Who is Samantha Markle? Meghan Markle's half-sister loses defamation lawsuit after failing to provide enough evidence 

Samantha Markle recently lost a defamation lawsuit she filed against her half-sister, Meghan Markle. United States District Judge Charlene Honeywell in the Middle District of Florida permanently dismissed Samantha's lawsuit in an order issued on March 12, after she failed to provide enough evidence against Meghan.

Samantha Markle sued Meghan for defamation after the latter's 2021 CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which she stated that she was an only child and did not have a close relationship with her half-sister from her father's first marriage. She also reportedly said in the interview that Samantha changed her surname back to Markle once Meghan began dating Prince Harry.

In the lawsuit, Samantha also alleged that Prince Harry and Meghan's 2022 Netflix documentary series, Harry & Meghan, included 14 defamatory sentences against her. She also allegedly accused the Netflix series of suggesting that she, along with others, attacked the Duchess on X, which led to Samantha's account getting suspended.

As per the complaint, Samantha sought $75,000 in damages.

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Samantha Markle is a published author

Samantha Markle is Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex's paternal half-sister. She is 16 years older than Meghan and shares the same father, Thomas Markle Sr.

Samatha is an author and has published a book, The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister Part 1, which explores Samantha's rocky past with the Duchess of Sussex. The 52-year-old writer is also a health counselor and lives in Florida with her partner.

While talking about her relationship with her stepsister, Samantha, during an interview with Good Morning Britain, said:

"You know, people don't understand we were very much integrated into each other's lives. She was the baby in our household, we never addressed each other as half-sister. We had the same father, she was in our lives. We had two households, there was a bridge. We were united. So I thought, why doesn't she call me?"

Her book gives an insider look into the half-sister's alleged rocky relationship with Meghan, claiming that the Suits actor "got whatever she wanted and needed" from their dad as a child. While talking to US Magazine in 2017, she claimed that she didn't mean to attack Meghan by writing the book.

"Contrary to troll gossip and aggregate news rumors, my book has never been designed to attack my sister. It's relatable. There's a lot to learn - the good, the bad and the ugly. I've been very forthcoming that I was never writing a hardbound tabloid. I said that two years ago, but nobody wanted to believe it."

While speaking to US Weekly, Samantha Markle revealed that she had hardly talked to Meghan since 2008, and neither she nor their father attended Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry. She added:

"Hopefully we can have a heart to heart. I want her to know I'm wishing her well and there for her. At the end of the day, I want her to know that the love is there."

This isn't Samantha's first attempt to sue Meghan Markle for defamation. Her lawsuits against the Suits actor were dismissed in 2022 and 2023. Judge Honeywell wrote that the court finds Samantha Markle's statement "not objectively verifiable" or "subject to empirical proof."

In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on March 12, Judge Honeywell concluded that the examples cited by the defendant are a matter of "differing opinion," which cannot be verified and cannot be used as grounds for a defamation lawsuit.