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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Michelle Cullen

Meghan Markle denies lying about growing up an only child in Oprah chat amid legal battle with half-sister

Meghan Markle has denied lying during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The Duchess of Sussex said she told the truth when speaking about growing up as an only child amid a legal battle with her half-sister Samantha.

Meghan is being sued by her relative for allegedly lying about her upbringing in the dramatic chat.

READ MORE: Pippa Middleton's adorable nod to Royal Family with newborn daughter's name

Samantha claims her half-sister defamed her by telling untruths about her and her family.

According to Samantha, who shares the same father as the former actress, Meghan's “rags to royalty” story is “false”.

Meghan and Harry during their interview with Oprah Winfrey (Meghan and Harry during their interview with Oprah Winfrey)

She claims she “fabricated” details of her background to the Royal Family, the media and during TV interviews.

Samantha also accuses Meghan of launching a “premeditated campaign to destroy” her and her father's reputation.

However, in new papers filed to a court in Florida, Meghan's lawyers have argued that her statement about growing up an only child was not meant to be "objective fact" but rather a subjective statement of her own feelings.

They added that her description of growing up as an only child cannot be false because it is a "textbook example of a subjective statement of how a person feels about their childhood" and have moved to dismiss the case.

The papers state: "Plaintiff [Samantha] first asserts that she can disprove that Meghan "grew up as an only child". But this perception is entirely unfalsifiable. It is hard to imagine a more personal and subjective feeling than how one views their own childhood.

"Moreover, Plaintiff's opposition completely ignores the context of the statement where Ms Winfrey asked Meghan about her relationship with Plaintiff.

"Meghan's response was obviously not meant to be a statement of fact that she had no genetic siblings or half-siblings.

"Rather it was a textbook example of a subjective statement about how a person feels about her childhood."

Previously, a lawyer acting on behalf of Meghan branded the lawsuit “baseless and absurd” adding they would give it “the minimum attention necessary”.

Her attorney Michael Kump said: "This baseless and absurd lawsuit is just a continuation of a pattern of disturbing behaviour. We will give it the minimum attention necessary, which is all it deserves."

Samantha is seeking $75,000 (£56,500) from her half-sister and has demanded a trial by jury for the case.

During the Oprah interview last March, Meghan claimed she was "not close" to her half-sister and said: "I think it would be very hard to tell all when you don't know me."

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