Harry and Meghan biography

[sunshinesupermum]

Hasn't Prince Harry learnt anything from his mother's experience of having someone write her biography 'to set the record straight'? Couldn't they have at least waited until after his grandmother's death, however long that might be?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8257071/Meghan-Harry-biography-bombshell-Royals.html

She is going to be exposed for the machiavellian narcissist she is

@DeRigueurMortis You've summed it up rather perfectly.

I'm still not sure if journalists can be forced to reveal confidential sources (the five friends)?

I'm also confused about the different jurisdictions in the case and how that will effect things, e.g. the law in UK / USA is different and i'm assuming that since the original article was published in People which is US based, it would fall under USA jurisdiction and therefore would the UK court have any authority in forcing People to reveal who the people sources are?

It would work in Meghan's favour if the defence can't get the sources on the stand to cross examine them.

If my memory is correct MM, a little while ago, tried to withdraw the case but the MoS would not agree.

Why would the MoS agree? Only if MM was to pay costs and a sum of money presumably? She should never have brought the case at all. So stupid.

Every aspect of this is fascinating. It’s like an absolutely unputdownable novel. I can’t tear myself away (not that I’m trying).

Sorry just thinking some more, the other thing to add about the case is that even if her friends testify in her favour the MOS are arguing that she still breached her own privacy because even if she didn't sanction the People article, by communicating the contents of the letter to so many friends (at least 5) she couldn't possibly have the expectation that they would remain private.

I still don’t understand why she hasn’t printed the letter in it’s entirety, since she claims the edit changed the message.

DeRigueur sounds about right to me - there was a bit about GDPR in there as well, but I'm afraid the complexities of that are beyond me

DeRigeur I think that there's also a question around whether Megan does own the copy right to the letter, having "given" it to her father. Ownership passed from her to him when he received it, so he was within his rights to do whatever he chose with it - or so the claim goes.

The MoS also claim that she expected the letter to be published because it was so immaculately written, with no crossings out.

I might be a bit thick but really if you wrote a letter to a family member of such a personal nature why would you give it to your 5 closest female friends to read anyway ? And if she did do that then how many more people did she let read it ?
It simply doesn't ring true to me !
But if it is true then surely Thomas Markle has a case to sue her for infringing his privacy by sharing the letter and putting the friends in a position to blab to the press about a private letter his daughter sent him which he could reasonably expect to be a private matter .
Either way it doesn't add up to me !

Do we know for sure that the five friends actually read the letter? Or did they just know the contents via Meghan?

@RosesandIris maybe she no longer has a copy of it, since it was handwritten?

Well if I was blabbing to the press I would at least want to be sure of what I was blabbing about so I would expect them to have a good knowledge of what she wrote. Surely no one would be stupid enough to put their heads on the chopping block to further Meghans cause without reading it first !

I'm not sure that all of her friends mentioned the letter. It could have been a passing comment 'I wrote a letter to my father to say how much I loved him, and all I got back was a letter saying that he would like a new photo of him with me and Harry'.

Maybe.

Don't like or trust Meghan, but it may have been more of a passing comment to a friend, rather than her showing them the actual letter?

I'd love to know Prince Philip's opinion on the whole circus show.

Prince Philip's opinion is probably unprintable.

Philip was Captain General of the Royal Marines for more than 64 years. He handed the post over to Harry when he retired from public life, and two years later Harry pulled out of a memorial event for Royal Marines killed in a terrorist attack in favour of a Disney premiere.

Can just imagine what Philip thought of that, and no wonder they insisted on Harry giving up all his military associations after such a show of disrespect.

@sunhinesupermum
If my memory is correct MM, a little while ago, tried to withdraw the case but the MoS would not agree

Why would the MoS agree? Only if MM was to pay costs and a sum of money presumably? She should never have brought the case at all. So stupid

Well, that was exactly my point. She obviously belatedly realised what a shitstorm this will be. The MoS, of course (and I suspect many others) will welcome this however, as MM will get her comeuppance.

Meghan owns the copyright because she wrote the letter. An author can give a book to a publisher (Thomas Markle) but the author retains the copyright.

The case is being heard here. It matters not one jot what might be different in the USA. The case is here and against a British publisher.

There seemed to be quite a lot of emotion in her case and the judge wants it decided on the law. Not people’s “feelings” such as Thomas Markle which Meghan doesn’t know because she hasn’t spoken to him.

Prince Philip's opinion is probably unprintable

So is Anne's I imagine
Then again they're practically the same personality so ...

This is the BBCs take on the saga. Hope it’s not copyright!

Summary and full judgement is on the courts website
www.judiciary.uk/judgements/huh-the-duchess-of-sussex-v-associated-newspapers

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't Harry pushing this from the start, rather than MM: you can imagine how fast this type of thing spirals out of your control when you're married to a man with deep pockets, no real understanding of the law, and An Agenda.

'Oh no, this is so mean of the Mail!'
'It's fucking outrageous, babe, we'll sue!"
'But it'll be expensive...'
'I don't care! You are my family!'
'But, um, now I think about it, I suppose I might have mentioned a teeny thing to Serena...'
'Doesn't matter, we'll hang the bastards out to dry!'
'But, H, I'm not totally sure I didn't, um, ask Amal about the spelling of 'disingenous' before I sent it, which might look bad...'
'Doesn't matter, we're going to get those bottom-feeders!'
'But H...'
'NONE OF THIS MATTERS WE ARE TOTALLY IN THE RIGHT AND THEY ARE GOING DOWN THIS TIME HELLO, IS THAT SCHILLINGS?'
'Oh... fuck.'

Meghan's bitten off more than she can chew. Harry might be Tim Dim, but this lot of lawyers isn't. Her story's holes stuck together with pouting, and even the most slumberous judge will notice.

Where is this hate campaign that the media ran against Meghan?

I don't know whether it could be argued that the papers were determined to paint her/them in a bad light then, but they sure as hell are now!

From justice.uk:

"Justice Warby's early practice as a barrister included commercial litigation and arbitration. Later he developed specialisms in media law litigation – mainly defamation and privacy – and sports law – disciplinary matters and arbitration. He is joint editor and a co-author of The Law of Privacy and the Media (OUP)"

Sounds like he's the right sort of guy to be hearing this, anyway ...

MrsJoshNavidi - I completely disagree if that is the MoS view, that if a person writes a personal letter with no crossing out that the sender expects it to be for public show.

I would never send a letter to any one that had words crossed out.