meghan markle
Meghan Markle

All is not well in Meghan Markle's paradise. Reportedly the duchess has lost the first round of her legal battle against a renowned media conglomerate Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of the newspaper and MailOnline and has agreed to pay £67,000 in legal costs.

As per the reports in Daily Mail, Meghan Markle has agreed to pay £67,000 in legal costs after losing the first round of her battle against the Mail on Sunday's publisher.

Here's what happened between Meghan Markle Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of the newspaper and MailOnline

Meghan had sued ANL over an article which reproduced parts of a handwritten letter sent by her to her estranged father Thomas Markle in August 2018, which she claims it to be personal.

The headline printed in the paper read as:

"Revealed: The letter showing the true tragedy of Meghan's rift with a father she says has 'broken her heart into a million pieces'."

One of the excerpts from the letter as follows:

Your actions have broken my heart into a million pieces not simply because you have manufactured such unnecessary and unwarranted pain, but by making the choice to not tell the truth as you are puppeteered in this. Something I will never understand.

Meghan Markle
Meghan MarkleReuters

Meghan's claims against the renowned publisher

Meghan's solicitor was of the view that it was private correspondence, and she did not expect the contents to be made public.

During a preliminary hearing on May 1, Mr Justice Warby struck out certain parts of Meghan's claim against the publisher:

Here's Mr Justice Warby statement over the matter:

Some of the allegations are struck out as irrelevant to the purpose for which they are pleaded. Some are struck out on the further or alternative ground that they are inadequately detailed. I have also acted so as to confine the case to what is reasonably necessary and proportionate for the purpose of doing justice between these parties. I do not consider that the allegations struck out on that basis go to the 'heart' of the case, which at its core concerns the publication of five articles disclosing the words of, and information drawn from, the letter written by the claimant to her father in August 2018. Some aspects of the case that I have struck out at this stage may be revived if they are put in proper form.

Current status

The duchess is seeking damages from Associated Newspapers for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.