Meghan Markle Responds to Court Win Against the 'Daily Mail': "We All Deserve Better"

The duchess released a statement.

Charlotte Tilbury Meghan Markle lipstick
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Meghan Markle has won her court case against Associated Newspapers, which was launched after the Daily Mail published excerpts of private letters with her father.

Royal expert Omid Scobie tweeted the news on Dec. 2, writing, "Associated Newspapers has LOST its appeal in the privacy and copyright case of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. At a short hearing this morning the Court of Appeal upheld Justice Warby’s Feb 2021 summary judgement."

Scobie also shared the duchess' statement in response to this new win.

"This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what's right," she wrote. "While this win is precedent setting, what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel, and profits from the lies and pain that they create."

She continued, "From day one, I have treated this lawsuit as an important measure of right versus wrong. The defendant has treated it as a game with no rules. The longer they dragged it out, the more they could twist facts and manipulate the public (even during the appeal itself), making a straightforward case extraordinarily convoluted in order to generate more headlines and sell more newspapers—a model that rewards chaos above truth. In the nearly three years since this began, I have been patient in the face of deception, intimidating, and calculated attacks."

Markle didn't mince her words in her conclusion, speaking plainly against the actions of the Mail and its owner. "Today, the courts ruled in my favor—again—cementing that The Mail on Sunday, owned by Lord Jonathan Rothermere, has broken the law. The courts have held the defendant to account, and my hope is that we all begin to do the same. Because as far removed as it may seem from your personal life, it's not. Tomorrow it could be you. These harmful practices don't happen once in a blue moon—they are a daily fail that divide us, and we all deserve better."

Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.