Florida judge sets October 2023 trial date for Samantha Markle’s lawsuit against Meghan and says she wants speedy trial rather than trade ‘wasteful’ legal actions – after Meghan claimed being an ‘only child’ was a ‘feeling’ not a ‘fact’

• Meghan Markle is being sued by her half-sister Samantha over a ‘rags to riches’ story, where she claimed she was an ‘only child’
• Samantha accuses Meghan of making defamatory comments in Oprah interview and supplying  ‘false’ information to Finding Freedom writers 
• Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell refused Meghan’s lawyers attempt to dismiss the case, after they called the suit ‘baseless’
• The Florida judge has ordered the pair to agree on a mediator by the end of September, and complete discovery by May
• If they fail to settle or resolve the case in mediation, a trial date has been set for October 2, 2023 – which would last only five days 

A Florida judge has set a trial date for Samantha Markle’s defamation case against her half-sister Meghan and is demanding that the case be tried in a ‘speedy’ manner.

Samantha Markle, 57, is suing her half-sister Meghan for damages, claiming Meghan defamed and embarrassed her by saying in her Oprah interview that she was raised as an ‘only child’.

She claims the Duchess of Sussex, 41, peddled a ‘rags to riches’ tale, and also over comments in Finding Freedom, the book penned by Meghan’s close friend Omid Scobie. 

Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell has now ordered both sides to make submissions in a swift manner, adding that she wanted to make it ‘inexpensive’.

The Duchess of Sussex’s team previously moved for the defamation case to be dismissed, claiming that it was a ‘feeling’ and not a ‘fact’ that she grew up as an ‘only child.’

Samantha says the ‘false’ statement not only undermined everything she had said previously about having a link to Meghan as her half-sister, but that it also humiliated her and caused her distress.

She is also suing over comments made about her in Finding Freedom, a book Meghan and Harry advised and informed but did not write.

A judge has now dismissed Meghan’s attempt to get the defamation lawsuit from her sister thrown out, and has set out a timetable of events for the hearing.  Samantha claims that during an interview with Oprah, pictured, Meghan falsely claimed that she was an ‘only child’

The Duchess of Sussex’s team previously moved for the defamation case to be dismissed, claiming that it was a ‘feeling’ and not a ‘fact’ that she grew up as an ‘only child.’ But Samantha, pictured with her half-sister Meghan Markle at her graduation in 2008, and her lawyers say they have ‘viable proof’

Samantha alleges that Meghan lied when she claimed she ‘essentially raised herself from virtual poverty’ and from 13 had to take on low-paying jobs to ‘make ends meet’

Meghan claims that she cannot be held liable for either, and in one legal filing, she asserts that it was her opinion and not a ‘fact’ that she was brought up an only child.

Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell, pictured, has now ordered both sides to make submissions in a swift manner and set a potential trial date for October 2023

She also says that because she is not the author or publisher of Finding Freedom, she shouldn’t be held accountable for any of its contents.

But Judge Honeywell is allowing it to proceed, and the pair must agree on a mediator by the end of September, and complete discovery by May next year.

If they fail to settle or resolve the case in mediation, a trial date has been set for October 2, 2023, which would last no longer than five days.

In previous court documents Meghan dismissed Samantha’s complaints about information in Finding Freedom, a book by Omid Scobie, saying she can’t be blamed for that because she didn’t write the book. 

Samantha, the daughter of Thomas Markle, Meghan’s father, claims the Duchess of Sussex launched a ‘premeditated campaign to destroy’ her and her father’s reputation.

She claims her sister tried to ruin their credibility so ‘they could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairy tale life story concocted by the defendant’.

She also alleges Meghan lied when she claimed she ‘essentially raised herself from virtual poverty’ and from 13 had to take on low-paying jobs to ‘make ends meet’.

Meanwhile Samantha launched an astonishing broadside on her sister’s friend and biographer Omid Scobie as she blasted Finding Freedom as ‘a book of lies’.

Meghan’s lawyer has previously hit back at the lawsuit, claiming it was ‘baseless’ and they would give it ‘the minimum attention necessary’. Scobie also dismissed the claims.

The sisters are thought to have last seen each other in 2008 but they have butted heads over versions of their childhoods in recent years.

Meghan’s lawyers claim that because she is not the author or publisher of Finding Freedom, she shouldn’t be held accountable for any of its contents

If they fail to settle or resolve the case in mediation, a trial date has been set for October 2, 2023, which would last no longer than five days. Pictured: Meghan with her father Thomas Markle, from whom she is also estranged

Samantha released a book about her sister last year titled The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister: A Memoir, Part One

Samantha’s rocky relationship with Meghan exploded into public view after her sister’s engagement to Prince Harry was announced in 2017.

She was quoted by journalists as saying ‘The Queen would be appalled’ and called her a ‘ducha**’ on Twitter.

She gave numerous interviews attacking the Duchess but has since backtracked and complimented her.

Samantha released a book about her sister last year titled The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister: A Memoir, Part One.

It lays bare details of the Markles’ upbringing, including the rivalry when their father was still married to the actress’s mother Doria Ragland.

But Samantha also writes of her adoration for Meghan as a baby and described the infant as ‘bi-racial, beautiful, and was both the color of a peach, and a rose’.

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