How Much Money Is Meghan Markle Getting From Her Big Court Win?

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been embroiled in a long and wearing legal battle against the Mail on Sunday and its parent company, Associated Newspapers, since October 2019 — and it seems the conclusion is finally here. Meghan first sued the outlet for illegally publishing parts of a private letter she wrote her father, Thomas Markle Sr., in 2018. Prince Harry added in an official statement that the publication "purposely misled you by strategically omitting select paragraphs, specific sentences, and even singular words to mask the lies they had perpetuated for over a year." 

In February 2021, the Sussexes won in court, per The New York Times, and the Associated Newspapers appealed the decision to no avail. Royal journalist Omid Scobie tweeted the Court of Appeal's upholding of the February decision, writing on December 2, 2021, that Associated Newspapers "LOST its appeal in the privacy and copyright case of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex." Following the December decision, Meghan issued a statement via Twitter, pointing out that "the longer [the Mail on Sunday] dragged it out, the more they could twist facts and manipulate the public (even during the appeal itself)." 

Now it's time to pay up. So, how much did the Duchess of Sussex end up with following this two-year courtroom drama? 

Meghan Markle joined Taylor Swift in the $1 courtroom victory club on January 2. Meghan will receive £1 ($1.36 to be exact) in damages from the Mail on Sunday after winning her suit against the paper, per People, for publishing a personal letter written to her father. Additionally, the U.K. publication must pay an undisclosed fee for copyright infringement, as Meghan's five-page, 2018 letter was published in parts without her consent, per The Guardian.

Lawyer Mark Stephens told The Guardian the duchess was owed 100,000 times more her $1.36, were this victory's symbolism not more important than the monetary sum. "Normally for that kind of invasion of privacy you would expect £75,000 [$101,000] to £125,000 [$169,000]. It does show that the curation of her reputation was an area where she had effectively invaded her own privacy," Stephens said. 

Meghan has made it abundantly clear that she cared about the message of the win more than the financial sum. In a December 2, 2021 statement shared to Twitter after the ruling, Meghan wrote, "This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what's right." However, a March 2021 ruling decided that Associated Newspapers, publishing company of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, will cover 90% of Meghan's estimated $1.88 million legal fees incurred during the course of suing them.