She was Meghan Markle’s staunchest defender, closest confidant and ‘keeper of secrets’ – including when she began secretly dating a British prince.
Jessica Mulroney was also the first friend the Duchess of Sussex called from the grounds of Kensington Palace when Harry proposed.
Her twin sons John and Brian, then seven, even had the honour of carrying Meghan’s train of her dress down the aisle at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, while her daughter Ivy, then two, was a bridesmaid at the royal wedding alongside Princess Charlotte.
But seven years on Jessica has been cut adrift by her former best friend – and was effectively cancelled – after giving her views on Black Lives Matter.
Over the past week rumours surfaced in the US that Ms Mulroney may be planning a tell-all book about her former best friend, with an advance of more than $1million apparently being dangled by publishers.
‘She was upset their friendship ended. Jessica knows where the bodies are buried. Meghan will be worried’, a insider told the Daily Mail today.
Jessica Mulroney and Meghan Markle in 2016. They were best friends but are no longer close after an online spat in 2020
Jessica at Meghan’s wedding in 2018, with her daughter Ivy and the now Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte
But it can be revealed that Meghan can rest easy, because Ms Mulroney herself has insisted she would ‘never’ spill the beans on their friendship.
‘Absolutely not’, she told the Daily Mail when asked if an autobiography was in the works.
Despite the clear denial, a source close to her insists that even if she refuses to speak about it publicly, Jessica does have an axe to grind with the Duchess of Sussex.
An online race row where she was accused of having ‘white privilege’ left her ‘toxic’ on the Toronto social scene.
Afterwards TV work dried up and she even stepped down from the charity she set up to support homeless women across Canada, the US and the UK, a decision that would have caused her huge grief.
Meghan, it is said, cut off contact with her at the same time.
‘She [Jessica] was once Meghan’s closest confidant and keeper of her secrets. She knows everything’, the Daily Mail’s source said.
Jessica met Meghan when she was filming legal drama Suits in Toronto and the stylist went on to attend her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018 having helped keep their dates in Canada and London secret in the summer of 2016.
In her 2022 Netflix documentary, Meghan shared footage of the night Prince Harry proposed in 2017 – where she FaceTimed her friend ‘Jess’ as she walked the grounds of Kensington Palace.
Before she married Prince Harry, the then actress would often gush about Jessica online – with the pair often going on holidays together.
The Duchess said that ‘the room stops’ whenever her friend ‘shows up at an event’.
Jessica Mulroney split from her husband after 16 years of marriage, according to sources (pictured together, with their three children)
In recent months, Jessica has been seen without her wedding ring on her Instagram account and a source then confirmed she and her husband had split
Such was their close friendship the Canadian fashion stylist allegedly tried to ‘influence’ an interview that former Meghan adviser Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne had granted the Mail on Sunday.
The claim was part of the newspaper’s legal case that the duchess was well-versed in the art of attempting to manipulate what was written about her.
Meghan had sued the MoS after her father allowed parts of a letter she wrote to him to be published. But the paper claimed Thomas Markle only did so after Meghan had colluded in an article with People magazine.
According to defence papers filed at the High Court on behalf of The Mail on Sunday, the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father only decided to release extracts of the letter to the Press after she had allowed her friends to talk about it first.
Meghan won the case but rumours lingered that Jessica was one of the five friends, described as ‘women and young mothers’ but whose identities were kept secret, who ‘orchestrated’ the People article defending Prince Harry’s wife.
Despite their close relationship, insiders claimed that the Duchess had permanently cut ties with Jessica in 2020, after she became embroiled in a ‘feud’ with influencer Sasha Exeter.
It may have been the final straw for the Duchess, as an insider told Page Six that the duo’s relationship was already on the rocks because Meghan felt Jessica was trying to ‘make a career out of the friendship’.
‘The white privilege row has really given Meghan the excuse she was waiting for to cut Jess off for good,’ the source said. ‘I don’t know what the tipping point was, but Jess has been on the outs for some time.’
Ever since then Meghan has kept a distance from her former friend. There was also no mention of her in Harry’s book Spare.
Jessica was also not invited to take part in the Duchess’s most recent project – With Love, Meghan, when others in her social circle were.
Meghan – who herself has been curating a social media presence since January as she launched her As Ever brand and promoted her Netflix show With Love, Meghan -hasn’t been seen in public with Jessica in five years.
They do not follow each other on social media either.
Jessica has stayed completely silent about Meghan since Megxit and people in the publishing world are circling.
One told the Mirror: ‘Jessica’s explosive story is the one publishers want to get their hands on. She could command up to a seven-figure dollar sum depending on what she is prepared to say.
‘There’s huge interest in Jessica’s perspective and her time in the royal spotlight when friends with Meghan. People would rush to buy Jessica’s book to know what really happened between them. Hers is the real story royal watchers want to read and are asking for.’
The breakdown in their relationship appears to be related to Jessica’s online spat with an online personality over Black Lives Matter.
The clash, which occurred in the wake of the death of George Floyd, saw Jessica ‘take offence’ to a ‘generic call to action’ post Sasha Exeter had shared about the movement.
According to Sasha, she and Jessica then argued about the importance of ‘speaking up’.
Sasha said she felt Jessica ‘threatened’ her during the argument, claiming the mother-of-three had written to her: ‘I have also spoken to companies and people about the way you have treated me unfairly. You think your voice matters. Well it only matters if you express it with kindness and without shaming people who are simply trying to learn. Good luck.’
In a follow-up video, Sasha, also from Toronto, said: ‘What happened next was a series of very problematic behaviour and antics.
‘I’m by no means calling Jess a racist but what I will say is this: She is very well aware of her wealth, perceived power and privilege because of the colour of her skin and that, my friends, gave her the momentary confidence to come for my livelihood in writing. Textbook white privilege really, in my personal opinion.’
In a comment posted on the video clip, Jessica said she was ‘unequivocally sorry’, writing: ‘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.’
Shortly after posting the clip about Jessica, Sasha claimed she had been targeted by trolls who were sending her death threats.
Sharing an video to her Instagram stories in her dressing gown, Sasha said: ‘I’ve been up since 4am responding to trolls.
‘I was totally prepared to be bullied and I knew I was opening myself up to being criticized by people who don’t really understand why I did what I did, but let me make clear that any threats to my personal safety will not be tolerated.’
Jessica issued further public apologies but was dropped by a number of television networks, including Good Morning America.
In Canada her wedding-themed reality TV show I Do Redo was pulled.
In September 2020, Jessica addressed the rumours of a rift between her and the Duchess on social media.
She wrote on her Instagram Stories: ‘I’m going to tell this once and for all. Meghan and I are family.
‘She is the kindest friend and has checked up on me everyday.’
Six months later, Jessica shared a photo of the flowers she received from Meghan on her 41st birthday, on which she wrote: ‘LUCKIEST FRIEND XXXX, THX MM.’
The following year however, it became increasingly evident that their friendship had soured.
In June 2021, the mother-of-three posted a cryptic quote on her Instagram Story, which read: ‘Life changes. You lose love. You lose friends. You lose pieces of yourself that you never imagined would be gone.
Two months later, she told her followers: ‘It can be lonely having the world, friends distance from you and not even ask how you are. But, thankfully, you find the things that truly matter…’
The following year, Jessica posted a picture of a sign reading: ‘You are not too sensitive. You are not overreacting. If it hurts you it hurts you.’
She captioned the post: ‘I wish I had a seen this a long time ago. I hope it makes a difference in your day too.’
It couldn’t have been further from the heyday of their friendship – as Jessica was once on FaceTime to her best friend as Prince Harry popped the question and stole the show on the big day as she posed on the steps of St George’s Chapel alongside Kate Middleton.
Jessica’s relationship with Meghan Markle also seems to have cooled off in recent years. Pictured with Ben and Meghan in 2016
It has been a tumultuous few years for Ms Mulroney.
She is said to have split with her husband Ben after 16 years over the summer.
The couple have three children – twins Brian and John, 14, and daughter Ivy, 12.
On Instagram, Jessica, 45, has been pictured without her wedding ring and is said to have broken the news to friends while attending a wedding – notably without her husband, 49.
A source told PageSix: ‘They’re split. Jessica seemed sad, but also relieved to have some clarity.’
Ben is the eldest son of Brian Mulroney, the former Prime Minister of Canada. He is himself a TV presenter and radio host, with a career at Canadian network CTV spanning 20 years.
He also hosted Canadian Idol from 2003 to 2008 and Canadian national show Your Morning.
In November last year, in one of their final posts together, Jessica admitted they had ‘forgotten’ their anniversary.
The couple met when they were 17 and 14, when Jessica went to a nearby school to his brother. Ben told PostCity previously: ‘I had never seen a more beautiful girl.’
Their first date wasn’t until years later, when Ben visited Montreal on a break from Canadian Idol and they went for sushi and karaoke, with Ben belting out Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York.
‘I knew about halfway through the date that we would eventually get married,’ Ben said.
They married in 2008 in St. Patrick’s Basilica in Montreal, honeymooning in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
In 2018, the couple attended Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
But a friend said in July that they had been estranged ‘for some time’.
