How Princess Beatrice has hidden friendship with Meghan Markle

Princess Beatrice's Meghan dilemma: Royal who is fiercely loyal to the Crown and her parents faces awkward choices after Fergie distanced herself - while sister Eugenie is BFFs with the Duchess

Published: 13:11, 18 March 2023 | Updated: 13:34, 18 March 2023

While Meghan Markle may have fallen out with Fergie and be besties with Eugenie, there is one royal in the York family who is definitively stuck in the middle.

Princess Beatrice, 34, is notoriously private and, unlike her younger sister or mother, has never offered comment on the romance between her cousin Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex.

The royal mother-of-one has plenty of mutual friends with the former actress, including joint-BFF Misha Nonoo - while the two women are also believed to have attended numerous showbiz parties and royal events together over the years.

But she's also incredibly close to Prince Andrew, who the Sussexes have publicly criticised. It's long been said she was 'devastated' by accusations by Virginia Giuffre that the Duke of York sexually assaulted her.

And she has also always been fiercely loyal to the late Queen, poignantly choosing to wear a gown from the royal for her wedding to Italian property developer Edo Mapelli Mozzi on July 17 2020 at Royal Lodge.

How the Sussexes open criticism of Prince Andrew, as well as their attacks on the royal family, have impacted Meghan's relationship with Beatrice remains unclear.

Meghan Markle may be good friends with Princess Eugenie - but she is also believed to have developed a close bond with notoriously private Princess Beatrice (pictured together at the Royal Ascot in June 2018)

While she didn't appear in the couple's bombshell Netflix documentary, she did give permission for the Duke and Duchess to film inside the Queen 's outsize Wendy house at Windsor Castle

Such is the closeness between the cousins that they are all part of a WhatsApp group where they exchange messages on upcoming events and family news.

And though it's believed Beatrice and Harry likely catchup through their group chat, very little is known about her relationship with Meghan.

While Beatrice has never offered comment on her relationship with Harry, neither have the Sussexes ever mentioned the 34-year-old.

It's not known when Beatrice and Meghan were first introduced, it seems likely they met before Harry met the Duchess.

In March 2021, Meghan revealed in her bombshell interview with Oprah that she knew Beatrice's sister Princess Eugenie, before she started dating Harry.

Mother-of-two Meghan said: 'Eugenie and I had known each other before I had known Harry, so that was comfortable.

'We're friends with them as a couple,' she added, referring to Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank.

However she made no reference to notoriously private Princess Beatrice - who tends to keep a lower public profile than her sister.

Eugenie and Meghan are said to have first knew of each other through their mutual friend, fashion designer Misha Nonoo - who is also a close friend of Beatrice.

The mother-of-one has known Misha for years, and attended her wedding to ex-husband Alexander Gilkes' in 2012 alongside her sister Princess Eugenie.

Prince Harry and Meghan took the opportunity to announce their pregnancy at Eugenie's wedding, something which royal reporters said left certain members of the York family furious

And Harry and Meghan haven't held back when it comes to criticism of Princess Beatrice's father Prince Andrew, with whom she enjoys a close bond

Meanwhile Misha also joined the royal to celebrate her birthday alongside a host of other stars, like Ellie Goulding and Karlie Kloss, in Jordan in 2018.

And Misha is far from the only mutual friend Beatrice has with Harry and Meghan.

They also have mutual friends in singer Ellie Goulding and Robbie Williams and Ayda Field, who were guests at Harry and Meghan's nuptials.

As Harry and Meghan's relationship grew more serious, the actress began joining the royal family, including Beatrice, at events including Christmas at Sandringham and the Queen's Birthday Party at the Royal Albert Hall.

And in 2018, Beatrice was beaming as she attended Meghan and Harry's wedding alongside her sister Eugenie and father Prince Andrew - before the Duchess began attending a whole host of royal events, including Trooping the Colour.

In October, Harry and Meghan were invited to Fergie's daughter Eugenie's wedding.

However Prince Harry and Meghan took the opportunity to announce their pregnancy at the event, something which royal reporters said left Beatrice's mother Fergie and sister Eugenie furious.

In their book Royals at War, investigative journalists Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett said: 'Meghan put her foot in it when she decided that it would be the ideal moment to announce that she and Harry were expecting their first child.

Beatrice has known Meghan's BFF Misha for years, and attended her wedding to ex-husband Alexander Gilkes' in 2012 alongside her sister Princess Eugenie (left, Misha and Beatrice in 2017; right, Misha and Meghan together in 2015)

Meanwhile Beatrice also appeared at a number of royal events with Meghan, including spending Christmas with her in December 2017

Princess Beatrice joined other members of her family to attend Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018

'This was a huge social gaffe, even if you were not a royal - stealing the limelight from Eugenie, who was furious, as was her mother, Sarah.'

It was not reported at the time whether Princess Beatrice shared their sentiment.

The next public appearance from Beatrice and the Sussexes came when they were all guests at Misha's lavish Rome wedding.

Meghan arrived in a GBP8,900 (£13,500) Valentino dress alongside Harry for the wedding of the fashion designer and her oil tycoon fiance, joining other star-studded guests including Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and James Corden.

However since Meghan and Harry announced their plans to step back from royal duty in March 2020, Beatrice appears to have had fewer interactions with the Duchess.

That year, Beatrice herself got married in a lowkey ceremony amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, but Meghan and Harry do not attend.

Meanwhile they've also rubbed shoulders at lavish events with showbiz friends, including Misha's second wedding in 2019

Meanwhile Harry and Meghan have missed a number of significant events in Princess Beatrice's life - including her wedding and her daughter's christening

It's likely the couple missed the family occasion due to the global lockdowns which were in force at the time.

And a year later, in May 2021, Beatrice announced she was pregnant on Harry and Meghan's wedding anniversary.

At the time, anonymous insiders told Page Six it was a 'dig' at the Sussexes, who said: 'They stole Eugenie's thunder on her big day, after all, and it appears that has not been forgotten.'

Another insider said: 'Beatrice and Eugenie do really like Harry and Meghan, but Beatrice must have known what the timing would look like, surely?'

Months later, Beatrice wasn't one of the 40 stars to be chosen to take part in the Duchess' 40th birthday video and 40x40 initiative.

In February 2022, the Duke of York's daughter held a private christening for her baby Sienna, which the couple also missed.

And while Princess Eugenie has been seen visiting California on a number of different occasions, her sister Beatrice appears not to have joined her.

It could be there is distance between the couple and Beatrice due to their public criticism of her father, Prince Andrew, with whom she enjoys a close relationship.

Harry was the first royal to publicly criticise Prince Andrew, 63, labelling the Jeffrey Epstein affair 'a shameful scandal'.

No one in 'The Firm' had spoken about claims the Duke of York twice sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked by Epstein.

Andrew settled her lawsuit last year, accepting no liability, and has always denied any wrongdoing.

On the other hand, Princess Beatrice has stepped further into the spotlight after Megxit, and has been incredibly loyal to the Crown.

She has been picking up additional responsibilities following Meghan and Harry's decision to step back.

Last year, royal authors said Princess Beatrice was stepping into the limelight to 'help her grandmother the Queen' following Prince Andrew's downfall.

Editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward told FEMAIL Beatrice 'wanted to help her grandmother as much as she can' after Prince Andrew was cast out of the monarchy over his civil sexual assault case.

Despite relations appearing to have cooled between Beatrice and the Sussexes, there was a subtle hint that the two women remain close in their bombshell Netflix series.

In the series, a photograph was shown showing Prince Harry and Meghan enjoying a cup of tea in the late Queen's Wendy House.

In 2010, HM passed custodianship of the house to her granddaughter Princess Beatrice, who oversaw a year-long renovation before inviting journalist Andrew Marr inside for his three-part BBC series The Diamond Queen in 2012, the first time television cameras had been allowed in.

The 34-year-old is one of the few royals still in contact with the Sussexes, and is understood to have given them the nod to bring cameras inside.

But it is unclear whether she was aware of the exact nature of what was being filmed.

One picture from the Netflix series, which appears to have been professionally taken, shows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex laughing as they sit on children's chairs drinking from a tea set.

Since then, it's unclear how relations have been. It remains unknown if Beatrice attended her attended their daughter Lilibet's recent christening in California.

So, how well do Meghan and Beatrice get along?

July 2012 - Beatrice attends wedding of Meghan's BFF Misha Nonoo

October 2016 - Harry invites Meghan to meet Beatrice's mother Fergie at Royal Lodge as a 'baby step' before meeting other royals.

It's unknown if Beatrice was there, but it appears likely given every other member of the York family was - Prince Andrew, Fergie and Eugenie with her then-boyfriend Jack.

Harry and Meghan claim Fergie taught the then-actress to curtsey to the Queen.

Harry claimed that after the Queen left, he and Meghan stayed for drinks.

December 2017 - Meghan joins the royal family at Sandringham, while Beatrice is also in attendance.

It marks their first appearance in public together.

April 2018 - Beatrice is among the royals who attend the Queen's Birthday Party at the Royal Albert Hall

May 2018 - Beatrice is invited to Meghan and Harry's wedding

June 2018 - Beatrice attends the Trooping the Colour alongside Meghan and Harry

Meanwhile the trio also attend the Royal Ascot alongside other members of the family.

October 2018 - Harry and Meghan are invited to Fergie's daughter Eugenie's wedding

The couple told family their pregnancy at the event, with reports afterwards stating Fergie and Eugenie were left 'furious' by the social faux pas.

September 2019 - Beatrice attends her friend Misha Nonoo's wedding, which Meghan is also in attendance

July 2020 - Beatrice gets married in a lowkey ceremony amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meghan and Harry do not attend

May 2021 - Beatrice announced she was pregnant on Harry and Meghan's wedding anniversary.

At the time, anonymous insiders told Page Six it was a 'dig' at the Sussexes, who said: 'They stole Eugenie's thunder on her big day, after all, and it appears that has not been forgotten.'

August 2021 - Beatrice wasn't one of the 40 stars to be chosen to take part in the Duchess' 40th birthday video and 40x40 initiative.

May 2022 - Beatrice christens her daughter Sienna, but Harry and Meghan do not attend

September 2022 - Harry and Meghan, and Beatrice, attend the Queen's funeral

November 2022 - Harry and Meghan share snap in their Netflix series from inside Beatrice's Wendy House - a hint of their close bond

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