The latest skirmish in Meghan’s privacy trial is due on January 19. In the wake of the restrictions enforced earlier this week by the Prime Minister in the whole of England, the hearing will take place remotely.
During this hearing, lawyers will discuss the application from Meghan’s side for a summary judgement.
The Daily Express royal correspondent Richard Palmer wrote on Twitter: “Mr Justice Warby will hear Meghan’s application for summary judgment in her case against The Mail on Sunday in a remote hearing on January 19 and 20 now.”
By applying for a summary judgement, the Duchess of Sussex is asking for a court decision without a trial, which at the moment is set to take place in autumn.
In late October, Meghan’s lawyers explained the decision to apply for it claiming the Mail on Sunday had “no real prospect’ of defending its actions in law”, as reported by ITV royal editor Chris Ship.
The latest hearing had initially been scheduled for January 11.
The full trial was due to start on January 11 and to last between eight to 10 days.
However, on October 29 Mr Justice Warby ruled in favour of Meghan’s lawyers’ application to push back the trial until late 2021.
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Meghan’s lawyers put forward “confidential” reasons to apply for the delay, as stated by Mr Justice Warby.
These reasons were provided to the judge during a private hearing to protect “the confidentiality of the information relied on”, as revealed by Mr Justice Warby, and have remained undisclosed.
Upon ruling on the postponement on October 29, he said: “The right decision in all the circumstances is to grant the application to adjourn.
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“That means that the trial date of January 11 2021 will be vacated and the trial will be refixed for a new date in the autumn.”
Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail and MailOnline, didn’t oppose to Meghan’s desire to postpone the trial.
However, its lawyers asked at the time the judge consider the situation of the Duchess’ estranged father, Thomas Markle Snr.
The Associated Newspapers’ representatives said Mr Markle, 76, is “elderly and sick” and wants and intends to give evidence at trial.
As it emerged from the judgement released in November, Mr Markle was not told why his daughter’s privacy court case has been pushed back.
The senior judge said in the judgement: “The evidence before me included not only an account of Mr Markle’s situation and health but also an account of his views and feelings about a possible delay to the trial.
“But it was not suggested that his feelings on that matter should guide my decision.
“Rightly so, and particularly so when – as Ms Hartley makes clear – he has (quite rightly) not been told the confidential basis for the adjournment application.”
Liz Hartley, mentioned by the judge in his statement, is Associated Newspapers’ group editorial legal director.
As announced by Prince Harry in October 2019, Meghan sued Associated Newspapers after the Mail on Sunday published in extracts of a letter the Duchess sent to her father in August 2018.
Meghan is seeking damages for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.
Associated Newspapers wholly denies the allegations, particularly the Duchess’s claim the letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning, and says it will hotly contest the case.
