Inside Meghan Markle’s 2021 inner circle: Priyanka Chopra, Adele and even Princess Eugenie make the Duchess of Sussex’s ‘friends list’, but why not Oprah Winfrey and Jessica Mulroney?
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, reached a milestone this week when she celebrated her 40th birthday on Wednesday, August 4. And while we’re not aware of any lavish A-list celebrations in Hollywood, Meg marked the occasion with a video asking her celebrity friends to help women get back to work as pandemic lockdowns ease.
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“Because I’m turning 40, I’m asking 40 friends to donate 40 minutes of their time to help mentor a woman who is mobilising back into the workforce,” says the duchess.
The list of 40 “friends” includes everyone from A-list actress Gabrielle Union, to spiritual icon Deepak Chopra.
Most interestingly, the list revealed a lot about Markle’s actual inner friendship circle. While some of the usual suspects like Priyanka Chopra made the list, newcomers like Adele were confirmed while controversial names like Jessica Mulroney were left off.
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Here are the close friends Markle kept on speed dial to recruit for her new birthday project …
Priyanka Chopra
Chopra announced the initiative on Instagram, saying that, “For her 40th birthday this year, in true Meg fashion, she’s chosen to put the welfare of others first.”
Chopra even made headlines last month when she appeared to ignore her bestie’s “royal rivals” Prince William and Kate Middleton’s arrival to the Royal Box at Wimbledon, and again afterwards on a private balcony.
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Misha Nonoo
Nonoo and Markle had both their children within months of each other, and Nonoo has spoken of how motherhood has brought them even closer together.
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Adele
Judging by her unexpected inclusion on Markle’s birthday list, we bet they’re spending time together outside of those workout sessions too. Iconic!
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Princess Eugenie
The princess showed off just how close she is to her cousin Harry’s wife when she shared a special birthday message to “dear Meghan” on Instagram.
In fact, Eugenie and Markle go way back to when they met through mutual friends, even before the former actress met Harry.
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Edward Enninful
Edward Enninful is editor-in-chief of British Vogue and got to know Markle when they worked closely on the famous September 2019 issue.
He describes Markle as a “friend” and calls her a “very brave woman” in interviews.
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Daniel Martin
Make-up artist Martin has known Markle for over a decade, having met her while she worked on TV series Suits, and has remained in contact with her throughout her time as a royal.
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Noticeably absent were …
Jessica Mulroney
Not only was Mulroney not included on Markle’s birthday list, she also made no mention of Markle’s birthday on her social media channels either.
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Oprah Winfrey
The TV and media mogul did yoga with Markle’s mother and even attended the royal wedding, so we’re pretty sure she would have had 40 minutes to spare for Markle’s cause. We can only speculate as to why she was left off.
- During a jokey video call with Melissa McCarthy, Meghan announced a new initiative with 40 of her friends for her 40th birthday – but not everyone made the cut
- Among the 40 friends helping out is new California neighbour Adele, British Vogue editor Edward Enninful and Gabrielle Union, but where was Oprah Winfrey?