Harry & Meghan: Legal Actions against the Media

[Rudolph]

It’s the MoS not the DM, two different newspapers with different editors although they share a parent company. As far as a deterrent, there’s no amount of money that’s going to make a difference. Viscount Rothermere who owns the paper is a billionaire and he’s used to paying out fines.

[Curryong]

He may be used to paying out fines but I doubt he enjoys it. And it is the principle of the thing that's at stake. This newspaper group and others who own tabloids are in a dying industry as far as print media is concerned and so they're going down trying to court as much controversy (Clickbait) as they possibly can.

Well now the Sussexes have struck back. Nobody has to put up with the amount of vitriol, reshaping the narrative, changing the story, outright lying etc that this couple have been subjected to since 2016.

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

It’s the MoS not the DM, two different newspapers with different editors although they share a parent company. As far as a deterrent, there’s no amount of money that’s going to make a difference. Viscount Rothermere who owns the paper is a billionaire and he’s used to paying out fines.

Rich men can also be some of the biggest misers you meet. Those who made the fortune from business, don't enjoy throwing their money away on bad business. Getting sued for your articles is not good for business. Just because he is ridiculously rich doesnt mean he wants one of his cash cows to be hurt financially by a law suit.

[Jacknch]

I fully support Harry and Meghan taking this action and it is long overdue. As others have said, the timing will not have been under their control - if the solicitors are ready to proceed with the Court application, then it should proceed without delay.

It will be interested to see what possible defence the newspaper in question will come up with because whatever the legalities and moral implications there may be, publishing a letter like this and on such an emotional subject was wrong and cruel.

[Hallo girl]

Is it correct that the sections of the letter initially appeared in an American magazine prior to appearing in the MOS?

[Queen Claude]

Sections may be an overstatement but the existence of the letter became known as part of the cover story that People Magazine did in February where five friends of Meghan were interviewed.

ETA:

The Truth About Meghan Markle’s Dad — and the Letter She Wrote Him After the Wedding

“After the wedding she wrote him a letter. She’s like, ‘Dad, I’m so heartbroken. I love you. I have one father. Please stop victimizing me through the media so we can repair our relationship.’ Because every time her team has to come to her and fact-check something [he has said], it’s an arrow to the heart. He writes her a really long letter in return, and he closes it by requesting a photo op with her. And she feels like, ‘That’s the opposite of what I’m saying. I’m telling you I don’t want to communicate through the media, and you’re asking me to communicate through the media. Did you hear anything I said?’ It’s almost like they’re ships passing.”

https://people.com/royals/meghan-mar...after-wedding/

[crm2317]

I feel like the timing of this announcement and statement has been very poor, especially after such positive coverage of the visit to Africa.

I totally understand why the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would wish to take this action. My worry is that the press is an untameable beast. That this action will turn them against the couple even more. Despite Harry’s good intentions to protect and defend his wife he could be making the situation worse.

[Madame Verseau]

The. Sussex's are on their last engagement and so far DM has given its coverage but it threw in the Range Rover story. The tabloid basically proved Harry's point.

Dad is going to get dragged into this mess. He would have to testify how he got the letter to DM is going to discredit him to protect itself.

[Fijiro]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

It’s the MoS not the DM, two different newspapers with different editors although they share a parent company. As far as a deterrent, there’s no amount of money that’s going to make a difference. Viscount Rothermere who owns the paper is a billionaire and he’s used to paying out fines.

If, as you say, Viscount Rothermere is "used to paying out fines", to me that means that he is a repeat offender.

[wyevale]

The 'Range Rover story' is relevant.. does SA not have access to suitable vehicles ? Certainly it further undermines the couples 'eco-warrior' credentials, already battered by the Private Plane issue.
The case against the tabloid, is imo, entirely credible, and [under copyright law'] and has a good chance of success. But the timing s poor, when the Tour should be centre-stage'.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Looking forward to see how the court will deal with this issue. The law needs to be respected by everyone. I understand that H&M feel that the campaign against them - partly self inflicted or not - needs to stop. We'll see what the outcome will be.
Of course the lawsuit itself will create tons of headlines that will polarize opinions even more and the tabloids will be looking forward to that.
I did not understand the need to mention Diana again. As we all know, the situation was a lot more complex than to simple mention her in that respect.

[Humbugged]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

It’s the MoS not the DM, two different newspapers with different editors although they share a parent company. As far as a deterrent, there’s no amount of money that’s going to make a difference. Viscount Rothermere who owns the paper is a billionaire and he’s used to paying out fines.

The Mail Online still has the letter up on it's site

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by crm2317

I feel like the timing of this announcement and statement has been very poor, especially after such positive coverage of the visit to Africa.

I totally understand why the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would wish to take this action. My worry is that the press is an untameable beast. That this action will turn them against the couple even more. Despite Harry’s good intentions to protect and defend his wife he could be making the situation worse.

I agree with the bad timing argument. Couldn't they have waited until they had returned from Africa to announce this lawsuit ?

[Ista]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I agree with the bad timing argument. Couldn't they have waited until they had returned from Africa to announce this lawsuit ?

According to the information posted by ACO further up the thread (#1147), apparently not.

It's unfortunate timing, but it looks as though it was delayed as long as it possibly could be.

[O-H Anglophile]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I agree with the bad timing argument. Couldn't they have waited until they had returned from Africa to announce this lawsuit ?

Maybe not, at a certain point don't things like this become public in the court system? I'm sure this has been ongoing for awhile now. So it may be a matter that it was either announce it themselves, or have a reporter break the story.

[carlota]

oh my... this is never ending, is it? it seems there can't be a month without some sussex drama. and H&M are part of the problem here - they just don't understand that by releasing all these PR comms out they are actually contributing to the problem, rather than helping alleviate it. and their PR team is a disgrace - some common sense needs to be injected in this team (and that includes the sussexes).

meghan has every right to complain about her private letter being published. what is odd is several things:

1. the timing - this letter circulated for the first time ages ago.

2. do they forget that the actual cause of the problem is that meghan's dad released the letter in the first place? maybe they should work on their own family problems before blaming the media. for the daily mail, if they get their hands on such things they will publish them. why don't they clean their dirty laundry privately and address that meghan's family are the ones who are actually harrassing -or as they put it 'bullying' - meghan, before blaming the media? her family are hardly irreproachable - but it is easier to blame the media.

3. if meghan's privacy was compromised, why is harry releasing a statement? can't meghan do it? isn't she all about women empowerment?

on top of it all, the PR release is just ridiculous:

a. harry states: "they have been able to create lie after lie at her expense simply because she has not been visible while on maternity leave." - excuse me, WHAT? kate has not been visible during maternity leave, yet we saw none of this circus.

b. harry states: "I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long." well... this 'suffering' is of its own making. there would have been less attacks of H&M if they were more reasonable in playing by the rules. they have bullied the media themselves, reporting that meghan 'had gone on labour' when she had actually given birth and gone home. they kept the christening private, godparents private which is not the done thing. had they been more generous and less snobbish, perhaps the media wouldn't pick on them so much.

c. "I've seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised 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." - to compare the scrutiny diana went through to meghan's is a huge exageration.

d. "The positive coverage of the past week from these same publications exposes the double standards of this specific press pack that has vilified her almost daily for the past nine months" - does he really want to talk about double standards when one week they were talking about climate change, and the next ones flying on private jets? really?

i am amazed at the incoherence of this all. never in the past year's royal members have operated this badly.


jane barr's blog post hits the nail in the head with her opinion on this blog post (as usual):

Harry's Statement on the Sussexes Lawsuit Against the Daily Mail

[Dman]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I agree with the bad timing argument. Couldn't they have waited until they had returned from Africa to announce this lawsuit ?

Timing was never going to be good. The tour is practically over anyway.

[alvinking]

I don't understand all the hoopla about time. Neither the Sussexes nor their lawyers control the justice time. Once the suit was filed it goes through the process at the courthouse at own pace. It just happened that the filling was about to become public at this particular moment, so their lawyers and Harry just made their position public in light of they justice timetable.

[Dman]

[QUOTE=alvinking;2257179]I don't understand all the hoopla about time. Neither the Sussexes nor their lawyers control the justice time. Once the suit was filed it goes through the process at the courthouse at own pace. It just happened that the filling was about to become public at this particular moment, so their lawyers and Harry just made their position public in light of they justice timetable. /QUOTE]

This is very true. They couldn’t control the timing of the lawsuit. I knew this was going to happen. The whole situation was snowballing way out of control.

[Rudolph]

Originally Posted by Humbugged

The Mail Online still has the letter up on it's site

The Mail Online is another entity again with it’s own editor separate from the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. Because all the titles are owned by the same person there is crossover content though. Individual editors make editorial decisions on what that content is.