The court has, reportedly, granted Meghan Markle’s request to delay her hearing against Mail on Sunday.
Originally, the court hearing was scheduled for January 11. But Markle’s legal team met up with the judge in London on Thursday to request an extension.
According to reports, Markle and her legal team need more time after Mail on Sunday included their claims about Finding Freedom in their defense.
According to Express, High Court Judge Justice Warby granted Markle’s request agreed to postpone the hearing until at least September 2021. But his reasons for doing so remain confidential.
Weeks ago, Markle’s legal team asked Judge Francesca Kaye to reject Mail on Sunday’s request to make Finding Freedom inadmissible in the case. Following Kaye’s decision, Markle and her legal team were forced to gather more information to support their case and the claims in Finding Freedom.
According to People, Markle doesn’t also want to have a full trial and she, reportedly, prefers to have a summary judgment instead. The summary judgment will allow the judge to make a decision based solely on the written documents presented to him by both parties.
During a recent conversation with Elizabeth Hartley, Markle’s dad, reportedly, said that he just wants the case to be over and done with. After all, he’s 76 years old and it’s been causing him anxiety.
If Markle’s request to not have a full trial will also be granted, she wouldn’t have to face off with her dad in court. And based on what Thomas recently said, it seems that not going to court is what he prefers.
After all, the former lighting director said that he’s been struggling with his health. And he also has a hard time walking and going up the stairs. Thomas also has heart and lung problems, and he’s also classified as clinically obese.
Thomas also said that none of his relatives have lived over the age of 80. So, he knows that he could die at any given time. As such, he said that it would best for the case to move forward as soon as possible.
The Duchess of Sussex has been estranged from her dad for the past three years. Their falling out started after Thomas posed for a series of photographs for Mail on Sunday ahead of Prince Harry and Markle’s royal wedding.
Thomas decided not to attend the couple’s nuptials in 2018 because he just underwent heart surgery back then.