The Duchess of Sussex wins the right to keep friends' names anonymous in court case
The Duchess of Sussex has won a court bid to keep her friends’ identities secret.
Amid her ongoing court case against Associated Newspapers, it was ruled that five of Meghan’s friends who anonymously spoke to People magazine defending her will not have their identities revealed.
The judge, Mr Justice Warby, explained they would stay anonymous “for the time being at least,” as their names were recorded in court, but the latest ruling states they will not be released to the public.
“The duchess felt it was necessary to take this step to try and protect her friends - as any of us would - and we’re glad this was clear,” read a statement from the royal's legal team.
“We are happy that the judge has agreed to protect these five individuals.”
In a witness statement, Meghan said the Mail’s owner “is threatening to publish the names of five women – five private citizens – who made a choice on their own to speak anonymously with a US media outlet more than a year ago, to defend me from the bullying behaviour of Britain’s tabloid media."
She continued: “These five women are not on trial, and nor am I. The publisher of the Mail on Sunday is the one on trial. It is this publisher that acted unlawfully and is attempting to evade accountability; to create a circus and distract from the point of this case – that the Mail on Sunday unlawfully published my private letter,” reports the Guardian.
Meghan has sued Associated Newspapers, including the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, for breach of privacy and copyright infringement after excerpts from a personal letter to her father were published in 2018.
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