The Office star Mindy Kaling jokes she ‘met her friend’s husband at a work event’ after posing with Prince Harry (and Meghan’s old friend Jessica Mulroney likes it too)
The Office star Mindy Kaling joked that she ‘met her friend’s husband at a work event’ after posing with Prince Harry during a ‘life coaching’ event in San Francisco.
The actress, also known for The Mindy Project, smiled with the Duke of Sussex at the Uplift summit held by BetterUp, for whom Harry is the ‘chief impact officer’.
She also made reference to Harry’s memoir Spare, saying: ‘Met my friend’s husband at a work event. Seemed pretty cool. Said he wrote a book. Gonna go check it out!’
Social media users also spotted that Meghan Markle‘s estranged friend Jessica Mulroney responded to Kaling’s post on Instagram with a love heart emoji.
Mulroney became friends with Meghan while she was filming Suits in Toronto – and the fashion stylist regularly spoke out in support of her. But in June 2020 they were said to have fallen out after Mulroney was accused of bullying and racist behaviour.
She lost two TV jobs after a row with blogger Sasha Exeter who accused her of using ‘wealth and privilege’ to shut her up in a row over posts linked to Black Lives Matter.
Mulroney – whose three children had roles at Meghan’s wedding in 2018 – apologised for her behaviour, but later denied any falling out and said they remained ‘family.’
On Wednesday, a similar photo of Harry, 39, and Kaling, 44, was also shared on the Duke’s website Sussex.com in an announcement about his appearance at the event.
It comes 18 months after Kaling appeared on Meghan’s Spotify podcast Archetypes in September 2022, before the show was axed in June 2023 after one series.
Minky Kaling poses with Prince Harry at the BetterUp Uplift summit at the Hilton Union Square in San Francisco, California, in a photograph the actress posted on Instagram last night
Kaling joked that she ‘met her friend’s husband at a work event’ in the Instagram post
Kaling poses backstage at the Uplift summit in San Francisco where she spoke on Wednesday
Kaling takes a selfie at the ‘life coaching’ BetterUp event in San Francisco where she spoke
On Wednesday at the summit, Harry spoke during a session on managing ‘the pressures of today’s world and modern corporate life’, according to Sussex.com.
This was accompanied by four photos – including one of him with Kaling, whose spoke at another session which was advertised on the advance agenda and then livestreamed.
The Duke had been listed as a speaker in advance of the summit taking place on Wednesday and Thursday, but his attendance at a specific event was not listed – and he did not appear in a livestream.
Fans only found out about Harry’s session after a post on Wednesday night by his website Sussex.com.
The Duke spoke during a ‘Beyond Burnout’ session at the summit on Wednesday, where he was joined by Dr Adam Grant, BetterUp’s chairman of the ‘Center for Purpose and Performance’, and Kelly Jones, ‘chief people officer’ at technology firm Cisco.
And Harry’s appearance will no doubt draw comparisons to David Brent’s character in the UK’s original The Office played by Ricky Gervais who gives a cringeworthy motivational speech to an audience while the song ‘Simply the Best’ is playing.
No video footage has been released of what Sussex.com referred to as his ‘insightful’ chat with Dr Grant and Ms Jones.
But a post on its website said: ‘The trio dove into the psychological toll of leading through uncertainty, sharing personal anecdotes, evidence-based practices, and forward-thinking policies aimed at helping leaders thrive amidst the pressures of today’s world and modern corporate life.’
Social media users also spotted that Meghan Markle ‘s estranged friend Jessica Mulroney responded to Kaling’s post on Instagram with a love heart emoji
Meghan Markle poses with Jessica Mulroney in Toronto in 2016, the year she met Prince Harry
Anyone could attend the summit virtually for free by registering online, while in-person tickets at the Hilton Union Square were $1,595 (£1,272) each but sold out.
Fans discussed his appearance in advance and pointed out that the schedule was unclear. One tweeted last week: ‘The Uplift conference by BetterUp starts in seven days. We’ll probably only see Prince Harry on the last day though. Who knows?’
Another added: ‘BetterUp with Prince Harry. In person sold out but attend virtually is still available. Don’t miss your chance to enjoy a rare appearance of our fav prince.’
MailOnline has contacted BetterUp and Harry and Meghan’s organisation Archewell for comment on why his appearance was not advertised in advance or livestreamed.
His session was called ‘Beyond Burnout: Transforming C-Level Stress Into Strength’, with the American phrase ‘C-level’ referring to the most important ‘chief’ roles at a company such as chief executive, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
A photo posted by Sussex.com of Harry with Kaling during his appearance at the ‘Beyond Burnout: Transforming C-Level Stress Into Strength’ session in San Francisco on Wednesday
US actress Mindy Kaling has also appeared on Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes
Mindy Kaling is most well-known for playing Kelly Kapoor in the US version of The Office
They looked at ‘how C-level leaders manage the unique pressure of their roles, build resilience, and foster a culture that supports sustainable performance’.
The event – called the ‘Uplift Summit’ – ‘centred on courageous leadership’ and provided a ‘unique forum for C-suite leaders, business executives, and HR professionals and advocates’.
Kaling also spoke at the summit during a discussion on how to lead with ‘levity and creativity’, and said she had been raising her children Katherine, six, and Spencer, three, under the principle of ‘gentle parenting’ – but was reconsidering this.
According to Hello! magazine, the actress was asked a series of quickfire questions by Dr Grant, one of which was: ‘What are you rethinking lately?’
In response, Kaling said: ‘Gentle parenting, I am rethinking. It’s this thing lots of LA and NY and certain progressive cities do, and sometimes you just have to scream at your kids… so I am rethinking it!’
Gentle parenting is a method popularised by millennials, particularly in the US, that involves a mild-mannered style meaning you never raise your voice and calmly acknowledge your child’s feelings.
Prince Harry speaks with Kelly Jones, Cisco ‘chief people officer’, and Dr Adam Grant, BetterUp’s chairman of the ‘Center for Purpose and Performance’, in San Francisco
However it has also faced a backlash from critics who say the emphasis on a parent’s constant physical availability to a child is guilt-inducing, emotionally draining and is often not compatible with adult and work relationships.
Harry – whose presence at Wednesday’s session was revealed on Sussex.com – took up his role at BetterUp in March 2021.
He has spoken at length about his own struggles with mental health, and told a previous BetterUp discussion two years ago that he has ‘experienced burnout’ and previously felt he was ‘getting to the very end of everything that I had’.
The Duke said in February 2022 that he was ‘literally getting to the very end of everything that I had, any fuel or any steam in the engine just like I was burning the candle at both ends’.
BetterUp was founded in 2013 and provides mobile-based professional coaching, counselling and mentorship.
Its website says it has a network of more than 3,000 coaches offering coaching in 60 languages across 70 countries.
Harry’s boss Alexi Robichaux – who was also at Wednesday’s event – said at the time of the Duke’s appointment that he hired him because he had been ‘one of the fiercest advocates for mental wellness or mental fitness for many years’.
In-person tickets for the BetterUp Uplift summit were $1,595 (£1,272) each but sold out
But he added that he was also grateful for the amount of publicity it generated, saying: ‘It’s awesome. I mean, look, we’ll take the press, it certainly helps,’ he said, ‘(but) that’s not the driving motivation here.’
Harry took on the job about two weeks after the Sussexes’ bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The role was one of Harry’s moves into business after he and Meghan stepped back as senior working royals in March 2020 in what was dubbed ‘Megxit’.
The couple, who temporarily relocated to Canada, are now based in a £12million home in Montecito in California with their son Archie and daughter Lilibet.
In August last year it was reported that BetterUp staff had questioned Harry’s role at the company, with some claiming he had become a ‘distraction’.
Staff allegedly turned on the Duke – who reportedly earns a seven-figure salary at the firm– after more than 100 San Francisco-based BetterUp employees were laid off earlier that year.
According to The Daily Beast, the Duke became a ‘target’ for angry BetterUp staff. A former employee said he initially thought Harry’s arrival was ‘cool’.
But they added that staff soon began to find him a distraction with many fearing his ongoing dramas might impact on the company’s reputation.
Prince Harry’s appearance will no doubt draw comparisons to David Brent’s character in the UK’s original The Office played by Ricky Gervais who gives a cringeworthy motivational speech to an audience while the song ‘Simply the Best’ is playing (pictured)
The employee said: ‘Every article mentions his role at BetterUp then goes on to roast [him and Meghan Markle]… The juice isn’t worth the squeeze.’
Another alleged that the company treat staff poorly while pushing ‘woke’ credentials.
‘We’re all there because of the same bulls**** story they keep telling us: ‘We’re mission driven, and the mission is going to change the world’,’ said the employee.
Harry’s publicly known work at BetterUp appears to mostly comprise of speaking engagements.
