UK judge holds hearing in Meghan’s lawsuit against newspaper

UK judge holds hearing in Meghan’s lawsuit against newspaper

LONDON (AP) “” A judge in London is hearing the latest stage on Wednesday of the Duchess of Sussex's privacy-infringement lawsuit against a British newspaper, as Meghan tries to keep the names of five of her friends out of the public eye.

The former Meghan Markle is suing the publisher of the Mail on Sunday newspaper and the MailOnline website at Britain's High Court over five articles that published portions of a handwritten letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, after her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018.

Meghan, 38, is seeking damages from publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd. for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and data protection breaches. Associated Newspapers has said it will strongly contest the claim.

At a one-day pre-trial hearing, judge Mark Warby is considering an application by Meghan's lawyers to prohibit publishing the personal details of friends who spoke anonymously to People magazine in early 2019 to condemn the alleged bullying she had received at the hands of the U.K. press.

The newspaper's lawyers say it was Meghan's friends who brought the letter into the public domain by describing it in the People article. Associated Newspapers says the friends' evidence "is at the heart of the