Red Flags In Meghan Markle & Prince Harry's Friendships We Can't Ignore

Ever since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's abrupt exit from the U.K., and the British royal family, rumors of the celebrity couple losing some of their closest friends have consistently swirled. There have been whispers that some of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's formerly close acquaintances no longer want to be associated with them after all the bombshells Meghan and Harry dropped about their time as working royals, which put the monarchy in a very bad light indeed. It's no secret that famous talk show host Oprah Winfrey has been one of the couple's closest friends and biggest defenders — she even attended their wedding — but amid rumors that Winfrey is trying to distance herself from the Sussexes, Meghan was spotted mingling with her and Kerry Washington at the Paley Honors Fall Gala, and, of course, Tyler Perry, who was being honored at the event. 

However, Harry wasn't present, instead attending the DealBook Summit. Whether there was more to the prince's decision to skip the prestigious event is not clear. Rumors are also rife that he and Meghan don't exactly have the same taste in friends which, when you're married, is not ideal. The Duke of Sussex has reportedly lost many of his oldest friends since getting married with his school friend, Tom "Skippy" Inskip, among them. 

Things reportedly turned sour between the two after Inskip voiced concerns about how fast the Sussexes' relationship was progressing. Likewise Dominic West, who plays King Charles III in "The Crown," admitted that Harry was upset about something he said in an interview, viewing it as a breach of trust. There are plenty of glaring red flags that suggest the royal couple isn't doing so well when it comes to keeping (or forging new) friendships.

When Meghan Markle launched her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, she sent a gourmet jam to several high-profile celebrities, who promptly posted the product to their social media accounts to help the duchess promote it. Royal pundits, however, argued that the informal marketing campaign only served to showcase how few friends Meghan actually has left. "It's unclear whether some of her previously close public friends, like Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and the Clooneys, received one of the 50 jars — and if they did, none of them chose to share publicly," PR expert Ronn Torossian pointed out to Express. "Either situation, the lack of public support or the lack of gifting, would speak to the cooling of these relationships and the shrinking of her Hollywood circle."

Others didn't think much of the duchess' supposedly close friends choosing not to post pictures of their jars of jam and instead proclaimed that Meghan had employed a brilliant marketing strategy to soft launch the product. "The idea that she's only sent it to 50 people shows that the stock is limited and creates a demand too and interest," fellow PR expert Nick Ede asserted to the Daily Mail, adding, "It's also highlighting the brand rather than Meghan, which will be her strategy." Regardless, there's no doubt that it raised a lot of questions about Meghan's inner circle of friends and — more specifically — how small it appears to have got since she spectacularly left the royal fold.

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle didn't show up to Oprah Winfrey's 2023 birthday bash, their absence made headlines, with many suspecting there was more to the glaring royal-shaped hole at the party than met the eye. With King Charles III's coronation looming and the royal rift between the Sussexes and Buckingham Palace as wide as it had ever been, Winfrey was asked during an interview whether she would advise the couple to attend the historic ceremony or not. The legendary talk show host didn't seem terribly interested in discussing the matter, replying simply, "I think they should do what they feel is best for them and their family [...] They haven't asked me [for] my opinion," per Express. 

Was that a little bit of subtle shade? Winfrey's party, which took place in January, just a few months before the coronation, was attended by the likes of Jenifer Lopez, Sharon Stone, and even the Kardashians, which made Harry and Meghan's absence all the more peculiar. It's worth noting, however, that it was never confirmed whether their invitation got lost in the mail or whether the royal couple simply had other obligations on the day.

Rumor has it that celebs want to steer clear of the royal defectors because they showed themselves to be untrustworthy when they revealed the monarchy's dirty secrets. There's speculation Winfrey didn't want any intimate details of her party leaked to the press and therefore withheld an invitation. Additionally, rumors have been flying that the talk show host was but a pawn in the Sussexes' public campaign to give the royal family the finger.

Whether The Firm mistreated Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the ways they have documented or not, several A-list celebs are reportedly appalled that the couple would publicly attack their own family regardless. This could be the reason Former President Barack Obama didn't invite the Sussexes to his 60th birthday celebrations, for instance, with an insider informing The Spectator, "The Sussexes equal drama. Everybody over here is starting to realize that they never intended on having a quiet life." Harry's once close friendship with David and Victoria Beckham has also cooled considerably since he and his wife stepped down from their positions as senior working royals. 

Things reportedly went sideways when the former "Suits" star accused the Beckhams of leaking private information about herself and Harry to the press. The prince confronted David directly, and whatever ensued irrevocably damaged their relationship. Royal expert Ingrid Seward suggested that Meghan was likely also upset that Victoria planned to release a Netflix show, "The House of VB," while the duchess is yet to release any of  her own long-gestating projects with the streaming service. "I'm sure [Meghan] would have been furious because she likes to be in control," Seward told Fabulous (via The Irish Sun). "I think she'd be annoyed that Victoria had pipped her to the post."

A glaring red flag that's prominent in some of Meghan Markle's oldest friendships is her apparent ability to move on from those she once called her best friends without so much as a backwards glance. In fact, the Urban Dictionary even has a word for this behavior now: "Markled," which is defined as: "[abandoning] someone or something after they've contributed to your life in a meaningful way." Royal expert Ingrid Seward has spoken out about the former actor's alleged ghosting on multiple occasions, claiming that Meghan's former friends have had it with her ditching them left and right the moment she no longer needs them to further her own agenda. 

"I think that Meghan has managed to alienate a lot of her former friends," Seward detailed in an interview with The Sun. "She actually sort of just cuts them dead and ghosts them." The duchess' former friend, British socialite Lizzie Cundy, noted that she ditched her shortly after Prince Harry got down on one knee. "She's ghosted quite a lot of people, obviously, including her family, so I'm not the worst person she's ghosted," the socialite admitted to the Daily Mail. Moreover, Meghan's ex-BFF, Jessica Mulroney, whose kids served as page boys at her wedding, also appears to have been cast aside by the royal defector after she was embroiled in a racism scandal.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex might once have shared many friends, but it appears the celebrity couple has very different ideas about who they should be mingling with since they started their new lives in the U.S. Word on the street is that Prince Harry is starting to regret the strained relations between him and some of his oldest friends and would like to make amends. Meghan Markle, on the other hand, is against this course of action, instead wanting to befriend more influential people like Kamala Harris. A source dished to Closer magazine that Harry desperately wants to make up with David Beckham in an attempt to also mend his strained relationship with his brother, Prince William, with whom the footballer remains close. But, "As far as [Meghan's] concerned, it's beneath them to be begging the Beckhams for approval."

According to relationship expert Kate Mansfield, following the former actor's entry into The Firm, her old friendships simply couldn't keep up anymore. "People who value growth and personal development often grow out of friends and connections over the years, as they change to the point that they no longer have much in common with old friends," she explained to The Mirror. "This can be down to different values, lifestyle and interests — all of which profoundly and most certainly apply to Meghan's journey into becoming a royal." As for Harry, he reportedly longs to reconnect with his old mates, but whether that will be possible remains to be seen.