Who is Samantha Markle and why is she suing Meghan?

A Flordia judge has ruled that Meghan and Harry can be deposed in a civil suit brought by her half-sister Samantha. (Getty Images)

A judge has ruled Meghan Markle and Prince Harry can be deposed in a defamation case brought in the US against the duchess by her half-sister Samantha Markle.

A motion had been filed by Meghan's legal team to block this, but the judge found it did not meet the "high standard" required to do so.

According to court documents seen by PA, Meghan's team had asked to pause discovery – the process by which parties disclose information and documents to each other – while they tried to get Samantha's case dismissed.

This means that Meghan and Harry might be subject to video depositions, which is where they would have to provide testimony under oath – the danger for the couple being that they may have to address uncomfortable topics or questions.

Yahoo UK breaks down who Samantha Markle is, and why she is suing Meghan:

Samantha Markle, 58, is Meghan's half-sister and 17 years older than the duchess. She lives in Florida and has multiple sclerosis, which means she needs to use a wheelchair.

Samantha Markle has been appearing on TV to speak about her sister since Meghan's relationship with Harry went public. (ITV)

Meghan and Samantha's father is Thomas Markle. Samantha's mother — Roslyn — told the Mail Online in 2017 that Samantha "has dogged on Meghan forever", adding: "She's never liked Meghan and she's always been jealous of her."

The two sisters have been estranged for a long time, and Samantha has been highly critical of Meghan since her relationship with Prince Harry was made public in 2016 — dubbing her "princess pushy" and a "social climber".

Samantha's mother isn't the only family member to criticise her for her public comments about Meghan. Thomas Markle Jr — Meghan's half brother and Samantha's full sibling — told the Mail Online that "nobody talks to" Samantha.

Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr has publicly advised Samantha to leave their younger sibling alone. (Getty Images)

'It's why nobody talks to her and hasn't for a long, long time. Leave Meghan alone already – it's ridiculous".

Meghan has remained tight-lipped about her half sister for many years, until she addressed their relationship in the controversial Netflix docu-series about the Sussexes last year.

"My half-sister, who I hadn't seen for over a decade – and that was only for a day and a half – suddenly it felt like she was everywhere," Meghan said in the programme.

"I don't know your middle name, I don't know your birthday. You're telling these people that you raised me and that you coined me 'princess pushy'".

Samantha decided to sue her half-sister following Meghan and Harry's sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Her complaint is partly based on how many people saw the interview — documents seen by PA are quoted as saying this was "roughly 50 million people in 17 countries".

She said that Meghan "falsely and maliciously" claimed to be an only child in the interview, despite having two half-siblings.

Nearly 50 million people worldwide watched Meghan and Harry's bombshell interview with Oprah about why they left the Royal Family. (Getty Images)

However, given the large age gap between them, Meghan may simply have been referring to the fact she was raised separately from them, as they were nearly adults when she was born.

Samantha has also claimed in the court documents that because of Meghan she was subject to "humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale".

Equally she has claimed that Meghan's actions took place with the support of the palace's PR machine as part of a "premeditated campaign" to ruin both her own and her father's reputation.

The civil legal action was first launched by Samantha in March 2022.

This week a Florida judge dismissed the Sussexes' attempt to block their testimonies, which may mean that Harry and Meghan's deposition will take place at some point before July, according to The Times.

However, it has not yet been confirmed exactly when these may take place.

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