Meghan might have won the British public over, but she's yet to find a single friend. Photo / AP
Meghan might have won the British public over, but she's yet to find a single friend. Photo / AP
Baby showers can be strange events. There are tiny sandwiches and tiny cakes and polite laughter and games, all of which totally belies the fact you are about to go through a bloody and extreme bodily transformation.
Meghan Markle is in New York right now celebrating hers. She is no doubt going to be heading back to Old Blighty with enormous suitcases full of Petit Bateau rompers and $687 cashmere blankies, perfect for a baby who will grow up having playdates with a future king — aka George, Prince Of Knee Socks.
Her celebrity pals have overnight our time descended on The Mark, which bills itself as the city's "most boldly lavish" hotel (and where a room will set you back aboutNZ$1,167 a night). Dozens and dozens of pale pink roses were seen being delivered to the hotel along with decorative trees (sure, that seems totally normal). The hotel's restaurant is run by two-Michelin starred famed chef Jean Georges, so it is safe to assume there will be no limp mini quiches and plastic cups of non-alcoholic punch here.
Joining her are her Suits co-star Abigail Spencer who was seen making a quick dash into the hotel, clearly regretting her decision to wear a beanie and padded coat to front a veritable wall of paparazzi.
The Duchess of Sussex arriving at her baby shower with Suits co-star Abigail Spencer. Photo / AP
I believe the technical term might be Nigel no (new) friends.
The trusted and beloved circle of women Meghan is surrounding herself with is the same coterie of girlfriends she had when she rolled up her yoga mat, shuttered her lifestyle blog The Tig and moved into Kensington Palace.
They are the same gaggle of former co-stars, B-listers, and stylists who got the smattering of invitations to her wedding that didn't go to people with names like the Honourable Arabella Minter-Calthorpe-Forbisher or Bunter Rothschild.
And while in the months since becoming a fully-fledged HRH Meghan has learnt the finer points of the perfect curtsy and how to avoid Princess Michael of Kent in the Palace parking lot, in all that time, she has not added one British pal to her inner circle.
Meghan might have won the hearts of the Union Jack-waving hordes, Prince Charles and the Queen's dogs, but she has yet to forge any close bonds with people who aren't descendants of Queen Victoria or have four legs.
For a woman whose warmth is evident every time she comes within hugging distance of a child or rescue dog, it is curious she has not found a single new person to join her entourage.
Meghan's mates are the same as when she met Harry, including her former stylist Jessica Mulroney. Photo / Getty Images
She hasn't become pal-y with any of Harry's aristo mates (though being pregnant and not able to skull pints or do shots of Jagermeister might hinder developing these particular relationships).
Nor has she built a close bond with one of the few people on the planet who understand the ferocious scrutiny and need for fascinators she now faces — her sister-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge. Again, to be fair, they are very different people, one of whom built a $7 million fortune through her hard work and the other who had two-part time jobs in nine years and is working assiduously to bring the Alice band back.
Meghan has created a lovely new life for herself in London: There's the royal husband and the baby on the way, along with the $5.4 million renovation of a delightful 10-bedroom "cottage" that is in spitting distance of Soho Farmhouse and the Queen's Windsor weekender.
Lindsay Roth, another old friend of Meghan's, was believed to be in attendance. Photo / Instagram
There are only so many times you can get your US-based pals to pop on a flight across the Atlantic and keep them tucked away in one of your impeccably-arranged spare bedrooms for a few days of herbal tea and fireside catch-ups.
Sure, these women might only be a WhatsApp group chat away, but that is not the same as having pals in the same country as you — people you can trust to help you find the perfect non-gender-specific paint swatch for your baby's bedroom.
Everyone needs friends they know will jump in an Uber when you need a hug or someone to listen to you and force feed you macarons to cheer you up before you have to spend three weeks ensconced in a Scottish castle with no heating.
That she hasn't built any close friendships in London makes me feel quite sad.
True, it might be hard to find people to trust given her exalted position, but the rest of the Windsor clan have a largely, G & T-swilling gaggle of friends. Surely, there must be one or two among them Meghan could become mates with, people who would be happy to let her bang on about the power of reiki or want her recipe for smashed avo on toast.
This year holds so much for Megs: a bubba and her own British mansion, but wouldn't it be lovely if she also made a friend or two?
