21 People in Meghan Markle’s Inner Circle From A-List Stars to Childhood Friends

Earlier this year, Meghan made a rare public outing to the Italian restaurant Tre Lune on July 21 with Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who are seemingly now close pals.

Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and former CEO of Bumble, is also one of Markle’s “very close” friends, a source told Us Weekly. Herd and Markle, in addition to bonding over their ambitious careers, are also neighbors and moms of two kids.

Also according to Us Weekly, Markle is also friends with Jamie Kern Lima, the founder and CEO of IT Cosmetics. In 2016, she became a multi-millionaire when she sold her company to L’Oreal for $1.2 billion in cash, per Forbes.

Markle and Harry’s friendship with the CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Brian Robbins and fashion designer Tracy James are the latest to blossom.

In May, they were spotted on a double date with the couple at Lucky’s, an upmarket steakhouse in Montecito, a day before the Sussex’s sixth wedding anniversary. Prior to that, the four of them attended the Bob Marley film premiere in Jamaica in January together.

Abigail Spencer first met Meghan Markle when they auditioned together for Suits, and have been inseparable ever since. “It was just something between us,” she said on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “Our friendship really developed during that time, and deepened. She’s an incredible person.”

In 2021, she also penned a touching tribute to the Duchess on Instagram. “I’ve learned so much from Meg,” she wrote in the caption. “The power of a handwritten note. The loveliness of surprise flowers. That she has a perpetual rolodex in her brain of recommendations for the heart, soul, & body. When I’m headed to a new town, there’s a hotel or dinner reservation at the ready, as well as a connection with one of her friends to show me around so I feel less alone.”

Kelly Mckee Zajfen, the founder of Alliance of Mom, is another one of Markle’s best friends.

“When we speak about the people in our lives who lift us up when you need it with undeniable force of pure love I think of these two,” Zajfen wrote on Instagram alongside pictures of herself, Markle and Spencer. “You inspire me. You pick me up when I need it and you Love Like A Mother! ❤️‍🩹”

And they were seen on the red carpet together for the 2024 Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) Gala.

As one of Prince Harry’s longtime friends, it’s no wonder that Nacho Figueras and his wife are in Meghan Markle’s inner circle too.

“I have known him for so long and he has always wanted someone to love and marry and have a family with, so it makes me so happy to see them happy and with two beautiful children,” Figueras told Hello! in 2022.

At the same time, Blaquier shared her appreciation for Markle on Instagram. “Getting to spend time together over these 2 months was so special,” she wrote to Markle. “I wish everyone [knew] you the way you are. My sister ❤️, my now fellow “pwife” (polo wife) -genius of you to come up with this 😂 – Can’t wait to see you again soon, to share thrill, hikes, and just more chill time.”

“You also have my respect,” she continued. “Keep walking, steady and strong. Listen to your heart, that will guide you well, bc you have a big one and it’s a beautiful one. I love you my darling ❤️.”

In one of the biggest gestures of friendship, Tyler Perry offered Markle, Harry and their son Archie to stay at his house when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. At the time, their temporary place in Canada was already hounded by paparazzi.

“They hid out at my house for a long time,” Perry told Kelly Ripa in the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast, per Vanity Fair. “It was so great.”

“We needed a house and he offered security as well,” Markle said of the time in her interview with Oprah. “So it gave us breathing room to try to figure out what we are going to do.”

“They were so happy,” Perry said. “It was such a beautiful moment.”

Over a year later, Perry became the godfather to the Sussexes’ second child, Lilibet.

David Foster and Katharine McPhee is another duo both Markle and Harry hold dear.

And while the foursome might be new, McPhee and Markle’s friendship goes all the way back to high school. “Meghan and I did musicals together as kids,” McPhee captioned a throwback photo of herself and Meghan in costumes on Instagram. “She grew up to be the Duchess of Sussex and I grew up to star on the West End, so same life if you ask me. #TBT.”

Over the years, McPhee and Foster have reached out for support and even helped when Markle and Harry were looking for a home after leaving the royal family.

“Katherine has become a trusted friend to Meghan,” a source told Us Weekly. “They weren’t exceptionally close as teenagers. Meghan was older. At a very vulnerable time leaving essentially the royal family, Katherine and David stepped in and were able to give them security and arranged for a lovely home for them to temporarily live in.”

Since then, they’ve been spotted on a few double dates around town.

Janina Gavankar has not only been a longtime friend of Markle’s, but she spoke out when Markle and Harry were criticized following their Oprah Winfrey interview.

“Though their ‘recollections may vary,’ ours don’t because we lived through it with them,” Gavankar told The Morning at the time, per Elle. “And there are many emails and texts to support that.”

Markle and fashion designer Misha Nonoo’s friendship dates back to 2014.

“We met at a lunch in Miami during Art Basel,” Nonoo told The New York Times. “And we sat down and we started, actually, right from the get-go, talking about a shared passion for equality, women’s empowerment and our love of dogs.”

In addition to attending Markle and Harry’s royal weddings, the Sussexes sat front row at Nonoo’s wedding in 2019, per Hello! 

Serena Williams and Markle are also longtime friends, first meeting in 2010.

Over the years, the two have not only supported each other but have publicly defended each other too.

“Meghan is a great person and I think the epitome of strength, the epitome of confidence, the epitome of just selflessness, and the epitome of everything is just her and everything that she’s gone through,” the tennis pro said in 2021 after the Oprah interview, per People. “And I know it’s not easy, and you can see from the interview that it wasn’t easy. But she had so much poise and she still had so much class.”

“We became such fast friends,” Markle admitted in the debut episode of her Archetypes podcast. Williams was the very first guest.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s friendship with the Sussexes started in the most unexpected of places: a dog shelter.

“You just looked at me and said, ‘Are you getting that dog? You have to take it home,’” Markle told DeGeneres in a 2021 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, per Washington Post. “And I said, ‘Well if Ellen says I have to take it home, I’m getting this dog.’”

Since then, the four of them have become great friends, with Markle and Harry even attending their vow renewal ceremony in 2023, per People.

Oprah Winfrey has not only given Markle and Harry her friendship over the years, attending their wedding back in 2018, but she also gave the couple a platform in her 2021 sit-down interview. In it, Markle and Harry opened up about everything they’d experienced in royal life, from Markle’s struggle with mental health to their complicated move to the U.S.

While Markle and Harry’s relationship with most royal members became strained after their exit, their connection with Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank has reportedly persevered through it all.

“Eugenie had always been more than just a cousin to Harry. They were also the closest of friends,” authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote in Finding Freedom, per People.

“Out of all the Queen’s grandchildren, Harry and Eugenie have one of the most natural connections,” the authors detailed. “Like Harry, Eugenie is loyal, honest, and great fun. The two had many nights out together in London. Harry had always confided in his cousin when it came to the women in his life. Not only did he trust her implicitly, but friends say that she gives great advice and has always been ‘beyond wise’ for her years.”

As for Eugenie’s relationship with Markle, the two reportedly got even closer when they both were expecting babies at the same time. “What is lovely is Eugenie having her baby as Harry and Meghan are having theirs,” a royal insider told People. “They are very close.”