The Real Reason Why Meghan Markle Is Being Sued By Her Sister 》

It seems like Meghan Markle just can’t stay out of the courts. It wasn’t that long ago that she won her lawsuit against Associated Newspapers for printing excerpts of a letter that she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle. Now, Meghan herself is getting sued by another family member: Samantha Markle.

Ever since Meghan and Harry got serious, Samantha has been trying to use every opportunity to profit off of her famous half-sister. For example, Meghan alleges that Samantha only changed her last name to “Markle” after Meghan began dating Harry.

Meghan and Samantha have had a very chilly relationship for many years now. But what is Samantha actually suing over? And beyond all the legal paperwork, what’s the real reason she’s going after Meghan? Keep reading to learn all the answers!

Who is Samantha Markle?

Despite her best efforts, the average man on the street would likely respond “who?” if you asked him who Samantha Markle is. So before we get into why she’s suing, let’s dive into who, exactly, Samantha Markle really is.

She is Meghan Markle’s half-sister, but the two weren’t exactly close growing up. One reason for that is that Samantha is 17 years older than Meghan. Before Meghan rose to prominence, Samantha Markle was better known by a different name: Samantha Grant.

Samantha and Meghan have the same father, Thomas Markle, but different mothers. Meghan wasn’t particularly close to Samantha growing up and certainly not close as adults. In fact, by the time Meghan and Harry got engaged, E! News reported that Meghan and Samantha had not spoken to each other for over 23 years.

Since then, Samantha has tried to cash in on her relationship with her sister with stunts like writing a book about Meghan called The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister Part 1. And many speculate that Samantha suing Meghan for defamation stems from concerns over sales of this book.

It all goes back to that Oprah interview

Samantha is suing Meghan for defamation. But what claims could Meghan have made that possibly defamed her sister? It all goes back to Meghan’s infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Most of the media attention after that interview focused on explosive claims about the Royal Family. For example, the claim that an unnamed senior member of the royals was worried about the skin color of Meghan’s unborn baby, Archie.

But Meghan also made a number of claims about her life and her upbringing in that interview. And Samantha is suing in part because she disputes the accuracies of Meghan’s claims.

What’s in a name?

In her lawsuit, Samantha specifically disputes Meghan’s claims that Samantha only changed her name from “Grant” to “Markle” after Meghan and Harry began dating. She also disputes Meghan’s claim that Meghan was basically an only child since Meghan was raised in a different household from her older half-siblings.

Relatively speaking, these are weird things to go to court over. However, many of Samantha’s critics assume that this has to do with Samantha’s trashy tell-all. After all, Meghan went on national television and told the whole world that her half-sister simply wanted to cash in on Meghan’s celebrity.

However, the real focus of this lawsuit seems to be the fairytale narrative Samantha claims Meghan has crafted for herself.

Meghan’s rags to riches narrative

Many have commented on the fact that Meghan made every little girl’s dream into a reality: she married a handsome prince and will spend the rest of her life as a rich and beloved royal. Along the way, though, Meghan has mentioned some things that specifically frame her life as more of a “rags to riches” story, especially when Meghan claimed she grew up in “virtual poverty.”

For example, in Meghan’s open letter to Congress, she talks about having to start working at age 13 to “make ends meet.” In the Oprah interview, Meghan also discussed how she had to work hard to pay for her tuition and other expenses at Northwestern.

In the lawsuit, Samantha claims that Thomas Markle paid all the expenses so that Meghan could attend “elite and expensive private schools” growing up. And as for her college education, Samantha maintains that Thomas Markle covered the tuition and expenses for her higher education.

Still, why does Samantha feel she has a legal claim to sue Meghan about allegedly exaggerating her childhood struggles? It all comes down to Samantha’s book sales.

Samantha’s book sales

At this point, you might be wondering where the defamation part comes in. After all, even if Meghan were actually lying about her life and upbringing left and right, how does this affect Samantha?

According to the lawsuit, Meghan’s “lies” have actually damaged sales of Samantha’s book. It’s not entirely clear how, though it may have something to do with Meghan’s dismissal of Samantha’s authority. In the interview with Oprah, when the subject of that book came up, Meghan actually said it would be “very hard to tell all when you don’t know me.”

At any rate, Samantha also claims that due to Meghan’s “false narrative and fairytale life story,” Samantha has lost other work opportunities and has been suffering mental and emotional anguish.

But the real question is, does Samantha’s lawsuit stand any chance in court?

Meghan’s lawyer chimes in

We’re interested to see where (if anywhere) this case actually goes. But right now, Meghan Markle’s lawyer Michael Kump has summed up the lawsuit quite accurately. He told TMZ, “This baseless and absurd lawsuit is just a continuation of a pattern of disturbing behavior. We will give it the minimum attention necessary, which is all it deserves.”

Will this work? On one hand, the lawsuit certainly seems silly and even frivolous. On the other hand, getting “the minimum attention” is what made Samantha so mad to begin with, so who knows what she’ll do next.