Meghan Markle's 'ex-best friend' Jessica Mulroney now - from race row to job loss

has seen lots of people come and go from her life, but one person who seemed there to stay was her best friend . The duo met back when Meghan was an actress filming Suits in Toronto, .

Jess is a Canadian fashion stylist, and became fast friends with 's wife when she was working in the city - years before Meghan and Harry met. Their friendship continued even when Meghan joined the , with Jess' twin sons and younger daughter being bestowed with the honour of being part of the wedding party as page boys and a flower girl.

Soon after the royal wedding, Jessica was even invited to join the newlyweds on a royal tour of , Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand, and seemed closer than ever with both Meghan and Harry. Things changed when Jess found her name smeared during a race row, and opted to bring Meghan into the argument. Their relationship has been turbulent since then, but Jess has definitely lost her royal favour.

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Best pals

Meghan and Jessica's friendship blossomed while she was working on Suits, and the fashion designer even helped choose her character Rachel's wedding dress. They jetted off on many girls trips, with Jessica sharing a snap of them on one getaway and jokingly writing: "Happy wife happy life #fakehoneymoon. #MJxItaly"

When Harry and Meghan made their first public appearance as a couple at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September 2017, Jessica let them stay at her home.

Her family also had crucial roles at Meghan and Harry's wedding in 2018, as Jessica's seven-year-old twin sons were page boys who helped carry her dress. Jessica, who is married to Canadian producer and former TV host Ben Mulroney, was believed to be Meghan's 'unofficial maid of honour' and daughter Ivy was a bridesmaid.

"Proud friend. Proud mom," wrote Jessica alongside a photo of the big day on . She was also on the guest list at Meghan's baby shower in New York City in 2019, along with stars such as Amal Clooney, and helped to plan the big day alongside Serena Williams.

Race row

Cracks first started to appear in 2020, when Jessica was called out by lifestyle blogger Sasha Exeter for displaying "textbook white privilege" within the fashion blogging community. Sasha claimed Jessica "took offence" to her call for bloggers and social influencers to speak out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The social media star, a former athlete who now runs the SoSasha website, claimed Mulroney then sent her a message which seemingly threatened to destroy her career. "If you go to the press over this nonsense and threaten to go to your followers, I won't be afraid to go to brands and tell them what you are doing to me," Jessica said in a text message to Sasha.

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."

Distancing themselves

According to insiders close to the pair, Meghan was enraged that Jess thought to bring her into the argument with Sasha and quickly decided to cool off their friendship.

Speaking to in June 2020, a source said. "Meghan could not get over that Jessica brought up her relationship with Meghan when she commented about her 'closest friend' in the discourse with Sasha."

However, a source told 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?"

Extending the olive branch

Despite the drama, Jess showed support for Meghan in March 2021 after the duchess was accused of bullying former palace aides. "I don't know that anyone has ever had to deal with the pressure, the politics and the press like this woman," the wedding stylist wrote via Instagram, alongside a throwback snap of the pals. "In the face of it all, I have never seen her waver from kindness, empathy and love."

After the support, when Jessica celebrated her 41st birthday in March 2021, she shared a glimpse of flowers sent by Meghan. "LUCKIEST FRIEND XXXX, THX MM," the stylist wrote on her Instagram Story.

Unfortunately, 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 realising it, those pieces come back. New love enters. Better friends come along. And a stronger, wiser you, is staring back in the mirror." The quote seemed to come true, with Jess soon posting a photo of her 'best girlfriends' and leaving Meghan out of the group.

Netflix documentary

The series Harry & Meghan came out in 2022, and Jessica shared a cryptic post just hours before the documentary aired. On the day of the release, she wrote: "Best thing I ever did was learn how to move without the crowd."

Surprisingly, she did seem to make an off-camera appearance in the series. In the second episode, footage of a phone call between Meghan and a pal was shown, with Meghan filming the location where Harry popped the question as she said: "Oh my God Jess, it's happening. He told me not to peek."

It is thought that the Jess who was mentioned by Meghan in the docuseries is her former stylist pal. Following its release, Jessica appeared to avoid posting on social media for a while.

Public snub

Tellingly, Jessica has also chosen not to support Meghan's new Instagram page, which she launched at the start of 2025. The Canadian stylist does not appear amongst the 1.6million people following the Duchess of Sussex's Instagram, @meghan - which many see as confirmation that their once-close friendship has completely come to an end.

The nail in the coffin of their friendship happened last year, when Meghan and Harry returned to Canada for the One Year To Go event ahead of the 2025 Invictus Games. Meghan failed to meet up with her former pal Jessica, with the Sussexes preferring to spend time with Canadian crooner Michael Buble and his wife Luisana instead.

Jessica seemed to make a subtle attempt to bury the gauntlet, commenting on a post from Mindy Kaling. In the post, Mindy shared a snap of herself and Harry and jokingly claimed that she had no idea who he was. “Met my friend's husband at a work event. Seemed pretty cool. Said he wrote a book. Gonna go check it out!” The US Office star quipped.

Mindy had appeared on Meghan's new Netflix show With Love, Meghan, and Jess commented on the post with a simple love heart emoji. Many fans flocked to support her, and begged Meghan to feature her in the second season. “Please appear on Meg’s cooking show!! We wanna see you too!” one person wrote, as another added: “We can’t wait to see you on Meghan’s show."

Jess' downfall

Whether Meghan and Jessica will reunite again, Jess has definitely felt the strain of being on the outs with her royal connections. Much of her downfall came as the consequence of her actions towards Sasha. Despite issuing three public apologies and releasing all of her text messages and emails to Sasha, she was dropped by Good Morning America and the Canadian TV network CTV, where she hosted her wedding-themed reality TV show I Do Redo.

Meanwhile, the huge Canadian department store Hudson’s Bay announced that it had fired Mulroney as its fashion and bridal specialist.

Prior to the drama, Jess and her sisters-in-law Caroline, Katy, and Vanessa Mulroney had co-founded the charity The Shoebox Project for Shelters, aiming to assist homeless and at-risk women. However, Jess stepped down in 2020, following the controversy with Sasha Exeter, and has mainly been focused on her family since.