Samantha Markle's Lawyer Gives Prince Harry Scathing New Nickname After Awkward Title Flub

As if being on the outs with the royal family wasn't difficult enough Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, have found themselves embroiled in a lawsuit filed by Meghan's own half-sister Samantha Markle since 2022. Although a judge ultimately ruled in the former "Suits" star's favor, Samantha redoubled her efforts in late November 2024 with a new legal action that included an embarrassing mistake: Harry was incorrectly referred to as the "Prince of Wales" in the original court filings, a title reserved for his older brother, Prince William. Although some people might feel that an apology is in order after such a snafu, Samantha's lawyer, Peter Ticktin, instead responded to the title flub with a withering new nickname for Harry.

As Ticktin explained to Newsweek, he doesn't believe that the average person living in the U.S. particularly cares about the royal family's titles. As Samantha's lawyer reasoned, "In fact, I wish I could say it was simply a spelling mistake when he should have been the Duke of Wails." Ticktin explained this by criticizing Harry's work with The Aspen Institute's Commission on Information Disorder, which seeks to limit the spread of misinformation on the internet. 

While highlighting his displeasure with the royal defector's ongoing work with the body, which Ticktin sees as infringing upon free speech, he bestowed Harry with another offensive nickname: "So, this foreigner, if we ever gave out titles in America, should be known as the Minister of Fiction." Although Ticktin may not be a fan of Harry's association with The Aspen Institute, the Sussexes have both been vocal advocates for increased cyber safety for years. 

Although Samantha Markle's lawyer called Prince Harry out for his work with The Aspen Institute, the Duke of Sussex's partnership with this organization is nothing new. Harry joined their ranks as a commissioner in 2021 and explained his decision in a statement shared at the time by CNN: "[T]he experience of today's digital world has us inundated with an avalanche of misinformation, affecting our ability as individuals as well as societies to think clearly and truly understand the world we live in."

Likewise, he and wife Meghan Markle also discussed internet safety for children at a 2024 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, proclaiming, "This is an issue that transcends division and party lines, as we saw today at the Senate hearing. The best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these [social media] platforms," (via The Hill). Somewhat ironically, the alleged spread of misinformation is at the heart of Samantha's case against the royal couple, which alleges that comments the Sussexes made in their 2022 Netflix docuseries, "Harry & Meghan," amounted to baseless slander. 

Only time will tell if Samantha's renewed lawsuit ends with the couple's comments being ruled as sensational lies or uncomfortable truths. In the meantime, Harry dropped a subtle hint that he may be ready to mend fences with the royal family, suggesting both he and Meghan are looking to leave the drama of the past few years behind them.