Meghan Markle to receive just £1 in damages for privacy invasion by UK tabloid: Report

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, will receive just £1 in damages from a United Kingdom tabloid for invading her privacy by publishing a private letter she had written to her father. The nominal amount is detailed in court documents, which also publicly reveal that 'The Mail on Sunday' - and its sister website 'MailOnline' - has conceded defeat and will not fight the long-running lawsuit in the country's top court, The Guardian reported. The outlet will also pay an undisclosed sum for infringing on Meghan's copyright by publishing major portions of the letter in a separate case, the report added. 

A media lawyer, Mark Stephens, suggested that the low settlement for the privacy issue revealed a flaw in Meghan's case:

"Normally, for that level of violation of privacy, you'd expect £75,000 to £125,000. It does show that her reputation management was an area where she had effectively invaded her own privacy," he was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

Meanwhile, the publisher of the 'Mail on Sunday' has also agreed to pay a sum of money in damages for copyright infringement. The publication may also be forced to pay a significant portion of Meghan's legal fees, which might total more than £1 million.

The duchess has always maintained that her three-year legal struggle with 'Associated Newspapers', the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and its sister website MailOnline, was motivated by ideals rather than money. The Mail outlets have also been instructed not to reveal the names of five of Meghan's pals who spoke anonymously to 'People magazine' for a 2018 article about the royal as part of the court settlement. The publication had previously attempted to identify the people involved in judicial procedures.

Publication issued notice about Markle's legal victory on front page

The 'Mail on Sunday' and 'MailOnline' were also instructed to publish front-page and homepage declarations that they had lost the legal fight, with the judges even dictating the font the statements should be printed in. On December 26 (Boxing Day), the publication published the notice about Markle's legal victory at the bottom of the front page, directing readers to the third page. The statement was also published on Associated Newspapers' Mail Online website. Along with that statement, they also linked the full judgement of the January hearing and the May hearing separately, The Guardian reported. 

(Image: AP)