Duchess of Sussex and Duke of Sussex may face a court challenge if they decide to name the royal who allegedly made a racist comment about their son, it has been reported.
The couple sensationally claimed during a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March that a senior royal had made a comment when the Duchess was pregnant with Archie.
But they did not name the supposed royal or give any details which could identify them. The unnamed person is said to have made a comment about the color of their then-unborn son Archie’s skin.
In an updated edition of an unofficial biography on the Sussexes, it has been alleged that they did consider sharing the detail during the tell-all interview. A leaked epilogue of ‘Finding Freedom’, quoted by the Daily Mail, is said to have revealed that Meghan decided against naming the individual, as it would be “very damaging to them”.
Now, Mail+ reports that Mark Stephens, who represented James Hewitt when allegations of his affair with Diana emerged, said the individual could have sued for libel and breach of privacy.
He said: “First of all, the exact words that were said would have to be identified, and the context they were made in. Was it racist or was it just an inquiry?
“Essentially what you will find is that the individual, if named, may have been able to sue for libel and breach of privacy if it was a private conversation between two individuals where there was a reasonable expectation of privacy and for the contents of the conversation not to be shared with a third party, the media.”
The lawyer went on to say that the Royal Family ‘will have to step up’ on dealing with the Sussexes. Harry, 36, and Meghan, 40, have repeatedly said that Finding Freedom is not authorized and they have not spoken to its authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
But other parties believe there is some closeness between the authors and the couple. An updated version of the book is due to be published next week, with more revelations likely to rock the royal family expected.