MEGHAN Markle could be hauled back into her High Court privacy battle as the publisher she sued has been given permission to appeal rulings.
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, sensationally won her privacy and copyright row against the Mail on Sunday after extracts of a five-page letter she wrote to her dad, Thomas Markle, were published.
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She claimed the articles in February 2019 misused her private information, infringed her copyright and breached the Data Protection Act, and so she sued Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) – the Mail’s publisher.
But the paper had suggested that she may not have been the only copyright owner of the letter.
This was settled in the High Court, however, as it was ruled in February the paper did breach her privacy – with Meghan winning the final part of her copyright claim in May.
But ANL has now be given the green light by the Court of Appeal to appeal both the privacy and copyright rulings given against the company, the Mail reports.
It comes after ANL’s lawyers argued Jason Knauf was the co-author of the letter, which meant it would have belonged to the Crown and wouldn’t be Meghan’s copyright.
But the court was told the aide “emphatically” denied co-writing the letter, with his lawyers saying “it was the duchess’s letter alone”.
At the hearing in May, Lord Justice Warby said Mr Knuaf’s position was “unequivocal and definitive, not uncertain or provisional” and Meghan won the final part of her copyright claim.
It came three months after Palace chiefs breathed a sigh of relief as a showdown between Meghan and her father was avoided when the High Court ruled the Mail on Sunday had breached her privacy.
Associated Newspapers Ltd were ordered to print a a statement on the front page of The Mail On Sunday and a notice on page three of the paper stating it “infringed her copyright” by publishing parts of the letter.
But a statement regarding Meghan’s victory in her copyright claim was put on hold while the publisher asked permission to appeal – which has now been granted.
At the original hearing, the court was told Meghan sent the letter to her estranged dad, 76, in August 2018.
She was said to have felt forced to write the “painful” letter after they reached “breaking point”.
Her lawyer Justin Rushbrooke QC described the 1,250-word letter as “a heartfelt plea from an anguished daughter to her father”.
Releasing a statement after her victory in May, the Duchess said: “For today, with this comprehensive win on both privacy and copyright, we have all won.”
A spokesperson for ANL said they were “very surprised” by the ruling.
