By Molly Claire Goddard
12:07pm PDT, Sep 9, 2025
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Meghan Markle's family feud is ruining her image.
As the Duchess of Sussex keeps her focus on
With Love, Meghan Season 2, her estranged half-sister
Samantha Markle's oral arguments in her attempt to sue Meghan for defamation are being heard by a judge.
Keep reading to learn more about the matter…MORE:
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Samantha Markle first took legal action against Meghan Markle in 2022 for allegedly defaming her in multiple interviews, including her and
Prince Harry's bombshell interview with
Oprah Winfrey. A judge dismissed the case with prejudice in 2024, meaning the claims cannot be filed again. The famous family member appealed the dismissal. The oral argument is set for September 9 in Florida.
According to royal expert
Hilary Fordwich, the ongoing chaos with the relatives is tarnishing Meghan's public persona. "Meghan Markle has done her utmost to rebrand herself as some sort of California royalty in a desperate attempt to forge a new identity," she
explained. "This will thwart those efforts. Regarding her own father, former Hollywood lighting director
Thomas Markle, there is such entrenched bitterness, and this situation makes any reconciliation far from likely. These constant airings of grievances will cause a great chasm."
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Meghan Markle's representatives made it clear she will not be publicly commenting on the legal proceedings.
In contrast, Samantha Markle's attorney
Peter Ticktin released a
statement on the matter. "The attorneys representing Samantha Markle and Meghan Markle will be making their arguments to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. As each side has fully briefed their positions, we are not going to learn much from either side. However, we can get a good idea of what is to come from the questions which the panel of three judges is more than likely to ask," the lawyer confirmed.
"After the oral argument, the judges will go into a conference and determine whether the case should be reversed and remanded to the trial judge or if the judge's decision will be affirmed," he continued. "As the whole question is to be addressed as a matter of law, where all the allegations of the complaint are deemed to be true for this purpose, there is a good chance that the court will reverse the trial judge."
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According to Samantha Markle, Meghan Markle defamed her during her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey when she claimed that she "grew up as an only child" despite her half-sibling claiming they were close before she started dating Prince Harry.
Samantha also claimed the 44-year-old lied when she alleged that her relative "changed her last name back to Markle" when she started seeing the member of the royal family.
