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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Kyle O'Sullivan

Meghan Markle snubbed by 'ex-BFF' Jessica Mulroney in 'friends who stood by me' message

Meghan Markle and Jessica Mulroney were once so close they were practically inseparable - but it's a completely different situation now.

The former Suits actress and Canadian fashion stylist became friends while they were shooting in Toronto, and Jessica helped choose the wedding dress for Meghan's character Rachel.

They jetted around the world on girls trips, stayed at each other's houses and all three of Jessica's children had important roles at Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.

However, the cracks in their friendship started to show when Jessica was embroiled in a race row - and Meghan's name was brought up during the controversy.

Now it seems they really aren't close at all, as Jessica snubbed Meghan from an emotional Instagram post about her best friends.

Meghan Markle and Jessica Mulroney attend the Instagram Dinner in 2016 (WireImage)

On her birthday, Jessica paid tribute to the female friends who had "stood by her" in hard times.

Along with snaps and videos of her pals, she wrote: "I'm not a big birthday girl but this year I wanted to celebrate some of the women that have loved and stood by me unconditionally. I am so lucky to have so many smart girls in my life. And you too Ryan. I'm a lucky lady."

Multiple people in the comments section questioned "where's Meghan?", while others wished Jessica a happy birthday and praised her.

"I love hearing about woman who stick together no matter what," wrote one person.

Another added: "You find out who your real friends are when you go through something tough. Celebrate them!"

"You deserve these true friends...treasure them," said a third.

Meghan and Jessica's friendship had blossomed while she was working on Suits and the fashion designer was believed to be the Duchess of Sussex's 'unofficial maid of honour'.

It was reported that Jessica would be accompanying the royal couple on their first royal tour through Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand and she was also on the guest list at Meghan's baby shower in New York City in 2019.

But their relationship appeared to change when Jessica was called out by lifestyle blogger Sasha Exeter for displaying "textbook white privilege" within the fashion blogging community.

In an 11-minute Instagram video, Exeter said: "What happened next was a series of very problematic behaviour and antics that ultimately resulted in [Mulroney] sending me a threat in writing last Wednesday 3 June."

Jessica later issued a public apology, stating: "I want to say from my heart that every word of my apologies to Sasha over the course of the last two weeks privately, and again both publicly and privately today is true."

She appeared to make a reference to Meghan by adding: "As I told you privately, I have lived a very public and personal experience with my closest friend where race was front and centre.

"It was deeply educational. I learned a lot from that. I promise to continue to learn and listen on how I can use my privilege to elevate and support black voices."

Jessica was fired from TV gigs, lost her reality show and seemingly her friendship with Meghan - but she recently broke her silence.

Jessica and Meghan met in Toronto (mirror.co.uk)

A source told Page Six that Meghan was already starting to distance herself from the stylist as the Duchess was unimpressed with Jessica using their friendship to boost her career.

In June 2020, the Insider said: "The white privilege row has really given Meghan the excuse she was waiting for to cut Jess off for good.

"I don't know what the tipping point was, but Jess has been on the outs for some time.

"Their friendship is definitely not what it was. And really, how can you have such a close friendship when one person is basically making a career out of the friendship?"

Fans were convinced the pair hit another rough patch in June 2021 when Mulroney reposted a quote about losing close friends to her Instagram Story.

"Life changes. You lose love. You lose friends. You lose pieces of yourself that you never imagined would be gone," the passage read.

"And then, without even realizing it, those pieces come back. New love enters. Better friends come along. And a stronger, wiser you, is staring back in the mirror."

Jessica and Meghan are not as close as they once were (Instagram)

But in May that year, Meghan was left out of Jessica's Instagram post celebrating her 'best girlfriends', in a similar way to the latest snub.

Jessica also shared a cryptic post ahead of Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary airing, in which she did not appear but was believed to be on the phone to the Duchess of Sussex in a clip before the prince proposed.

She shared a post on the day of the release which read: "Best thing I ever did was learn how to move without the crowd."

Jessica has since kept quiet about her relationship with Meghan, but broke her silence as she shared a photo on Instagram from the couple's wedding.

The stylist shared the black and white snap of herself alongside Suits actress Abigail Spencer and other guests at the wedding reception.

Cryptically, Jessica did not leave a caption with the Instagram share and opted to turn the comments off.

Despite her close association with the couple, she is not mentioned at all in Harry's autobiography, Spare.

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