Jan. 5 (UPI) — A British publisher has been ordered to pay Meghan Markle, the wife of Prince Harry, a little more than $1 in her victorious lawsuit over publication of a private letter she wrote to her father.
Markle won the lawsuit last month against the Mail on Sunday for publishing the letter, which described a rift between she and her father Thomas Markle.
The award the court ordered the publisher to pay was just £1, which is equivalent to about $1.35. Experts say the typical award for such a victory is between $100,000 and $170,000.
However, the paper’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, also agreed to pay Markle damages for copyright infringement. That amount was not specified.
Prince Harry is also suing Rupert Murdoch’s News U.K. and Daily Mirror publisher Reach over phone-hacking claims that are expected be heard later this year. File Photo by Aidan Crawley/EPA-EFE
The Mail on Sunday will also have to pay for Megan’s legal costs, which could amount to more than $1.35 million.
The court ruled last month that Markle had a reasonable expectation of privacy for the contents of the letter to her father.
The news outlets were ordered to publish front-page and homepage declarations stating that they lost the three-year legal battle, which they did on Dec. 26.
Prince Harry is also suing Rupert Murdoch’s News U.K. and Daily Mirror publisher Reach over phone-hacking claims that are expected be heard later this year.