Meghan Markle's family relationships sound like a reeeal bundle of fun (I hope the sarcasm was apparent).
In the latest development, the duchess' half-sister Samantha is now suing her for defamation, according to documents obtained by TMZ.
Samantha, who shares father Thomas with Meghan, is accusing the royal of allegedly lying in her Oprah interview in March 2021.
The 57-year-old published a tell-all autobiography in 2021, titled The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister — Part 1. In her lawsuit, she's now claiming that some of the things Meghan said about her have "hurt sales of her autobiography, prevented her from getting jobs and caused emotional and mental distress," per TMZ.
As for the alleged lies in question, Samantha cited the "rags to royalty" narrative that the duchess has described about growing up in "virtual poverty." She claimed Thomas paid for Meghan to attend "elite and expensive private schools," while the duchess said she worked to pay for her Northwestern education herself.
Samantha also called Meghan's assertion to Oprah Winfrey that she is an "only child" a lie—although I'm fairly certain the duchess meant it as a figure of speech, considering it's common knowledge that she has a half-sister, and considering that she directly referred to Samantha during the interview.
The duchess also said that it had been "at least 18, 19 years ago and before that, 10 years before that" since she'd seen her sister, which Samantha claims is untrue.
Speaking to Winfrey, Meghan said that Samantha "changed her last name back to Markle, I think she was in her early 50s at that time, only when I started dating Harry. So I think that says enough."
Samantha also said in her suit that Meghan allegedly lied so she and Thomas "could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairytale life story concocted by" the duchess. Oh, brother. Or... sister, I guess. (Sorry.)
"This baseless and absurd lawsuit is just a continuation of a pattern of disturbing behavior," came the response from the Duchess of Sussex' lawyer, Michael Kump. "We will give it the minimum attention necessary, which is all it deserves."
FYI, this is not the first time Samantha has tried to come for her younger sister—not by a long shot. Consider that one time she suggested some New Year's resolutions for her, or when she—ahem—timed the release of her book around Meghan's due date. She did apologize to the duchess on live TV once in 2018, though, so there's that?
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