Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle will receive £1 in damages from Associated Newspapers after winning her privacy case against the newspaper publishers.
The Mail on Sunday was found to have invaded Markle’s privacy, and the nominal sum was set in court documents formally confirming the paper’s defeat.
In 2018, Mail on Sunday had published a letter written from the duchess to her father, Thomas Markle.
The publishers will also pay an unspecified sum for a separate case of infringing her copyright.
After indicating a further appeal to the Supreme court, Associated Newspapers has finally accepted defeat in the long-running case.
In February, a High Court had ruled against the newspaper group on the issue of privacy and copyright. The court had ruled that the issues in the case were clear cut and needed no full hearing.
After being refused permission to appeal against the decision, Associated Newspapers went to the Court of Appeal in an attempt to get the original ruling overturned.
In December, the Court of Appeal rejected the publisher’s attempt for a trial stating that there was no evidence to be presented, which would have altered the situation.
“The judge had correctly decided that whilst it might have been proportionate to publish a very small part of the letter… it was not necessary to publish half the contents of the letter.”
Responding to this, a spokesperson for Associated Newspapers said: “It is our strong view that judgment should be given only on the basis of evidence tested at trial, and not on a summary basis in a heavily contested case.”
Celebrating her win, Meghan urged people to be “brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that… profits from the lies and pain that they create”.
The newspaper group on Boxing Day printed a statement on its front page acknowledging the Duchess’s win and a notice that “financial remedies have been agreed.”
The group will also pay a confidential sum to the duchess for copyright infringement, while the Mail on Sunday is to cover a substantial part of Meghan’s legal costs, which could be more than £1m.
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