As Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland cosies up to Kim Kardashian… the surprising links between the reality TV star and the Duchess – from using the same bodyguard and sharing a hairdresser to confiding in Chrissy Teigen
The Kardashians are known for their celebrity-savvy connections to anyone and everyone in Hollywood.
And now it would seem their influence has reached the Sussexes, as Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland appeared in high spirits while chatting with power-mother Kris Jenner and her A-list daughter Kim at a glitzy charity event in Los Angeles last weekend.
But the star-studded meet-up, which saw many famous faces gathered to the This About Humanity’s fifth annual soiree, is hardly the Duchess’s only link to the 42-year-old SKIMS founder.
Meghan and Kim have both used the same hairdresser – and even bodyguard – as well as having a number of pals in common.
Both are understood to have been friendly with the Beckhams, with strong connections to Hollywood heiress Paris Hilton.
Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland appeared in high spirits while chatting with power-mother Kris Jenner and her A-list daughter Kim at a glitzy charity event in Los Angeles last weekend
Here, FEMAIL looks at the connections and commonalities between LA royalty and the Duchess of Sussex…
INSTAGRAM COMEBACK
Doria’s appearance at the star-studded event comes amid reports her daughter Meghan, 42, is planning a grand return to social media with a new Instagram account that could see her earn up to $1 million per post.
The duchess, whose last account with husband Prince Harry, @sussexroyal, had 9.4 million followers before it was deactivated in 2020 when the couple quit being senior Royals, is said to be behind a new account named @meghan.
Decorated with a picture of pink peonies, reportedly Meghan’s favourite flowers, a source close to her team this week confirmed: ‘Yes, that’s her. Expect an announcement very soon. She’s coming back.’
The account is already followed by several of Meghan’s friends including activist Mandana Dayani, who served as president of Archewell, the Sussexes’ media and philanthropic company, until last December.
A source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Everyone in Hollywood is talking about the re-launch being imminent. Meghan has never made any secret of the fact she wants to return to Instagram.’
Prior to her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry, Suits actress Meghan’s personal Instagram following stood at more than three million, while tens of thousands of fans signed up for her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig.
The duchess, whose last account with husband Prince Harry , @sussexroyal, had 9.4 million followers before it was deactivated in 2020 when the couple quit being senior Royals, is said to be behind a new account named @meghan
And if Meghan wants tips, she needs to look no further than her mother’s ‘new pal’ Kim (pictured in a post) – the queen of Insta herself
Meghan first announced she was planning a return to Instagram in an interview with The Cut last year, telling writer Allison P Davis: ‘Do you want to know a secret? I’m getting back on Instagram.’
The duchess’s ‘new’ account already has 104,000 followers and experts say it could prove a huge boost to her finances.
And if Meghan wants tips, she needs to look no further than her mother’s ‘new pal’ Kim – the queen of Insta herself.
The reality star has a jaw dropping 363 million followers where she is known for posting fashionable snaps of her latest looks, as well as more candid photos with her children.
PALS WITH PARIS
Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian’s friendship goes way back – but it would seem the Hollywood heiress is also pally with Meghan, having appeared on her podcast Archetypes last year.
She spoke in an episode titled ‘Breaking Down The Bimbo’, where the media personality broke down her rise to fame as a reality TV star in the early noughties.
During the podcast, Meghan told listeners that she was nervous about interviewing Paris, because she’d ‘had a judgment’ about the socialite.
‘I don’t like having judgment, it doesn’t feel good,’ she admitted. ‘But I had to be real about that because when I grew up, she was beautiful, rich and famous. What could possibly be wrong with her life?’
Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian’s friendship goes way back – but it would seem the Hollywood heiress is also pally with Meghan, having appeared on her podcast Archetypes last year. Pictured last month
Paris responded saying she was also hesitant about an audience with the Duchess of Sussex ’cause I’m just such a shy person and we haven’t met before’.
The frank episode saw Meghan discuss the labels of ‘Bimbo’ and ‘Dumb blonde’, exploring why ‘brains and beauty in a woman have been historically pitted against each other’.
In the podcast’s intro, the Duchess had opened up about her own experiences of being valued purely on her physical appearance, when she starred as a Deal or No Deal ‘briefcase girl’ in 2006.
She said she was grateful for the work as she tried to break through as an actress and ‘pay the bills’ – ‘but not how it made me feel, which was not smart’.
Meanwhile, Paris’s relationship with Kim goes much further back.
Just earlier this year, after becoming a new mother, Paris revealed that she’s ‘forever grateful’ to her best friend and former assistant Kim for helping to guide her through her surrogacy – and now feels as though the reality star has become ‘a part of her family’.
Although Paris, 42, and husband Carter Reum, 42, kept the pregnancy news a secret from Kathy, 63, and sister Nicky, 39, during the surrogate’s pregnancy, a source told DailyMail.com exclusively that she was able to confide in lifelong pal Kim, 42, throughout the process.
‘Kim has been Paris’s rock during the entire surrogacy,’ the source explained, adding that Kim – whose daughter Chicago, five, and son Psalm, three, were both born via a surrogate – helped Paris ‘every step of the way’
‘Paris saw what an amazing experience using a surrogate was for Kim and confided in her from when the baby was just a thought until now.’
FRIENDS WITH CHRISSY TEIGEN
Chrissy Teigen has publicly gushed about her friendships with both Meghan and Kim on different occasions.
The model, 37, appears to have found comfort in both women for different reasons.
And it appears both the SKIMS founder and the Duchess have confided in Chrissy with personal dilemmas too.
In 2021, it was revealed that Chrissy had been keeping in touch with pal Kim amid her ongoing divorce from estranged husband, having been to the former couple’s wedding in 2014.
The social media sensations had shed light on the shocking split during a remote Watch What Happens Live appearance.
Speaking to host Andy Cohen, Chrissy divulged: ‘Kim is doing okay. I know Kim gave her all for everything. It’s honestly a shame that it didn’t work out because I saw them being a forever relationship. I really did, but I know she tried her best.’
Chrissy Teigen has publicly gushed about her friendships with both Meghan and Kim on different occasions. Pictured with John Legend in 2015
In 2021, Chrissy came to Meghan’s defense ahead of her tell-all interview alongside Prince Harry , claiming critics of the couple will cause the pregnant Meghan to lose her baby amid a rift with the Royal Family. Meghan pictured in 2020
‘I will say I have definitely been in touch with Kim more than John has been in touch with Kanye. If anyone knows Kanye, it’s that he goes off the grid and it’s hard to ever contact him.’
Chrissy and Meghan both also share histories as briefcase girls on Deal or No Deal.
In 2021, Chrissy came to Meghan’s defense ahead of her tell-all interview alongside Prince Harry, claiming critics of the couple will cause the pregnant Meghan to lose her baby amid a rift with the Royal Family.
‘This meghan markle s**t is hitting too close to home for me. these people won’t stop until she miscarries. f***ing stop it,’ Chrissy wrote in a tweet ahead of the Oprah interview.
Meghan was at the time pregnant with the couple’s second child, having earlier shared the painful story of a miscarriage she suffered in a New York Times op-ed.
In 2021, it was revealed that Chrissy had been keeping in touch with pal Kim amid her ongoing divorce from estranged husband, having been to the former couple’s wedding in 2014. Both couples pictured in 2015
Chrissy has also in past revealed that Meghan reached out to her after learning the model had tragically lost her baby son Jack halfway through her pregnancy.
Chrissy and her husband John Legend – who are parents to Luna, five, and Miles, two, lost their son Jack in September 2020 – he was stillborn.
Chrissy praised the Duchess of Sussex for being ‘wonderful and so kind’ by reaching out to her with a touching letter during the difficult time.
The model said on the Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen After Show: ‘She’s been so kind to me ever since we connected on, she had written to me about baby Jack and loss.
‘She is really wonderful and so kind, and just as kind as everyone says she is. She’s a really wonderful girl.’
HAIR DRESSER TWINS
Both Meghan and Kim are known for their beautifully styled tresses – so it’s no wonder that both stars have used the same hair dresser before.
Michael Silva has proudly shared the results of his work on both women on his Instagram, among other stars.
According to People World, Michael was behind Kim’s 2017 Met Gala look, and worked with Meghan’s tresses when she was still on the TV show Suits.
SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISM
Both women have been vocal in social justice activism. Meghan had been involved in charity work as the Duchess of Sussex and has, along with Harry, continued this after they became non-working royals.
Meghan has spoken up about issues regarding women’s rights, racial equality and conservation while Kim has done tireless work on campaigns around the treatment of incarcerated people.
Both women voiced their concerns following The Supreme Court’s overruling of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in a move that heavily restricted abortion rights for women across the US last summer .
Meghan shortly after revealed she is willing to go to Washington DC to join protests against the ruling and urged people to vote in the November midterms in another big step into US politics backed by her ‘feminist’ husband Prince Harry.
Meghan has spoken up about issues regarding women’s rights, racial equality and conservation while Kim has done tireless work on campaigns around the treatment of incarcerated people. Meghan pictured during a charity initiative in 2019
The Duchess of Sussex was seething over the Supreme Court’s decision and told activist Gloria Steinem, 88: ‘Well, Gloria, it seems as though you and I will be taking a trip to DC together soon’.
In an interview with Vogue, Meghan also urged men to be ‘more vocal’ with their anger at the repealing of Roe v Wade and revealed that Prince Harry’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision was ‘guttural’.
She said: ‘My husband and I talked about that a lot over the past few days. He’s a feminist too’ and in an intervention that will be widely perceived to be pro-Democrat, she said: ‘We have to channel that fear into action. We can start this November in the midterms. We have to vote, every time’.
Meanwhile, Kim voiced her fear over the political climate in a conversation with Interview magazine.
‘I’m studying civil procedure and criminal procedure right now, so just understanding the process of how Roe v. Wade got overturned—it’s fascinating and scary,’ she said.
‘Just seeing how far our country has progressed, to then see it regress—it’s really scary to think that gay marriage is in jeopardy.
If a court can decide what a woman does with her body, then it also puts having children through surrogacy, and things that I have been through, in jeopardy…’
HANGING WITH THE BECKHAMS
Both parties have famously been known to be pally with the Beckhams. However, it would seem that the Sussexes may no longer be as warm with the LA-based British couple, despite David and Victoria being invited to their wedding.
The spat between the celebrity couples seemingly dates back to 2018 – the year Meghan and Harry got married – with the row heightened when the Sussexes snubbed the Beckhams during their visit to Sydney in October that year.
The Duke of Sussex had invited footballer David to attend a competition for injured servicemen during the Invictus Games, but refused to interact with him at the event.
Royal biographer Tom Bower, writing for The Sun, recently claimed that Harry kept his distance from David because Meghan did not want competition in the media. He also alleges she did not like the footballer’s friendship with Prince William.
Mr Bower also alleged that the Duchess was frustrated that Spice Girl turned fashion designer Victoria was reluctant to supply her with free clothes and accessories from her label, despite the requests being against Palace rules.
Both parties have famously been known to be pally with the Beckhams. However, it would seem that the Sussexes may no longer be as warm with the LA-based British couple, despite David and Victoria being invited to their wedding. David and Victoria pictured at Harry and Meghan’s wedding
Support: Kim posed for photos with David and Victoria as she shared a series of photos from Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami star-studded debut match last month
The alleged details into the spat have made headlines as it was revealed that Harry and Meghan are planning to produce a Netflix movie in a bid to firm up their futures in Hollywood after a turbulent few months saw them part ways with music and podcast giant Spotify.
However, elsewhere, Kim appears to be very chummy with the Beckhams, holding hands and chatting with Victoria at a recent football game.
Kim posed for photos with the former Spice Girl and her husband as she shared a series of photos from Lionel Messi‘s Inter Miami star-studded debut match earlier this summer.
The reality star, 42, joined fashion designer Victoria, 49, and her daughter Harper, 12, at the sporting event for a girls night.
The game saw Messi seal a 2-1 win for Inter Miami – for which Victoria’s husband David is president and co-owner – against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup.
Uploading the images to Instagram on Friday, Kim captioned: ‘Legendary Inter Miami game !!!!’.
