Meghan Markle taking Mail On Sunday to Court *MNHQ tweaked title for accuracy*

[TheMustressMhor]

And about time, too. They never stop castigating her.

Prince Harry has said that he's worried that she'll end up being the same kind of victim that his mother was with regard to the Press.

I hope she wins her case.

Im still not sure why her father isn't being taken to court as well. I understand that she owns the copyright and the mail should not have printed it. But that also means it was not her fathers property to sell

@SirVixofVixHall

she courts it

Again how does she court it? When asked, nobody can explain. In deed and in fact, she is a lot more private than some of them. And they have Royal instagram accounts. Even the Queen.

as pps have suggested she may have sent this letter knowing that it would be released and hoping it would show her side of the conflict with her father.
Wow. Just WOW. Of all the absolute batshit beeping crazy conspiracy theory bs from haters, this, THIS, is a new low in crackpot absurdity. It makes one wonder what a cynical, vicious, bitter and hateful psyche one must have to even actually think this up.

I thought I had read the worst of things said about Meghan. There really is no bottom level is there? fmd

*And [all] they have

@Entropyrising
People on this thread seem to suggest that the writer owns it, perhaps they say this with authority.

I'm a librarian working with collections of personal papers which include a great many letters. Whilst I wouldn't suggest I am an expert (Copyright can be very complex), I do have a working knowledge of copyright in relation to handwritten letters. It seems cut and dried to me.

I am avidly NOT a royalist, but Harry's letter moved me. The press just need to fuck off and leave them alone.

Anyone making profit from someone else's words can fall foul of copyright law, from what I know.

So, yes, if her father sold her private words, he could too, but the press have sold papers on the back of this, and also misrepresented the intent through their selective publishing of particular sections.

Maybe she doesn't want to 'go after' her father? Who knows, noone. Only her really.

@SaraNade She doesn't follow the usual royal behaviour. I am not saying this is a bad thing...she is a person who should be able to live her life in any way she chooses. But, unlike Diana and Kate, she came to the royal family with a following and a profile and an understanding of how to court the media, which she does do...and Diana did so well. And also like Diana, she has famous friends, takes private jets etc

@CampingItUp
"Quite right that the Sussexes are doing this.
But why have you just named her in your thread title? Harry wrote / signed the letter. To Meghan ‘s detractors the fact that ‘she’ is taking action draws yet more focus on her.
Be accurate. Let’s all be accurate."
Yes. Let us all be accurate.

The OP has accurately described that it is only Meghan who is suing the newspaper. Harry and Meghan may have announced it and refer to it as if they are taking legal action but it is only Meghan that is doing so.

From the Independent newspaper:
"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced they are taking legal action against the Mail on Sunday after the newspaper allegedly unlawfully published one of the duchess’ private letters."

However,
"Law firm Schillings, representing the duchess, said she had filed a High Court claim against the paper and its parent company Associated Newspapers over the alleged misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018."*

Maybe as well as the royal 'we', we have now seen the birth of the royal 'they'.

@QualCheckBot You're clearly already a member of the herd mind that thinks all parents, no matter what they've done, deserve a visit simply because they are 'old' and cannot think outside that sheep-like mindset that families are not all happy, joy and sunshine like you have.

Welcome to the real world.

@SaraNade And the law firm they have chosen is one well known to be a ruthless representation of celebrities and not one usually used by the royal family

@Pitterpatterpettysteps why should they not have Instagram? All the main royals are on Twitter - the Cambridge family have an account, so why not the Sussexes? They’d come in for yet more flak if they didn’t.

Personally I think it’s a good choice to be on Insta as opposed to Twitter. It’s harder to repost (you have to install an app) and if you do, it doesn’t automatically include the comments - nice or nasty.

Plus they feature new charities every month, bringing massive free exposure and publicity to them. Today they’re inviting people to tag charities so I’ve mentioned Hestia (which helps women and kids escaping domestic violence). If just one person clicks and engages, I’m happy.

And the law firm they have chosen is one well known to be a ruthless representation of celebrities and not one usually used by the royal family

I'd never criticise anyone for hiring a ruthless law firm. Presumably they want the best representation they can get.

All the major royals have multiple PRs, plus the RF as an institution has its own powerful PR organisation.

So why is theirs so shit and ineffective? After all it truly is amazing considering the vitriol towards C&C after Diana's death that either of them, let alone Camilla (!) have been resurrected to any kind of grace, yet they more or less have. It's not just due to time. It has to be down to slick and prudent PR advice. And crucially, them following it.

Harry was told by Buck Pal PR 'please do not fly to launch a dodgy privately funded eco-green washing charity' (Travalyst) Because, to quote Carrie's mum: 'They're all gonna laugh at you' i.e., ask difficult questions about your penchant for hypocritical PJ flights, but he effectively said 'I'll do wtf I want' and went anyway, received the forewarned questions, answered it stupidly then complains afterwards when the resulting public opinion and press is negative. So aside from the press, where is their part in their negative coverage? It's clear they feel they have no part in any of it.

as pps have suggested she may have sent this letter knowing that it would be released and hoping it would show her side of the conflict with her father.
Wow. Just WOW. Of all the absolute batshit beeping crazy conspiracy theory bs from haters, this, THIS, is a new low in crackpot absurdity. It makes one wonder what a cynical, vicious, bitter and hateful psyche one must have to even actually think this up.

Why on earth would she have not considered the possibility that her father, who at that point had already sold many stories to the press, would sell her letter?

I'm sure any of her confidantes would have said 'are you sure you can trust him with a letter?' if by some lapse of reason it didn't occur to her.

starfishmummy
The physical letter was her father's property to sell. The intellectual property (the words, formatting, punctuation, etc. in the letter) are Meghan's, and it is that which is subject to copyright.

As I've said, copyright law isn't the easiest to understand.

“She doesn't follow the usual royal behaviour”
Really? Attending things, opening things, visiting things, walking about places, being patron of things. Wearing appropriate pretty dresses at traditional things. Spending money on houses, going on holiday, All seems like usual royal behaviour to me.

Harry and Meghan could easily lie low if they wanted to - hang out at Frogmore, go on holidays in one of the Queen’s many pads far from prying eyes, get on with charity work under the radar. Prince Edward and Sophie are good examples - after some disastrous early PR decisions they went to ground - I wouldn’t recognise their children if I met them in Windsor Waitrose and yet the pair of them quietly get on with supporting their charities. Likewise Princess Anne who like H and M eschewed Royal titles for her children. She is the hardest working Royal, but doesn’t make a song and a dance about it. Her argument with her father should be a private matter - having seen him go to the papers once I’m not sure what Meghan was thinking of by writing a letter. Why not just quietly pop in to see him on one of her trips back to the States? They’ve had fantastic publicity from their trip to Africa - why not let that speak for itself instead of raking over coals to obliterate any good their trip might have done? All the papers will just get even more mileage out of any court case - I can’t imagine who is advising her, but it’s hard to believe she could be getting worse advice.

@Anyminutenow
You don't need to make a profit to fall foul of copyright law.

SaraNade @QualCheckBot You're clearly already a member of the herd mind that thinks all parents, no matter what they've done, deserve a visit simply because they are 'old' and cannot think outside that sheep-like mindset that families are not all happy, joy and sunshine like you have.

Is it a new tactic of the forelock tuggers to make up things and then claim other posters have said it and then denounce them for it? This is the second time this has happened to me on this thread. Its pretty strange behaviour. You really are trying very hard for some reason, aren't you?

You are aware that people are actually allowed to discuss the royal family? I mean, theres not much point in having them if we can't discuss them.

No doubt these words will be spun into something entirely different too. Quite entertaining really.

Wow. Just WOW. Of all the absolute batshit beeping crazy conspiracy theory bs from haters, this, THIS, is a new low in crackpot absurdity. It makes one wonder what a cynical, vicious, bitter and hateful psyche one must have to even actually think this up.

Seriously? Of course she considered the possibility her father would leak the letter. She'd have been immensely stupid not to have done so.

I think you need to dial down the rhetoric a notch.

@joyfullittlehippo You have misread this as me being critical. I am not at all. I'm just explaining why I think she doesn't behave like other royals. I think the publication of the letter is atrocious. I think she's been treated apallingly by the press and her father. But she came to the royal family as a celebrity and I think that sets her apart.

@KevinKlineSwoon I'm still not following. How doesn't she follow royal behaviour? I have not seen her do one thing, say one thing, or advocate one thing, that any other royal doesn't. No one has to date been able to give anything tangible she has done or said that isn't standard royal behaviour (bar baby shower in the US).

Oh and all royal members have famous friends and often take private jets.

So the question still remains to be answered, and I honestly don't think it ever will be, because there is nothing she has done that isn't something that is standard for all royals.