The publisher of The Mail on Sunday has agreed to pay the Duchess of Sussex £1 nominal damages for misuse of private information, and an undisclosed sum for copyright infringement after a court privacy battle, a document showed.
Meghan Markle sued Associated Newspapers, also the publisher of MailOnline, over five articles that reproduced parts of a “personal and private” letter to her estranged father Thomas Markle in August 2018.
She won her case last year, when a High Court judge ruled in her favour without a full trial, and Court of Appeal judges subsequently dismissed an appeal by Associated Newspapers.
Some detail of the money the duchess will receive emerged on Wednesday, when a written case order by judges that summarises the conclusion of the Court of Appeal litigation was made public.
The appeal judges’ order also said Associated Newspapers would pay the lawyers’ bills accumulated by the duchess during the appeal litigation.
Judges said those legal costs would be assessed if not agreed on.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brandon Maxwell, attends the Your Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception at Marlborough House on July 5, 2018 in London, England
Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, visit the Storyhouse on June 14, 2018 in Chester, England
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Carolina Herrera, and Delfina Figueras arrive for the Sentebale Polo at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on July 26, 2018 in Windsor, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Emilia Wickstead, attend the official opening of the Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park on October 20, 2018 in Sydney, Australia
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Safiyaa, arrive at the Royal Albert Hall on March 7, 2020 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Emilia Wickstead, attend the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, leave St George's Chapel after their wedding ceremony on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Dior, attends an event to mark the centenary of the RAF on July 10, 2018 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Martin Grant, visit Bondi Beach on October 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Sentaler coat, at a community market on January 14, 2019 in Birkenhead, England
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Figue, visits the University of the South Pacific on October 24, 2018 in Suva, Fiji
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, attends The Fashion Awards at Royal Albert Hall on December 10, 2018 in London, England
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Carolina Herrera, and Prince Harry on February 25, 2019 in Rabat, Morocco
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Stella McCartney, and Prince Harry leave Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Oscar de la Renta, attend the Australian Geographic Society Awards at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney, Australia, on October 26, 2018
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Erdem, and Prince Harry attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House on March 11, 2019 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Self-Portrait, arrive at Fua'amotu Airport on October 25, 2018 in Nuku'Alofa, Tonga
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Safiyaa, arrive for a state dinner on October 23, 2018 in Suva, Fiji
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Ralph & Russo, pose for an official engagement portrait on December 21, 2017
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Theory, attend a street dance class during their visit to Star Hub community and leisure centre in Cardiff, Wales, on January 18, 2018
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Prada, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth II attend the Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace on June 26, 2018 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Burberry, arrive at Social Bite cafe in Rose Street on February 13, 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in a coat by Line The Label, announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Zimmermann, arrive at Nausori Airport on October 23, 2018 in Suva, Fiji
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Roland Mouret, attend the Cirque du Soleil premiere of 'Totem' at Royal Albert Hall on January 16, 2019 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Jason Wu, attend the premiere of Disney's 'The Lion King' at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Reiss coat, arrives for her visit with Prince Harry to Canada House on January 7, 2020 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Jason Wu, arrive at the 100 Days to Peace gala in London, England on September 6, 2018
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Theia, attend a state dinner at the Royal Residence on October 25, 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Karen Walker, attend a wreath laying ceremony at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park on October 28, 2018 in Wellington, New Zealand
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Hugo Boss skirt, and Prince Harry at The University of Chichester Tech Park during an official visit to Sussex on October 3, 2018 in Chichester, England
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brandon Maxwell, attends the Your Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception at Marlborough House on July 5, 2018 in London, England
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Oscar de la Renta, attend the Coach Core Awards held at Loughborough University on September 24, 2018 in Loughborough, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, arrive at a public walkabout at the Rotorua Government Gardens on October 31, 2018 in Rotorua, New Zealand
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Martin Grant coat, arrive at the Sydney Opera House on October 16, 2018 in Sydney, Australia
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Martin Grant, meets Prime Minister S Akilisi Pohiva on October 26, 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brock Collection, arrives to visit the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care home Brinsworth House, in Twickenham, London, on December 18, 2018
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Veronica Beard, and Prince Harry visit District 6 Museum on September 23, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Club Monaco trench, visits the Maranui Cafe in Wellington, New Zealand, on October 28, 2018
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Ralph Lauren, attends the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2018 in London, England
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in La Ligne, pose with son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in an image released on March 8, 2021
Meghan’s representative described the undisclosed sum for copyright infringement as “substantial” and said it would be donated to charity.
They said the duchess was clear from the start that this case was mainly about the difference between right and wrong.
The fact that Meghan won on privacy and copyright matters demonstrated the strength of both claims, they said.
The representative said that, after winning the case on a summary judgment, she chose to recover the profit the paper had made from the letter, relating to copyright, rather than a remedy of damages on the privacy part of the case.
The appeal judges’ order said Associated Newspapers had agreed to pay the £1 nominal damages for misuse of private information, and the “confidential sum” for copyright infringement by January 7.
Judges also said Associated Newspapers should pay £300,000 of the duchess’s legal costs, on account, by the same date.
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The judges’ written order was released by lawyers representing Associated Newspapers.
Megan's counsel Ian Mill, QC, said at a court hearing last year that Meghan was willing to “cap her damages” for misuse of private information “at a nominal award”, if the court would order “an account of profits”, or evidence of how much the publisher gained financially from its publication of the letter, in relation to the infringement of her copyright.