Many friends lost: Prince Harry and Meghan parted ways with many relatives over feud with William and Kate
Royal correspondent Katie Nicholl has shed light on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s reportedly dwindling circle of friends. During an appearance on Vanity Fair’s podcast, DYNASTY: The Royal Family’s Most Challenging Year, The New Royals author claimed that those close to the couple have been forced to “choose” between maintaining relationships with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, or with Prince William.
Katie explained: “I think there is a sense that, possibly, friends, close friends, society friends, celebrity friends have sort of had to make a little bit of a choice. I remember being told by someone at the Palace there was this sense that you had to put your stake in one camp or the other.
The broadcaster cited the wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, and Olivia Henson, which took place earlier this summer, as an example of the dilemma faced by mutual friends of both Harry and his older brother. Prince William took on the role of usher at the society wedding of the year, but Harry wasn’t in attendance, despite being “friends forever and a day” with the Duke.
Katie recalled: “I think if you look back to that recent society wedding of the Duke of Westminster, it was William who got the invite to that, and Harry was invited because they’ve been friends forever and a day, but he was basically asked to stand down from that wedding because it would have been very awkward to have had the two brothers at a society wedding like that, together.
So I think they probably have lost some friends in all of this.” Katie went on to admit she had been surprised by the fact that Meghan and Harry haven’t been spending time with their A-List celebrity neighbours in Montecito, California.
She continued: “Personally, I have to say I’ve been a little underwhelmed with the celebrities who they’ve been hanging out with.
“Don’t get me wrong – I love Kevin Costner – he’s fabulous, but I thought they’d be mingling far more with the A-List.
“I thought we’d see them out far more with Oprah [Winfrey], and Gwyneth [Paltrow], and that sort of crowd, and they haven’t been.”
Katie went on to suggest that Meghan and Harry’s apparent lack of famous friends could be due to the couple’s intentions of living a more private family life, after quitting their Senior Royal duties in 2020.
The Royal expert added: “Perhaps that is all part of them wanting to live a life that is a bit more below the radar; that doesn’t end up getting them papped, that doesn’t end up getting them in all the celebrity magazines, and actually, in Montecito, they’re able to do that.”
Katie then theorised that socialising with the stars could be happening behind closed doors in the couple’s mansion: “I’m sure there’s a whole plethora of VIP dinner parties that are taking place at theirs that we have no idea about.”
Recently, the Sussexes were surprisingly absent at Oprah Winfrey’s 69th birthday bash, after the couple developed a friendship with the star, which led to a bombshell interview about their experiences in the Royal Family back in 2021.
Meanwhile, George and Amal Clooney also seem to have distanced themselves from Harry and Meghan, instead opting to become ‘more linked to King Charles’, having attended a Prince’s Trust event in London last year.
A source disclosed at the time: “The Clooneys clearly want to be on good terms with the King and the Royal Family.
