Meghan Markle's legal woes far from over as UK newspaper mulls further appeal

Britain´s Associated Newspapers on Thursday said it was "considering an appeal to the Supreme Court" after Meghan Markle won a second victory against it for breach of privacy.

A spokesman for the Mail on Sunday publisher said in a statement the group was "disappointed" by the latest ruling, which it said should only have been given after all the evidence had been tested at a full trial hearing.

Meghan Markle  called for a reform of tabloid newspaper culture after winning a second court victory against a British newspaper group for breaching her privacy.

But Associated Newspapers indicated her high-profile win may not be the end of the matter, as it said it may now take the case to the country´s highest court.

Three judges at the Court of Appeal in London threw out the news group´s challenge to a February ruling in the High Court over the publication in 2019 in the Mail on Sunday of a letter she wrote to her estranged father.

The Duchess of Sussex, who is married to Queen Elizabeth II´s grandson, Prince Harry, said she hoped the ruling would embolden others to hold tabloids to account.

"This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what´s right," she said in a statement.

"While this win is precedent setting, what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel and profits from the lies and pain that they create."

Associated, which also publishes the Daily Mail and MailOnline, appealed the lower court ruling, arguing the judge should have only made his judgment after a full trial hearing.

The publisher had been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds in interim legal costs and to print a front-page statement acknowledging her legal victory.

But that was put on hold while the appeal was heard.