The High Court of Justice was treated to a comical anecdote on Tuesday 19 January, when the judge in charge of Meghan Markle’s trial against the ANL company confided in the biography Finding Freedom.
As the conflict between Meghan Markle and Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) has been fraught with family warfare, Judge Mark Warby allowed himself a touch of humour on Tuesday 19 January.
Charged with determining whether the arm wrestling between the young mother and the tabloid publishing company The Daily Mail and Mail On Sunday can be resolved without a trial, he said he had read the biography Finding Freedom.
An explosive book by journalist Omid Scobie and producer Carolyn Durand, dedicated to the shocking exit of the former actress and Prince Harry from the firm. But when the Duchess’s lawyer, Justin Rushbrooke, asked her if she liked the book, the judge was unable to answer that question”. Mystery.
The art of relaxing the atmosphere. For while Judge Mark Warby can sketch a few smiles, the hearing he presided over was of paramount importance to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
Since October 2019, the lovebirds have been waging war on the British press, especially the ANL, for a reason. Namely, the publication of a letter that the ex-Suits star wrote to her father shortly after his marriage in August 2018.
A gesture that the ex-actress considers to be a “misuse of private information”. But having accumulated £1.8 million in debt as a result of her court cases, and despite lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify, the Duchess of Sussex would like to see this case resolved without going to trial. The decision rests entirely with Judge Mark Warby, who is charged with delivering his verdict after two days of hearings in the London High Court.
A trial in October 2021
A trial in this case was originally scheduled for this January. Little Archie’s mother had finally obtained a postponement in the autumn of October 2021, citing a “confidential reason”. A costly lawsuit that Meghan Markle wants to avoid at all costs, so she has taken legal steps to seek a “summary judgment”.
This would ulcerate her father, Thomas Markle, with whom she has been in conflict for several years. As her half-sister Samantha prepares to unveil their family’s “hidden truths” through a book, Meghan Markle must also come to grips with her father’s revelations.
Her father has agreed to speak in a documentary about his daughter, ready to highlight the change in her behaviour since her union with Prince Harry.
Photo credits: AGENCY / BESTIMAGE