MEGHAN Markle’s half-sister has vowed to sue her for “defamation” after bombshell emails revealed she helped brief the authors of the biography Finding Freedom.
The Duchess of Sussex had to apologise to the court for “forgetting” to tell the judge about the emails to ex-communications secretary Jason Knauf after they emerged amid her legal battle with the Mail on Sunday.
In an email sent to Mr Knauf, Meghan said her half-sister Samantha had “lost custody of all three of her children from different fathers”.
Fuming Samantha is now planning on suing Meghan for “defamation, libel and slander” as well as “breach of privacy”, the Sunday People reports.
“I’m speaking to one lawyer in England and one in the US as there are different statutory windows and different issues,” the 57-year-old told the outlet
“I’m looking at suing for defamation in the US. In the UK, I’m looking at a breach of privacy and data privacy act breach because the statutory window for defamation is only one year in the UK.
“Jason Knauf is subpoenable and the messages to [him] are evidence she was libelling and slandering me. Anything to keep this family quiet was my sister’s motto. It’s horrible.”
Meghan was forced to apologise after a series of emails were disclosed that prove she had collaborated with the authors of a sympathetic biography.
She and Harry previously said they had nothing to do with the writing of Finding Freedom – a claim backed up by authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
Last year, the Sussexes even released a statement saying they “were not interviewed and did not contribute” to the book.
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However, it’s now emerged that she authorised Mr Knauf to speak with Scobie and Durand on her behalf.
Among the notes she sent to her former communications secretary were several details about Samantha Markle and her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr.
She urged Mr Knauf to disclose that her siblings had “dropped out of high school” and that she had “never had a relationship with either of them”.
Samantha – who has not spoken to Meghan since she started dating Prince Harry in 2016 – hit out at the royal’s “grandiose” image as she told of her fury and rubbished her half-sister’s claims.
“I’ve never lost custody of any children. She said I changed my name when she met Harry, but I shared my name-change documents long before,” she said.
Meanwhile, it’s reported senior royals warned Meghan not to pursue her bitter court battle over a leaked letter to her estranged father and feel she has now “been found out”.
The Mail on Sunday newspaper revealed explosive new evidence as it tried to overturn an earlier ruling that it had breached Meghan’s privacy and copyright by disclosing details of her letter to dad Thomas, 77.
But The Celeb Reportday Times claims family members and one trusted lawyer all advised the Duchess of Sussex, 40, to drop the case, saying they are “frustrated” by the fall-out.
A royal source told the newspaper: “There is frustration all the way to the top, because a lot of people told them that it was unwise to proceed with the case.
“Now you have been found out. “They [the royal family] will think they should never have taken it to court.”
The Court of Appeal last week heard submissions by the Mail on Sunday’s parent company, Associated Newspapers, calling for an earlier High Court ruling to be set aside.
Meghan’s lawyers oppose the appeal. A ruling is expected at a later date.
