Meghan Markle’s legal headache continues as her half-sister Samantha Markle launched a fresh appeal against a ruling made to dismiss a defamation case against Meghan.

Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell decided to dismiss the case which Samantha brought over comments made by Meghan during a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Now, however, Samantha Markle has appealed the decision. If a judge rules in her favour, the previous ruling to dismiss the case would be overturned.

A court filing seen by Newsweek read: “Notice is hereby given that the Plaintiff, Samantha M. Markle, by and through her undersigned counsel, appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from the Order Granting Defendants, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, Motion to Dismiss entered by the Honorable Charlene Edwards Honeywell on March 12, 2024.”

Samantha argued that her half-sister defamed her in the interview with Oprah, where she discussed a believed “betrayal” by her family.

READ MORE: Harry ‘torn’ between Meghan and Kate and feels huge ‘loss’ following split

Meghan told Oprah at the time: “I think it’d be very hard to tell all when you don’t know me. And I mean, this is a very different situation than my dad, right?

“When you talk about betrayal, betrayal comes from someone that you have a relationship with. Right? I don’t feel comfortable talking about people that I really don’t know.”

Samantha argued that these comments were defamatory because they painted her as “a stranger, a liar” and a “deceptive fame-seeking imposter with avaricious intentions.” She claims that this, among other comments made during the interview, was “disparaging, hurtful, and false.”

In March, Judge Honeywell dismissed the case because Samantha “failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation”.

DON’T MISS:

She wrote in her ruling: “What it means to be ‘close’ – to share a relationship with someone so intimate that you ‘really know’ that person – is a subject that might make good fodder for philosophical, psychological, or personal exploration. However, it is not capable of being definitively answered.

“[Samantha] cannot objectively prove that she ‘really knows’ [Meghan] or that [Meghan] falsely felt that their relationship was not sufficiently intimate to justify the use of the word ‘betrayal. Because this statement is an opinion not readily capable of being proven, it is protected by law from a defamation action.

“As to the defamation claims, each and every statement is non-actionable, either because it is a protected opinion, substantially true based on judicially noticed evidence, not capable of being considered defamatory, or because [Samantha] is precluded from meeting the actual malice standard.”

Samantha’s new appeal is trying to overturn Judge Honeywell’s ruling to dismiss the case which, if successful, could see the Duchess sued by her half-sister in the future.