Meghan Markle Could Receive $2.7 Million in Copyright Case After Duchess Gets Front-Page Apology From Mail on Sunday Publishers

After winning her three-year High Court privacy battle against a British newspaper, Meghan Markle could be in line for a pay raise of up to $2.7 million (£1.5 million).

The Duchess of Sussex, 40, has won her copyright case against the Mail on Sunday, which published a part of a private letter she wrote to her father Thomas Markle Sr, and the publisher has agreed to pay "financial remedies."

Meghan Markle could receive $2.7 million in privacy battle

Meghan's legal fees have been estimated at $2.7 million, with half due in 14 days, according to The Sun. However, the judge ordered the publication to pay $835,000 in charges first.

The former Suits actress has filed a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, which also publishes MailOnline, for five articles that included excerpts from a "personal and private" letter she wrote to her estranged father in 2018.

Meghan won the case earlier this year when a High Court judge ruled in her favor without a trial, and the newspaper's challenge was later dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Meghan wrote a five-page letter to her father on August 27, 2018, and the gist of it was published in a Mail on Sunday and MailOnline piece on February 9, 2019. The legal team for the Duchess of Sussex contended before London's High Court of Justice that the letter's publication was a breach of copyright, as per Newsweek via MSN.

Associated Newspapers appealed her case, claiming it should have gone to trial, although she won it via summary judgment earlier this year. However, Meghan had "a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private," according to the complete verdict of the January 19-20 hearing.

Judge Lord Justice Warby also ordered The Mail on Sunday and The Mail Online to issue a statement regarding the outcome. The court decided that Associated Newspapers had infringed on the copyright of the Duchess of Sussex, according to statements published on the front page of The Mail on Sunday and the homepage of MailOnline on Christmas Day.

Newspaper's publishers release front-page apology

The Associated Newspapers infringed on Markle's copyright by publishing excerpts of her handwritten letters to her father on both The Mail on Sunday and the website Mail Online, according to the 84-word story on Mail Online.

It also stated that "financial remedies have been agreed" and released the full ruling as well as the Court's report from the January 19-20 session. The Duchess of Sussex and her husband, Prince Harry, are contentious personalities in the United Kingdom, and they have left the country. Following their departure from frontline Royal duties, they headed to California.

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this year, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made disparaging remarks about the British royal family, sparking a debate over the institution and racism.

Buckingham Palace issued a statement after the interview aired, saying, "The problems presented, particularly those of race, are disturbing; while individual recollections may differ, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately."

The Duchess of Sussex won her copyright action against the newspaper's publisher, according to a statement on the front page of the Mail on Sunday, which also stated that "financial remedies have been agreed."

Per The Independent, the publisher's attorneys contended that new information from Jason Knauf, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's former communications secretary, proved Meghan penned the letter knowing it would be leaked. The appeal, however, was dismissed by Court of Appeal justices earlier this month.

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Pay, Newspaper, Privacy, Copyright