Meghan Markle has been accused of "ghosting" a former friend. Photo / Getty Images
Meghan Markle has been accused of "ghosting" a former friend. Photo / Getty Images
A British reality television star has claimed the Duchess of Sussex “abruptly” ended their friendship after news broke of her relationship with Prince Harry.
Millie Mackintosh, who starred on Made in Chelsea, said she met Markle around eight years ago when they both attended the opening of a hotel in Istanbul and “got on like a house on fire”.
She said they stayed in touch and that she went on to give Markle, then an actress of US legal drama Suits, “all of her contacts” when she moved to London. But she claimed she had been “ghosted” after Markle’s relationship with the Duke of Sussex became public knowledge.
Mackintosh said she had contacted the former actress when her romance was exposed.
Millie Mackintosh says of being ghosted by Meghan Markle: "We all know it hasn't just happened to me." Photo / Getty Images
“I messaged her and said, ‘’Hey I hope you’re OK, thinking of you,’’ and she just sent me this really abrupt message, that was really unlike any of our communications before,” she told the Mumlemmas podcast.
“It wasn’t like I’d messaged her asking if it was true - that was none of my business, I didn’t care - I was just like, ‘are you ok?’. What I read from that message was that she maybe needed a bit of space, she needed to cool off, she was angry, she was maybe under a lot of pressure.”
Didn’t message again
She added: “I didn’t message her again, but I did expect that we would stay in touch. I thought she’d message back and say, ‘Look, sorry everything is a bit stressful right now.’ She cut me dead. I never heard from her again. I felt like she’d basically told me to f--- off in that message. So I did. And we haven’t spoken since.”
Mackintosh was pictured alongside the Duchess the last time she saw her, during a girls’ weekend at Soho Farmhouse, Oxfordshire, in September 2016. She said a day of yoga had turned into a “really fun afternoon” involving rosé and margaritas in the pool.
At the time, Markle admitted a friend had introduced her to Prince Harry and that they were messaging. “I didn’t ask too much of it, didn’t really think too much of it,” Mackintosh said. But she texted her when their relationship was exposed the following month.
The former reality television star added: “My take on it is that, this is my instinct why it happened at the time, she thought right I’m gonna be royal now, I don’t need Millie in my life - what could I offer her at that point?
“She had met her prince. I was on a reality show, so she obv was like, ‘I can’t be associated with Made In Chelsea, I’m gonna be royal. I’ve got to cut her loose. I just wasn’t useful any more.’”
It has previously been alleged that Markle was “spooked” because she suspected Mackintosh was leaking details of their friendship to the media, which may have impacted her fledgling relationship with Prince Harry.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan and Prince Harry, leave Windsor Castle after their wedding in Windsor, England. Photo / Getty Images
Ditched
The former Made in Chelsea star is not the first person to claim they were ditched by the Duchess when she met Prince Harry. Others include her former agent, Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, school friend Ninaki Priddy, TV personality Lizzie Cundy and broadcaster Piers Morgan.
The Duchess has also cut off her own father and most of her extended family, including her half brother and half sister. Mackintosh said at the time it was “quite hurtful” she had been ditched.
She said they had got on really well and that because Markle did not know London very well she had given her “the best places to get your nails done, basically my little black book. I gave her all my contacts”.
The two women had bonded over their marital troubles, as the Made In Chelsea star was married to rapper Professor Green at the time, and Markle had previously split from her first husband, Trevor Engelson.
Actress Meghan Markle and her ex-husband Trevor Engelson. Photo / Getty Images
She added: “When we first met, I was married, going through a bit of a turbulent time, and I got divorced, and she was divorced so we had quite a lot to talk about. That was quite bonding, and we were both into our wellness, she had our blog, we were both just into the same things.
“We hung out a handful of times, we weren’t best friends, but whenever she was in town she’d let me know and we would just hang out.”
