”

Samantha also wanted Meghan to take back allegations she made against the royal family by claiming “Queen Elizabeth was not a racist” and “King Charles is not a racist.”

Meghan’s lawyer, Michael Kump, however, said Samantha had no grounds to sue for defamation.

He said the claims made by Samantha and her lawyer were “quite frankly offensive to my client” and demanded the case be dismissed.

“Not every perceived slight ought to be litigated and that’s true here,” he said last month. “Plaintiff is taking issue with Meghan’s own impressions of her own childhood growing up but that’s not a proper subject matter for a court of law.”

He added that the duchess and former “Suits” star has a right to voice opinions “and even criticize” under the First Amendment.