EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Whatever happened to the close friendship between Justin Trudeau’s estranged wife and Meghan Markle?

The resignation of Justin Trudeau prompts the question: whatever happened to the close friendship between his estranged wife Sophie Gregoire and Meghan Markle?

 Meghan met Sophie while filming Suits in Toronto and was soon gushing that the pair were ‘giddy, like absolute schoolgirls’ and ‘had so much fun’. 

Sophie was a guest on Meg’s short-lived Archetypes podcast, where the duchess boasted of sharing a family day in swimsuits. 

‘We swam, we drank wine, we splashed in the water.’ 

Then, in an interview last year, Sophie, when asked about Meghan, replied frostily: ‘I know her,’ adding that they hadn’t spent that much time together. 

Sounds like Sophie needs a jar of Sussex jam as a sweetener.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, speaks onstage during a panel discussion in March 

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau pictured together in 2022

While King Charles remains keen to keep Beatrice and Eugenie close, deploying them at garden parties and receptions, neither will receive the full-time royal roles that their father once coveted for them. 

In fact, so keen was Andrew to get them on the payroll that he put his hand in his pocket so they could attend a series of trade events in Germany in 2013 to show their mettle. 

Alas, Princess Beatrice, driving a Mini painted with the union flag, went through a red light. 

A bemused official from our embassy in Berlin commented: ‘This is making us a laughing stock… Better if they b****r off and marry millionaires.’ They followed his advice.

King Charles III attends a Sustainable Markets Initiative discussion at Admiralty House in Sydney in October 

Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York attend a dinner together in November 2021 

Arctic weather conditions prompt an on-air domestic tiff between rival Radio 4 Today show ponies Emma Barnett, pictured, and Amol Rajan. 

‘I’ve got about five layers on today, I’m hoping that will do it,’ Emma announces. Amol squeaks: ‘You’ve got to sort out the temperature in the studio, that would mean you’re much more comfortable when you present.’ 

Barnett snaps: ‘I come in before you do and turn it right up, just so you know.’ 

Amol critically adds: ‘Oh, that’s why it’s sweltering?’ Hardly Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? More Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads.

Sir Elton John fans purchasing a signed copy of his new greatest hits album Diamonds might wonder about the letter ‘E’ on the cover. 

Banquet Records explains the singer’s ‘signature will be simplified to an ‘E’ as an accommodation to their eyesight’, which is deteriorating’.

Elton John performs onstage during the 2024 A Year in TIME dinner at Current at Chelsea Piers on December 11

Cressida Bonas is launching Lessons From Our Mothers, a podcast featuring celebrities including Kate Winslet. 

‘It’s a series of conversations with people about maternal influence in their lives,’ she tells The Spectator. 

Will she be approaching her ex, Prince Harry, to chat about his mum?

Cressida Bonas attends a special screening and Q&A for ‘Hilma’ at Curzon Soho on April 26, 2023

Justin Trudeau had a long acquaintance with the late Queen, meeting her as a five-year-old when his father Pierre was Canada’s PM. 

When he later encountered her as PM, she said: ‘Very nice to see you again… In rather different circumstances, isn’t it?’ 

The 6ft 1in Trudeau replied: ‘I will say, you were much taller than me the last time we met,’ which produced a chuckle from the diminutive monarch.