Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Member of the British royal family and Duchess of Sussex since 2018
- Entries
- 8
- On the record
- 5
- Stories
- 1
- Latest entry
- Mar 12, 2024
The record
Meghan Markle became Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex when she married Prince Harry at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19, 2018; that morning the Queen conferred the Dukedom of Sussex on him. Less than two years later the couple stepped back as working members of the Royal Family, a move the palace announced in January 2020.
Under the arrangement Buckingham Palace set out, the Sussexes would not use their HRH titles, would not receive public funds for royal duties, would no longer formally represent the Queen, and intended to repay £2.4 million of taxpayer money spent refurbishing Frogmore Cottage. Their commercial work in the U.S. followed; her Spotify podcast Archetypes ran for 12 episodes before the deal ended in June 2023.
Apart from the privacy case against the Mail on Sunday's publisher covered in this file's story, her court record in the U.S. is a defamation suit brought by her half-sister in Florida in March 2022. A federal judge in Tampa found her statements to be opinion and dismissed the case, finally and with prejudice in March 2024; her half-sister appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.
Roles and honours on the record
- 2018- Duchess of Sussex, by marriage to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex source
- 2018-2020 Working member of the Royal Family, until the Sussexes stepped back in spring 2020 source
- 2022-2023 Host of Archetypes, a Spotify podcast made by the couple's label Archewell Audio source
- 2022-2024 Defendant, defamation suit brought by her half-sister, U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida source
Every entry, newest first
- Ruled
Justice Warby struck out her claims of dishonesty and malice; the core privacy and copyright claim stayed, per USA Today. Meghan wins £1 privacy damages over her letter to her father
- Filed
Filed a High Court claim against Associated Newspapers over publication of a letter to her father, per The Telegraph. Meghan wins £1 privacy damages over her letter to her father
Stories in this file
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The record, entry by entry
- 2018-05-19 Official Meghan Markle married Prince Harry at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. That morning the Queen conferred a Dukedom on him, making him Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel, and she became Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex. The Royal Family, official website
- 2020-01 Official Buckingham Palace announced that the Sussexes would not use their HRH titles as they were no longer working members of the Royal Family, would not receive public funds for royal duties, and intended to repay £2.4 million for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, with the arrangement taking effect in spring 2020. BBC News report
- 2022-03 Filed Her half-sister filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court in Florida over statements in the 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview and information given to the biography Finding Freedom. The Independent report
- 2023-03-30 Ruled U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismissed the lawsuit, finding the duchess's statements about her childhood were opinion and not capable of being proved false. The Independent report
- 2023-06-16 Official Spotify and Archewell Audio said in a joint statement they had mutually agreed to part ways. Spotify did not renew Archetypes, which ran for 12 episodes from August 2022; the deal had been estimated in late 2020 to be worth $25 million. BBC News report
- 2024-03-12 Ruled Judge Honeywell granted the duchess's motion to dismiss the suit with prejudice, finding her half-sister failed to identify any statements that could support a defamation claim. Her half-sister's lawyers filed a notice of appeal to the Eleventh Circuit. Newsweek report
Documents
Sources behind this file
- The Guardian report on the £1 damages
- The Guardian report on the published statement
- The Independent report on the Court of Appeal ruling
- Courts and Tribunals Judiciary hearing listing for the appeal
- The Guardian report on Meghan's apology to the court
- BBC News report on the remaining copyright claim
- BBC News report on the front-page statement order
- The Guardian report on the interim payment
- CNN report on the summary judgment
- BBC News report on Meghan's statement and the judgment
- USA Today report on the May 2020 strike-out ruling
- BBC News report on the claim being filed