UPDATE: Meghan Markle just scored a slight legal victory in High Court.
On Thursday, Oct. 29, a judge agreed—at the request of the Duchess of Sussex's team—to delay the start of her trial in her privacy case against The Mail on Sunday. E! News has learned that the trial, which was originally set for January, is now set for the fall of 2021. The judge has also granted permission for Meghan's legal team to proceed with summary judgment, which will now be heard in the January trial window instead.
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Meghan Markle is hoping to avoid going to trial in her case against The Mail on Sunday.
The Duchess of Sussex's legal team is heading to a U.K. court on Thursday, Oct. 29 to ask the judge to make a summary judgement instead of going to trial, a move that is only possible if there is complete confidence in the case.
If the court decides against Meghan's application for a summary judgement, her legal team intends to move forward with a request to delay the trial, which is set to start on Jan. 11.
The request for more time comes after the recent inclusion of Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand's biography, Finding Freedom. A delay in the trial will allow Meghan's attorneys a larger window of time to respond to the contents of the book.
The Mail on Sunday requested to amend their defense in September, claiming that the Duchess or her friends cooperated with the authors in order to portray the former actress in a more favorable light.
Meghan's team argued against this idea, but the judge sided with the publishers.
In a statement from Meghan and Prince Harry's rep to E! News, they denied the accusations. "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to Finding Freedom." Their rep stated, "This book is based on the authors' own experiences as members of the royal press corps and their own independent reporting."
A year has passed since Meghan initiated her lawsuit against the British publication for its allegedly "intrusive and unlawful publication of a private letter written by the Duchess of Sussex."
At the time, Prince Harry released a scathing statement against the British press for its treatment of his wife, comparing their actions to the events that resulted in his mother, Princess Diana's, 1997 death. He stated, "Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences—a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son."
The royal then reflected on his late mother's battle with the media, sharing, "I've seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces."
Regarding Meghan's allegations, The Mail on Sunday previously told E! News, "The Mail on Sunday stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously. Specifically, we categorically deny that the Duchess' letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning."
This article was originally published on Wed, Oct 28, 2020, 7:00 p.m.