Behind the scenes of Meghan Markle’s friendship with Jessica Mulroney – and her ‘long list of strategic besties’, according to royal author

Meghan Markle is no stranger to criticism, especially when it comes to accusations that she uses friendships and connections to get what she wants.

Her wedding was packed with A-listers, including George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams and David Beckham.

But the celebrity who arguably had the biggest fall from grace was chief bridesmaid Jessica Mulroney, whose children also featured in the wedding. 

Royal biographer Tina Brown wrote in her book, The Palace Papers, that the now-Duchess and stylist met while Meghan was filming Suits in Toronto in 2011.

‘For an aspiring cosmopolite like Meghan, the city’s ambience provided a heady cultural and social accelerant.

‘Within a couple of years, she was hobnobbing with the son of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, TV host Ben Mulroney and his style-queen wife, Jessica.

‘Meghan has always been astute in flattering fashionable and famous women and absorbing their networks.

‘There’s a long list of strategic besties – Misha Nonoo, the internationally connected British-Bahraini fashion designer; Serena Williams, whom she love-bombed at a 2010 Super Bowl party in Miami; actress Priyanka Chopra, co-opted at a 2016 Elle Women in Television dinner; and, soon to come, her ultimate ace-in-the-hole, Oprah Winfrey. 

Jessica Mulroney and Meghan Markle are pictured at the Instagram Dinner held at the MARS Discovery District on May 31, 2016, in Toronto, Canada

Pictured: Kate Middleton, Jessica Mulroney and bridesmaids, including Princess Charlotte and Ivy Mulroney, arrive for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19, 2018

Royal biographer Tina Brown wrote in her book, The Palace Papers, that the now-Duchess and stylist met while Meghan was filming Suits in Toronto in 2011

‘Jessica Mulroney – a buzzed-up Toronto tastemaker – was Meghan’s thirty-something role model in style and new BFF.’

The stylist married Ben, a wealthy TV host and son of the former Prime Minister of Canada, on October 30, 2008. They are reported to have separated in July this year.

Married for 16 years, Jessica and Ben were a ‘power couple’ in Toronto, a status fuelled by Jessica posting glossy scenes of domestic perfection featuring her handsome husband, their sons, now 14, and daughter, 12. 

Brown wrote: ‘As a fashion-stylist-cum-marketer, Jessica marked everything in her world with a hashtag.

‘Her own three-day nuptials were covered on Canadian television news, her parenting became a partnership with Pampers and her trips to the gym a promotional opportunity for Adidas. 

‘It could not have escaped Meghan’s notice that a crucial factor in Jessica’s commercial leverage was her famous husband.’

According to royal correspondent Kate Nicholl, Meghan and Jessica met through a yoga and pilates class.

‘Meghan really looks up to Jessica. She thinks she’s a talented person, a wonderful mother, and a great best friend,’ she said in 2018.

Brown wrote: ‘Physically, Jessica Mulroney could have been Meghan’s sister and was just as tireless. 

‘She had turned her private life into a permanent destination wedding, posting a ceaseless flow of images about her glossy existence.’

With Jessica at her side, Meghan turned from a jobbing LA actress to a more sophisticated figure. 

They even took a ‘girl squad’ trip to Europe together in 2015, which Jessica called a #fakehoneymoon, adding ‘Happy wife, happy life’ to images she posted accompanying the trip.

It was towards the end of that holiday that Meghan had her first date with Prince Harry. And when news of the royal romance broke in 2016, Jessica helped Meghan get to London, secretly, to be with him.

In the book Finding Freedom, author Omid Scobie says Jessica arranged for Meghan to use the private jet of the Canadian real-estate power couple Krystal Koo and Michael Cooper: ‘Long-time friends of Jessica’s, the couple… were more than happy to help.’

As time went on, Jessica became intimately involved in Meghan’s romance with Harry. 

As revealed in the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, Meghan was FaceTiming her when Harry was about to propose. The programme showed Meghan squeaking: ‘Oh my God, Jess, it’s happening.’

Jessica helped style Meghan for her engagement photocall and later travelled with her on her first Royal tour to Australia, again as a stylist but also as a best friend and sounding board.

But this friendship is thought to have come crashing down in 2020.

Jessica became caught up in a ‘white-privilege’ scandal where she was axed from TV gigs following her racially charged spat with lifestyle blogger Sasha Exeter. 

She issued an apology at the time, while her then-husband Ben quit his job as a television presenter to help her with the rampant online and professional backlash, which led to a very public souring of her friendship with Meghan.

For her part, Jessica no longer follows Meghan or her brands on Instagram. 

Pictured: A graphic showing the rise and fall of Meghan Markle and Jessica Mulroney’s friendship

Most recently, it has been reported that Jessica could release an explosive tell-all book, with insiders claiming details of the breakdown of her friendship with the Duchess of Sussex could feature.

Well-connected gossip columnist Shinan Govani told the Mail: ‘The Jessica Mulroney relationship was key in that it opened up Meghan’s world.

‘It’s what connected her to people like [the then Canadian premier] Justin Trudeau and Sophie, and also to Markus Anderson, the global membership director of Soho House.’ 

One well-placed source said Jessica traces her current unhappiness back not to her bruising online scandal – but to that glorious day in 2018 when she watched her then best friend walk down the aisle of St George’s Chapel in Windsor. 

So much so that now, rather than looking back on her brush with history with pride, a perfectly placed source reveals: ‘Jessica says now that she somewhat regrets becoming friends with Meghan.

‘While she enjoyed all the exposure it brought her at the time, that same exposure is what caused her social media rift to blow up in the way it did and led to the end of her friendship with Meghan and her marriage.’

The source added: ‘If she could go back, a part of her wishes she was never part of that wedding.

‘She really did consider Meghan family. But now she sees that whole time as a “dark cloud”’.