Who is Samantha Markle and why was her defamation case against Meghan dismissed?

A Florida court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by Samantha Markle against her half-sister Meghan.

The Duchess of Sussex had been accused by her estranged relative of spreading "malicious" lies during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

But on 30 March a judge threw out the case, ruling the comments were "not capable of being proved false" and that Meghan was merely expressing an "opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings".

Samantha Markle had been seeking $75,000 (£60,500) in damages partly over comments Meghan made in her March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, claiming Meghan accused her of trying to cash in on the name "Markle" after she started dating Prince Harry.

The court heard accusations that Meghan lied about her "rags to royalty" background. Samantha Markle had also claimed "great harm" had been inflicted on her and that she had been through "ridicule, contempt and disgrace" on the global stage.

Meghan's legal team had called the claims "offensive" and not the "proper subject matter" for a court of law. “Not every perceived slight ought to be litigated and that’s true here", Meghan's lawyer said.

Yahoo UK breaks down who Samantha Markle is, and why she tried to sue Meghan:

Who is Samantha Markle?

Samantha Markle, 58, is Meghan's half-sister and 17 years older than the duchess. She lives in Florida and has multiple sclerosis, which means she needs to use a wheelchair.

Meghan and Samantha's father is Thomas Markle. Samantha's mother — Roslyn — told the Mail Online in 2017 that Samantha "has dogged on Meghan forever", adding: "She's never liked Meghan and she's always been jealous of her."

The two sisters have been estranged for a long time, and Samantha has been highly critical of Meghan since her relationship with Prince Harry was made public in 2016 — dubbing her "princess pushy" and a "social climber".

Samantha's mother isn't the only family member to criticise her for her public comments about Meghan. Thomas Markle Jr — Meghan's half brother and Samantha's full sibling — told the Mail Online that "nobody talks to" Samantha.

'It's why nobody talks to her and hasn't for a long, long time. Leave Meghan alone already – it's ridiculous."

Meghan has remained tight-lipped about her half sister for many years, until she addressed their relationship in the controversial Netflix docuseries about the Sussexes last year.

"My half-sister, who I hadn't seen for over a decade – and that was only for a day and a half – suddenly it felt like she was everywhere," Meghan said in the programme.

"I don't know your middle name, I don't know your birthday. You're telling these people that you raised me and that you coined me 'princess pushy'".

Why did Samantha Markle sue Meghan?

Samantha decided to sue her half-sister following Meghan and Harry's sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Her complaint was partly based on how many people saw the interview — documents seen by PA are quoted as saying this was "roughly 50 million people in 17 countries".

She said that Meghan "falsely and maliciously" claimed to be an only child in the interview, despite having two half-siblings.

Samantha claimed that because of Meghan she was subject to "humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale".

Equally she claimed that Meghan's actions took place with the support of the palace's PR machine as part of a "premeditated campaign" to ruin both her own and her father's reputation.

Samantha's lawyers had also requested to see all communications between Meghan and palace staff about herself, or their father Thomas Markle, as well as Meghan’s call logs.

She had also requested to see Meghan's communications with palace aides that would prove the duchess asked her friends and family not to contribute in anyway to the biography Finding Freedom.

According to Newsweek, Meghan’s lawyers had argued this was an "unwarranted fishing expedition".

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