The Duchess of Sussex was originally set to go to court in January 2021.
Meghan Markle's lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday and Associated Newspapers has been delayed at her request, ET has learned. On Thursday, a High Court judge in the United Kingdom, where the case is being held, approved the Duchess of Sussex's request to delay the trial.
Markle was originally scheduled to go to court on Jan. 11, 2021. Now a new trail date is being set for the fall of 2021.
"The right decision in all the circumstances is to grant the application to adjourn," the judge in the case said. "That means that the trial date of Jan. 11, 2021 will be vacated and the trial will be refixed for a new date in the autumn."
Though a date has not yet been set by the courts, the judge added, "I'm confident that we'll be able to find a time in the autumn in October or November in which the trial can be conducted."
A reasoning for moving the trial date was not given, but the Press Gazette said Markle's team gave "a confidential ground" as to why the postponement was needed.
Markle's team is working to get the trial dismissed altogether. She has been granted permission to apply for a summary judgment, and if successful, that would mean no trial. ET has learned that no ruling was made on Markle's request for a summary judgment and that it is expected to come at a different date.
A source close to Markle says her team doesn't believe the Mail on Sunday has a chance of succeeding and that there is a compelling reason for a trial.
Markle filed her lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday over five articles from February 2019 that were published in the Mail on Sunday and on the MailOnline website. These articles included portions of a handwritten letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, after her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018.
In September, Markle lost one court decision involving whether the Mail on Sunday can use the contents of the new book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family in the case.
On Thursday, Markle applied to appeal the decision to include the book's contents, but a judge refused the application, ET confirms.
Since the original lawsuit was first filed, Markle and Prince Harry have stepped down as senior members of the royal family and relocated to Santa Barbara, California, with their 1-year-old son, Archie. Watch the clip below for more details on their new life in America.
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