Prince Harry has been asked to testify against his wife Meghan in a defamation action brought by the duchess’s sister in the United States. Samantha Markle filed papers in a Florida court on Friday, requesting that the Duke of Sussex appear in a deposition process later this month by video and under oath.
Ms. Markle, 56, is suing her sister Meghan for £60,000 in damages for statements made by the duchess in a 2001 TV appearance with Oprah. She claimed the duchess harmed her reputation by telling “malicious lies” about their childhood.
The 56-year-old, who had a different mother than her sister, has also complained about comments in the Sussexes’ book, Finding Freedom. She claims she has been the victim of “demonstrably false and malicious statements” which subjected her to “humiliation and hatred”.
Ms. Markle has also asked the duchess to make 39 different admissions in the court, one of which shows that neither the late Queen nor the King is racist. Another thing she did was take her half-sister to school and take her shopping at the nearby mall.
Ms. Markle also wants their father, Thomas Markle, and former royal aide Jason Knauf to make deposition statements as the lawsuit moves closer to a jury trial in Tampa, Florida, in January of next year. Taylor E Young, her lawyer, accused the duchess, who wants the lawsuit dismissed, of withholding evidence and delaying discovery.
According to the duchess’s lawyer, Michael J Kump, the requests are unconnected to the issues in the defamation action. Ms. Markle has been increasingly critical of her sister after she and her husband left the Royal Family and the United Kingdom.
A data analyst told the Harry & Meghan Netflix documentary that she was “part of a hate group” that spread “disinformation” about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Christopher Bouzy looked into 83 Twitter accounts that were “responsible for 70%” of Meghan’s negative tweets.
He said that Ms. Markle’s account had been suspended due to similar behavior. In an interview with GB News last month, Ms. Markle said she believed Prince Harry “needs counseling” because he’s “stuck at an adolescent stage of resentment over a whole host of issues”.
“I think he is lacking in empathy, remorse, and shame,” she said. “He is so under-developed and introspective that he needs to get counseling in my opinion because I think he is stuck at an adolescent stage of resentment over a whole host of issues.”