London, May 2 (TIWN) Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, on Friday lost the opening round of her legal battle against Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for publishing a confidential letter to her estranged father last year, with the High Court judge dismissing major parts of her suit, reports said.

The former American actress, who is married to Prince Harry, was seeking damages from Associated Newspapers Ltd for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.  However, the judge dismissed as "irrelevant" most of her case, including her claims that the reports were part of a media "agenda" against her.  Justice Warby also "struck out" her allegations that journalists had acted dishonestly and had caused the rift between her and her estranged father Thomas by "digging up dirt" to portray Meghan in a "negative light".  The article had reproduced parts of a handwritten note she sent to her father in August 2018, three months after he was unable to walk her down the aisle following a heart attack, and was made public by him in February 2019.  A preliminary hearing in the case, in which lawyers for Associated Newspapers asked for parts of the Duchess's case to be struck out, was conducted remotely last week.