Meghan Markle court heartbreak: Giving up friends ‘unacceptable price’ for Duchess
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Meghan’s legal team appeared at the High Court today in a bid to keep the identities of the Duchess of Sussex’ five friends secret in reports of the proceedings. Justin Rushbrooke QC, representing the duchess, said in written submissions to the court: “To force the claimant, as the defendant urges this court to do, to disclose their identities to the public at this stage would be to exact an unacceptably high price for pursuing her claim for invasion of privacy against the defendant in respect of its disclosure of the letter.
“On her case, which will be tried in due course, the defendant has been guilty of a flagrant and unjustified intrusion into her private and family life.
“Given the close factual nexus between the letter and the events leading up to the defendant’s decision to publish its contents, it would be a cruel irony were she required to pay that price before her claim has even been determined.”
Mr Rushbrooke added: “The friends are not parties to this action, but unwilling participants.
“At this early stage of the litigation it cannot be said with certainty that they would be witnesses at the trial.”
Meghan is suing Associated Newspapers for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.
The publisher wholly denies these allegations.
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