megan the duchess of sussex has won her
two-year legal battle with the mail on
sunday
over the publication of a letter she
wrote to her estranged father thomas
markle
after her wedding to prince harry today
the high court ruled that the duchess
had had a reasonable expectation
that the letter would remain private in
a statement she thanked the court for
holding the newspaper to account
and said the damage the paper had done
and continued to do
runs deep associated newspapers the
publishers of the
daily mail mail on sunday and mail
online said they were surprised and
disappointed by the judgment
this report from our royal correspondent
nicholas whitchell contains flash
photography
this is a significant victory for the
duchess of sussex
megan strongly supported by her husband
prince harry
has shown herself to be absolutely
determined robustly to defend her right
to privacy
this case began after the mail on sunday
published lengthy extracts from a letter
she'd written in late 2018 to her
estranged father thomas
megan's lawyers had told the high court
that the letter was a heartfelt plea
from an
anguished daughter they'd applied for
something called a summary judgment
that's a judgment without a full trial
on the basis they said that the mail on
sunday had no real prospect of success
and the judge agreed mr justice warby
examined the evidence and found
taken as a whole the disclosures
published by the newspaper
were manifestly excessive and hence
unlawful
there is no prospect that a different
judgment would be reached
after a trial he said
megan has also won on the separate issue
of copyright infringement
but privacy is the one that really
counts
in a statement she spoke about what she
said with the tactics of the mail groups
newspapers
for these outlets it's a game she said
for me and so many others
it's real life real relationships and
very real sadness
the damage they have done and continue
to do runs deep
the mail on sunday's publishers said
they were very surprised by the judgment
they said they would decide in due
course whether to lodge an appeal
and first reaction from media lawyers
this is a significant victory because of
who she is
the male had published a series of
articles around
megan and her life and her private life
um
and i think this was the tipping point
for her i suspect that it should have
quite a sobering impact on
sections of the media who think that
celebrities and
members of the royal family are fair
game
for the queen and the other senior
royals there will be great relief
the prospect of a full trial on the
privacy issue in which
meghan markle and her father thomas
markle would have been pitted against
each other
as the star witnesses has been averted
and nick joins me now and it really is
quite a victory for the for the duchess
a judgment that many thought could go
either way
this is absolutely game set and match
a significant and considerable victory
for the sussexes and yes this was a big
gamble to take on a big newspaper group
and it is absolutely paid off
i'm sure the rest of the family are
pleased for them it's a sharp warning to
the media
but i think their overwhelming feeling
will be one of relief i mean can you
imagine
how this could have played out if it had
gone to a full trial meghan markle being
cross-examined in the witness box
thomas markle across the court appearing
for the mail on sunday all the strains
within that family playing out in public
the mail on sunday associated newspapers
say they are disappointed that they've
been denied the chance to test the
evidence in court
they say they may appeal but this is a
very careful a very detailed 50-page
judgment by mr justice warby and he is
very specific on the question of the
privacy
of the letter he says as i mentioned in
the report there is no prospect
no prospect that a different judgment
will be reached after a trial
now there is one technical issue over
copyright still to be decided
there is another matter still to be
decided that's the question of
damages this is a pretty salutary day i
would suggest
for sections of the british media nick
mitchell thank you