Meghan Markle Faces Setback in Court Battle With U.K. Newspapers

Meghan Markle is facing a legal setback.

The 39-year-old Duchess of Sussex lost the latest round of her legal battle with the U.K.’s Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publishers of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, Variety reported Tuesday (September 29).

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Meghan Markle

Meghan sued the group for breach of privacy and copyright infringement after the Mail on Sunday published excerpts from a 2018 letter she sent to her father Thomas Markle, although the ANL denies her claims.

“Last week, ANL had applied to the court to amend its defense and use the recently published book Finding Freedom, by U.S.-based journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, alleging that Markle had passed on information to the authors,” Variety reported.

“The claimant and her husband did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book,” said Meghan‘s lawyer Justin Rushbrooke.

Judge Francesca Kaye allowed the ANL defense to use the book and refused Meghan permission to appeal against the ruling. Her lawyers have the option of taking the judge’s decision to the Court of Appeal.

The judge also said that author Omid Scobie denied in a statement to the court that there was any co-operation from Meghan on the book.

“It may be what it does not say rather than what it does say that might prove to be significant at trial. If, as suggested, it’s all a house of cards, it will quickly fall down at trial,” the judge ruled.

The case is due to go to trial in January of 2021. Meghan recently shut down a rumor about her Netflix deal with husband Prince Harry…