"One plane crash away from throne" Should Meghan Bring a Defamation Suit Against Woman Who Claim That She Said That?

Are Youtubers Defaming the Duchess of Sussex? Should She Sue for Defamation?

So there are all these Youtube videos and Youtubers running this story about Duchess Meghan. They claim there is a recording of Meghan saying that she and Harry are "one plane crash away from the throne." How callous and calculating that all sounds, doesn't it? It makes Meghan come off as a monster. 

Does this type of story cause injury and damage to Meghan? I think so. The accusation that Meghan said she and Harry are "one plane crash away from the throne" is both libelous (written on blogs) and slanderous (spoken in videos) if she never said that. 

This lie is being written on blogs and it is being repeated on Youtube videos and everyone is acting as if it is true.

This is terrible. It is a terrible thing to think and it is a terrible thing to say and if Meghan really said this, if there really is a recording, it would be breathtakingly awful to find out that she is capable of these utterances. 

I do not believe that Meghan said anything of the sort. And I further do not believe that there is any recording of Meghan saying anything of the sort. The whole thing is a malicious lie, in my opinion. But it is proliferating as "truth" and it is a problem, I think. Because it is bound to cause everyone, not the least of which is Meghan, emotional distress and it further soils Meghan's reputation in the global community. And that is exactly what Defamation is. It is making false, misleading, and malicious statements about someone with the intent to damage his or her reputation.

What is defamation? According to legalzoom.com:

"Defamation is a false statement presented as a fact that causes injury or damage to the character of the person it is about." 

That definition does not even seem to be fully accurate, does it? Well, the gist of it is that if you post lies about a person and you do it recklessly and negligently with the intention of harming the person's reputation, you could be sued for defamation.

Under California law where Meghan lives, there are defenses to defamation. According to this attorney, the defenses to defamation include:

• The defendant’s statement was true;
• The statement wasn’t published;
• The statement was privileged;
• The statement was an opinion or fair comment on a matter of public interest;
• The statement wasn’t made negligently or with malice; and/or,
• The defendant never said anything negative about the plaintiff.

So the first question is going to be whether these accusations against Meghan are true. They claim there is a recording. So let's force them to produce that recording.

Obviously, these statements about what Meghan allegedly said have been published all over, and the original culprit is apparently a woman with a British accent who has a youtube channel where she regularly harasses and lambasted the Duchess. So Meghan's attorneys will have to look into getting a subpoena to force this individual to produce this recording she says she has.

Sure, this individual can say that her statement is an "opinion" and this can be a defense to defamation, but not when she is claiming that this is "truth" and that she has a recording of Meghan saying these awful things. This lept out of the opinion arena and slam-dunked itself into the defamation arena when she claimed to have recordings.

This woman and her ilk can't claim that they "never said anything negative about Meghan" because they literally make a living by doing exactly that on a daily basis.

The rub for Meghan is that she is a "public figure." As a "public figure" she is entitled to less protection under the free speech/defamation laws. She has to prove actual "malice" in order to prevail in a defamation case against these people because she is a public figure.  The person or persons claiming that Meghan made this claim on record, can say they did not repeat this lie that she said she and Harry are one plane crash away from the British throne out of "malice," and if the judge is convinced of this, the perpetrator can get away with the defamation.

Truth, obviously, is a defense to Defamation. So if the parties claiming Meghan said this can produce the video they claim to have, then they win the lawsuit. But if they cannot, Meghan wins, and they will have to pay her damages for ruining her reputation in this manner.

I think she should call their bluff. Force them to produce this recording they say they have. If they can't, get an injunction against each of them to remove all these videos claiming she said that she and Harry are one plane crash away from the throne. And ask for damages too. And donate the money to a charity of their choice.

image credit flickr creative commons

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