Samantha Markle’s lawyers say they have ‘viable’ defamation case against Meghan and intend to persist with it

• Meghan Markle is being sued by half-sister Samantha over a ‘rags to riches’ story
• Samantha accuses Meghan of making defamatory comments in Oprah interview
• She also claims Meghan supplied ‘false’ information to Finding Freedom writers
• Samantha’s lawyers have now said they have ‘actual proof’ comments were false 
• Meghan’s lawyers have slammed the suit as baseless and filed papers to dismiss 

Lawyers for Samantha Markle have said they have a ‘viable’ defamation case against her half-sister Meghan because they have ‘actual proof of the falsity’ of statements she made.

Samantha is suing the Duchess of Sussex for allegedly peddling a ‘rags to riches’ tale in her Oprah interview, and also over comments in the book Finding Freedom as part of a campaign to ‘destroy’ her reputation.

While Meghan’s legal team are arguing the claims she made on Oprah were a result of ‘how she felt’ and that she did not write Finding Freedom so cannot be held liable, Samantha’s counsel says she was labelled as a liar as a result of what was said, which they argue was based on falsehoods.

Jamie Sasson, of the Ticktin Law Group, told Newsweek: ‘This is a viable claim because we have actual proof of the falsity of these statements and that Meghan Markle made these statements.

‘In Oprah they were directly made and in Finding Freedom it was instructed to put these things into the book by Mrs Markle [Meghan] through the email. If we didn’t have the email it would be a different story.’

‘The part that is missed in this whole thing is they’re acting as if there was no harm that came from these statements that were made,’ he concluded.

Lawyers for Samantha Markle have said they have a ‘viable’ defamation case against her half-sister Meghan because they have ‘actual proof of the falsity’ of statements she made. Pictured: Harry and Meghan speak with Oprah Winfrey where Meghan said she grew up as an ‘only child’ 

Samantha Markle is pictured with her half-sister Meghan Markle at her graduation in 2008

‘We clearly put into our complaint the damage that was caused to Samantha Markle by her being labelled a liar. She now faces online comments of ‘Meghan’s lying sister’ and she never lied about anything.’

In a court document, 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, 57, launched an astonishing broadside on her sister’s friend and biographer Omid Scobie as she blasted Finding Freedom as ‘a book of lies’.

Samantha hits out at Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s book Finding Freedom, which she dubs her sister’s ‘fairytale life story’.

Her lawyers said that Meghan saying she ‘grew up as an only child’ can’t be false because it is a ‘textbook example of a subjective statement about how a person feels about her childhood’

A young Meghan is pictured with her father Thomas Markle, from whom she is also estranged

She claims the book caused ‘substantial and irreparable prejudice, injury, and harm’ to her reputation.

She listed a series of texts in the biography she disputes, including that she dropped out of high school.

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. 

In their latest round of legal documents, Meghan’s attorneys slap down Samantha’s assertion that it was dishonest for Meghan to claim she grew up as an only child, claiming it is how she feels despite her technically having two half-siblings.

‘It is hard to imagine a more personal and subjective feeling than how one views their own childhood.

‘Moreover, Plaintiff’s opposition completely ignores the context of the statement, where Ms Winfrey asked Meghan about her ‘relationship’ with Plaintiff (to whom Ms Winfrey referred as her ‘half-sister on her father’s side’).

Meanwhile Samantha also hits out at the book Finding Freedom, written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, which she dubs her sister’s ‘fairy tale life story’ as well as ‘a book of lies’

‘Meghan’s response to that question that she ‘grew up as an only child’ was obviously not meant to be a statement of objective fact that she had no genetic siblings or half-siblings.’

But Mr Sasson told Newsweek that his team intend to argue being an ‘only child’ is not subjective, adding: ‘Either you’re an only child or you’re not.’

He said as a result of the comments made by Meghan, his client was perceived as a ‘liar’ by the general population who accused her of ‘making up a story claiming that she was Meghan Markle’s sister when, indeed, she truly was’.

Meghan also dismisses Samantha’s complaints about information in Finding Freedom, a book by her friend Omid Scobie, saying Meghan can’t be held liable for its content because she didn’t write it.

One of the pieces of information reported to have been supplied by Meghan was that Samantha ‘lost custody of all three of her children from different fathers’. 

‘Meghan did not make the statements; she cannot be liable for them. It is that simple,’ her lawyers say.

The Sussex’s lawyer hit back at the lawsuit (pictured), claiming it was ‘baseless’ and they would give it ‘the minimum attention necessary’. Scobie also dismissed the claims’

Mr Sasson told Newsweek that they will argue Meghan ‘instructed’ that certain elements were included in the book.

Referring to the Duchess by her first name throughout the documents, her lawyers asked the court: ‘In sum, Meghan’s motion to dismiss should be granted, as should her request for attorneys’ fees, costs and other relief.’

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.

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 also 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’.

A judge is set to rule on Meghan’s filing to have her half-sister’s lawsuit dismissed with no date set for when the ruling will be delivered. 

MailOnline contacted representatives for Meghan Markle. 

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