How Harry and Meghan's friends can't resist the royals: When it comes to picking side, some A-list friends find it hard to stay loyal

Daily Mail​

6 hours ago

It's long been said that Meghan and Prince Harry have an unfortunate habit of 'Markling' those close to them - and have ditched several of their pals over the years.
But as George and Amal Clooney joined King Charles for a star-studded reception at Buckingham Palace last night, it highlighted how several of the Sussexes' friends have actually chosen the royal family over them.
The Clooneys were among the most famous non-royals to attend Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018 - and were said to have invited them to their house in Lake Como just weeks later.
Yesterday the actor and his humanitarian rights lawyer wife turned on the charm for the royals - seemingly choosing their side in the transatlantic rift between the Prince and the rest of his family.
In many ways, it seems that Harry and Meghan's move to the US has put more than just physical distance between them and some of their oldest friends.
Harry and William's old pals, including the Duke of Westminster, Thomas von Straubenzee and William van Cutsem have all remained close to the Prince of Wales - but seem to have parted ways with Harry.
And A-list pals who had once joined forces with the Sussexes, such as the Beckhams and Idris Elba, have now teamed up with the Royal Family for various projects.
Even Misha Nonoo, one of Meghan's oldest friends, was seen chatting to Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall at Royal Ascot last week in another display suggesting she's caught between both sides - while her friendship with the Duchess has gone suspiciously quiet.
George and Amal Clooney
George and Amal Clooney were among the two most famous non-royals to attend Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018 and were given prime seats in St George's Chapel.
After the marriage they were said to have become closer and Amal was even invited to Meghan's baby shower in New York in 2019.
The Clooneys hosted Harry and Meghan at least twice at their home in Sonning, Berkshire, according to the Sussexes' biography Finding Freedom.
The book also claimed that the Clooneys invited the Sussexes to Lake Como only weeks after their wedding, flying them out on their private jet.
A source said at the time: 'Meghan and Amal spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool and playing with the twins while George and Harry checked out George's motorbike collection.
'Harry took one of them out with one of his protection officers. George recently had an accident, so he wasn't back on his bike yet.'
Finding Freedom co-author Omid Scobie also told Good Morning America that Harry and Mr Clooney had bonded over a love of motorcycles and basketball.
Asked by the Daily Mail in 2019 how he knew the couple, Mr Clooney said: 'I've just known them. We live not too far from one another and we have dinners and stuff and we're friends with them for all the reasons that you're friends with anybody.
'They're just really nice, fun, kind people, they're a very loving couple, and they're going to be great parents.'
But when the Clooneys turned out in support of King Charles III at a Prince's Trust event in London in May 2023, it called into question which side they stand on.
The Prince's Trust - now known as The King's Trust - is the organisation created by King Charles, and his biggest charitable success.
'The Clooneys clearly want to be on good terms with the King and the Royal Family,' a source told the Daily Mail's Richard Eden at the time.
Yesterday, George and Amal turned on the charm as they joined King Charles at a star-studded reception at Buckingham Palace.
As they joined ambassadors and winners of The King's Trust Awards in London, it appeared George and Amal exuded warmth in their interactions with Charles, as Harry remains estranged from his family.
David and Victoria Beckham
The Beckhams were also among the Sussexes' exclusive wedding guest list when they tied the knot at St George's Chapel in Windsor in 2018.
Meghan is thought to have struck up a friendship with fashion designer Victoria in 2017 when she first moved to the UK and was living in Frogmore Cottage.
According to the Mail on Sunday, the couples bonded because Izzy May, David Beckham's communications director, was friends with Markus Anderson, chief membership officer for private social club Soho House, who helped arrange Meghan's secret dates with Harry.
The Beckhams also hosted Meghan in their six-bedroom house in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles before her marriage to Harry.
By the time that Meghan and Prince Harry became engaged, she and Victoria were said to have 'grown close' and would 'regularly text', according to royal biographer Tom Bower.
Meghan also gave the designer her seal of approval by selecting a cashmere knit for one of her engagement portraits with Harry.
When the royal couple moved to the US in 2022, David Beckham praised his 'amazing' friend Harry - but revealed he hadn't spoken to the Duke about his decision to step down as a senior royal and move to the US.
He said of Harry: 'We love him and he's an amazing person - and that's the most important thing - but I'm proud to see him growing up as an individual and being that person that every father wants to be.'
But in 2023, it was claimed the royal couple had a suspicion that the Beckhams leaked stories about Meghan's help from Victoria to the press - a claim the former Spice Girl denied and left David reportedly feeling 'absolutely bloody furious'.
A source close to the Beckhams told the Mail on Sunday: 'David and Victoria went to Meghan and Harry's wedding and were very supportive when Meghan arrived in the UK.'
Last month, David and Victoria were said to feel 'blindsided' after their eldest son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz 'struck up' a friendship with their ex-pals.
The Sussexes allegedly had Brooklyn and Nicola over for dinner at their mansion in Montecito, California where the women had a 'deep and meaningful' chat and shared a bond after being accused by critics of being 'homewreckers' and women who 'tear apart their husbands' families'.
Friends of David and Victoria reportedly told The Sun: 'David and Victoria were blindsided by the news — they didn't see it coming. Of course it's a bit weird for them as they used to socialise with Meghan and Harry, and now their boy is doing it.
'David has no problem with Harry and has always acted very graciously towards him, even after the fall-out with Victoria, and they still communicate occasionally.'
The Beckhams themselves have grown increasingly closer to the royal family in the UK.
The former footballer was finally named in the King's Birthday Honours List last month and is finally set to be awarded a knighthood.
Beckham was recently asked to represent the King's Foundation, an invitation he said made his mother cry.
He said in a recent interview: 'I always get emotional talking about anything that I do with our Royal Family. I was brought up in a household that adored and loved everything that came with the Royal Family.'
Asked about his involvement with the King's Foundation - an educational charity established in 1990 by King Charles - Beckham said his grandparents would be 'proud' of his involvement.
'Our King is an incredible man,' he gushed.
Beckham was also spotted in conversation with Charles and Queen Camilla at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show - and Charles and Camilla even revealed they'd sent him a birthday present.
Idris Elba
The lauded British actor is best known for his roles in Luther and The Wire - but Idris Elba is also a talented DJ and performed at Harry and Meghan's wedding, where he was also a guest.
The actor, who hails from Canning Town in East London, was spotted among the exclusive wedding guests at St George's Chapel in Windsor with his glamorous wife, Sabrina.
However, in the Sussexes' tell-all Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, the couple shared behind-the-scenes snaps of Idris behind the DJ decks.
In 2022, in an interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra, Idris revealed he played Still by rapper Dr Dre, which he joked 'went off' with the crowd.
The actor explained that 'it was Meghan's choice' to play the song, after taking to the decks for the royal occasion.
He has also revealed the Duchess busted the most impressive moves on the dancefloor, telling ET Canada: 'I think Meghan was the one that was really like letting it go.
'You know, she was real… She just had a lot of fun. It was her wedding. So she had the greatest time.'
However, despite being a friend to the Sussexes, Idris has maintained ties with King Charles despite the royal couple's rift with Harry's father and other family members.
When he was starting out in acting, the Prince's Trust supported him with a £1,500 grand which helped him train with the National Youth Music Theatre.
Speaking in a video for The Prince's Trust, he revealed the grant 'gave me my start in my career'.
He's now set to join King Charles in a new documentary with Netflix, believed to air in 2026.
Idris will accompany The King as he offers 'rare access and insights' into his support for the Trust - which he set up in 1976 with his modest naval pension to change the lives of disadvantaged young people - over the past five decades.
Katy Perry
The relationship between pop princess Katy Perry and the Duchess of Sussex has had its ups and downs over the years.
In 2023, the Sussexes were spotted at a Katy Perry concert in Santa Barbara, with the Duchess dressing to impress in a stunning black sequinned dress.
It was previously reported that Meghan held a 'grudge' against Katy over a critical comment the singer made about her wedding dress.
During a promotional tour in the US for American Idol in May 2018, Perry joked to Entertainment Tonight she 'would've done one more fitting' in relation to the dress at St George's Chapel.
A source told the Daily Star in August 2022: 'Meghan is keenly aware of a comment that Katy Perry made in 2018 about her wedding dress and is notorious for holding a grudge.
'While the comment wasn't meant to be hurtful, Meghan felt under siege at that time and was overwhelmed by arguments with staff, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Thomas Markle.'
However, this did not stop Harry making friends with actor Orlando Bloom, then Perry's fiancé (they are now reported to have split), after the family moved to Montecito.
Speaking on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast to discuss his mental health struggles, Harry admitted that he regularly texts his new friend.
In May 2023, Perry also travelled to the UK where she headlined King Charles's Coronation Concert alongside the likes of Lionel Richie and Take That.
She performed in front of 20,000 members of the public and invited guests at Windsor Castle including the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales - but notably, Prince Harry was not present.
The previous day Katy attended Westminster Abbey where she was one of the exclusive 2,200 guests at the King's Coronation.
Following the Coronation events, Katy took to Instagram to share a behind-the-scenes detail in her concert dress which suggested she's a fan of the monarch.
Inside the corset of the dazzling gold Vivienne Westwood gown, the words 'Katy Perry, Charles III, 2023' had been sewn into the material.
However, in February this year, Katy performed at the opening ceremony of Harry's Invictus Games - showing that once again, she's caught between both sides.
Misha Nonoo
Misha Nonoo is one of Meghan's oldest friends - and is even credited with helping to set her up with Prince Harry.
She was a guest at their wedding in 2018 and is the former wife of Harry's friend Alexander Gilkes.
Meghan first met Misha when she was filming the TV drama Suits in Toronto, and they became good friends – even going away on holiday together.
Meghan sat front row during Misha Nonoo's runway debut, a collection that emphasised the empowerment of women - a cause Meghan has long been passionate about.
Their friendship would grow stronger over the years, with Misha becoming a key figure in Meghan's inner circle.
In 2019, Meghan attended Misha and Mikey's wedding in Rome the following year, along with Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.
Misha, who worked with the Duchess on her Smart Works charity line, opened up to FEMAIL in 2020 about her friendship with the royal.
Reflecting on the experience of working together, Misha described Meghan as 'the ultimate professional' and very 'considerate' of the women the collection was helping.
'It was such an ideal, incredibly easy collaboration,' she said. 'It was, from start to finish, wonderful, thoughtful, considerate, as is she.'
But this week, as Misha took selfies with Princess Eugenie at Royal Ascot and was seen chatting with Zara Tindall, a question mark was raised over where her loyalties now lie.
Meghan has not mentioned her former best friend in a number of months and notably didn't give her brand a shout out when launching her ShopMy link earlier this year.
In 2020, Meghan sported her pal's £174 'husband' shirt to visit her patronages the National Theatre and Mayhew animal welfare charity, both in London, on 8 January - hours before she and Harry announced they were stepping down.
She has frequently used her status as a high-profile style icon to shine a light on Misha and her brand.
Meghan wore the 'husband' shirt in white for her first official outing with Prince Harry in September 2017 and chose to wear a skirt from the label when she launched her first solo charity endeavour, the Together cookbook, in September 2018.
She also enlisted Misha as one of her brand partners for the Smart Works charity clothing collection, which was unveiled in collaboration with John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Jigsaw, in September last year.
But the Duchess has had a busy few months after launching her own lifestyle brand As Ever, cooking show With Love, Meghan, and podcast series - and does not appear to have recently met up with Misha.
Duke of Westminster
Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, one of the UK's biggest landowners, is godfather to both Prince George and Prince Archie - and a close friend to both the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex.
A life-long friend for each of the brothers, he is thought to be the only pal both chose to mentor their children.
But Harry's transatlantic dash has seen him miss multiple friendship milestones, such as Hugh's 2024 wedding to Olivia Henson.
The billionaire aristocrat was reportedly keen to invite the Sussexes but mutually agreed with Harry that it would be better if they didn't attend so the occasion wouldn't be overshadowed by royal tensions.
The Daily Mail understands that the Duke, Hugh Grosvenor, was 'very conscious' of the tensions surrounding the wedding of Lady Tamara Grosvenor and Edward van Cutsem at Chester Cathedral in 2004 and did not want anything similar at his own.
'Hugh knows how sensitive wedding invitations can be,' a friend of the family told this newspaper.
Royal author Richard Fitzwilliams said that regardless of the true reason for the Duke's non-appearance, it was fresh evidence of the 'clearly awful' relationship between the brothers.
It's a far cry from Hugh's once-close relationship with the Montecito-based father-of-two, who was reportedly earmarked as Hugh's best man at one point prior to his exclusion from the society wedding.
In April, William was joined by the Duke as he watched Aston Villa take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
And to rub salt in the wound, it came just days after William enjoyed another boys' night out in Paris to watch Aston Villa with childhood friends Thomas von Straubenzee and William van Cutsem.
Thomas von Straubenzee and William van Cutsem
In April, football matches exposed another sore spot for Prince Harry and Meghan.
Pictured at the Parc des Princes, hugging young George and hollering in tandem with an excited William were Thomas von Straubenzee, 42, and William van Cutsem, 45 (nicknamed 'VC').
Both were boyhood friends with William and Harry and their families have remained closely entwined since, from high society events to charity partnerships, to godparent duties - and being ushers at each others' weddings.
But after the Duke of Sussex made a dramatic move to Montecito in 2020, and laid bare his grievances with the family in a tell-all memoir, Spare; his connections with old friends have suffered alongside the well-documented rift with his family.
Thomas is known as William's best friend and in the wake of Megxit, sources said the future King was leaning on his old pal for support while Harry turned to another Van Straubenzee brother, Charlie.
Meanwhile, Harry himself confirmed in his memoir Spare that he'd experienced a rift with some members of the van Cutsem family who didn't approve of his tell-all Oprah interview.
The van Straubenzees have often been described as being like a second family to William and Harry, and Claire and Alex - the boys' parents - provided a retreat for the royal brothers during the 'war of the Waleses' (Charles and Diana's very public, and painful divorce).
Thomas - often described as the Prince of Wales's best friend - is likely to have divided loyalties over the princes' rift.
He and the Duke were close to one another in the 2010s, and when Thomas was in 2012 mugged in Stockwell, south London - it was Harry he was on the phone to when his Nokia phone was snatched.
In 2015, he accompanied Harry and his brother Charlie to a rugby match.
However, there seem to be no public joint appearances of the duo since - while Thomas has been seen by William's side aplenty, both at the football and other gatherings, such as the Duke of Westminster's wedding.
In Spare, Prince Harry detailed how Thomas acted as William's real best man at his 2011 wedding to Kate, delivering the traditional speech with James Meade.
Thomas is also godfather to Princess Charlotte, and William is godfather to his daughter Mary, who Thomas has with his second wife Lucy Lanigan-O'Keeffe.
The van Cutsems are too very close to both brothers - with VC being Prince George's godfather.
As a chartered surveyor, he specialises in logistics, renew-able businesses and building storage facilities across Britain.
Edward Enninful
Present at the meeting of African business leaders at Chapel Barracks in October 2023 was Edward Enninful, the outgoing editor of British Vogue.
The editor was pictured shaking the King's hand as the pair appeared to share a joke, both laughing.
Edward also has strong ties with the King's charity and was made global ambassador for the Prince's Trust Group in 2021.
In 2023, he praised the King as 'charming', 'funny' and 'kind' as he penned the monarch's entry in 100 Most Influential People list that year.
He added that the British monarchy 'isn't perfect' but that King Charles had the ability to 'evolve with the times' in spite of this.
Writing the entry for the King, Edward said: 'He could've let his privilege shield him from the realities of our hardship in a time when these were not a cause célèbre. But he always met us with an open mind and a listening ear.'
Mr Enniful's links to the monarchy don't end with King Charles, as he also developed a friendship with the Duchess of Sussex when he collaborated with her on an issue of British Vogue in 2019.
The 'Forces for Change' issue put inspirational women including actresses Gemma Chan and Jane Fonda, and former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern on the front cover.
When it was published in the September, it was the fastest selling issue in the magazine's 104-year history, selling out in less than 10 days.
The following year, Mr Enninful spoke to Sky News about criticism Meghan received when she joined the royal family, arguing that he didn't believe it was solely down to racism.
Describing the Duchess as a 'brave woman', he said: 'Parts of it were probably racism, but it was more of an institution.'
He added that while criticism was 'harsh', he 'wouldn't just blame it on racism', saying: 'She walked into an institution and everyone expected her to know the rules. And I think sometimes it takes a minute to understand the rules.'
However he continued to say he believed the treatment of her was 'very unfair'.
In May this year, it was revealed that Meghan and Edward's friendship imploded during a disagreement over how Vogue planned to feature the Sussex's charitable work.
Conde Nast insiders claimed that the coverage was pulled abruptly and scrapped.
A source said: 'The duchess and her team had high expectations and were expecting she might get a print cover or at least a digital cover out of it, but Enninful was not able to meet those expectations. He already had a magazine cover in the bag for that month.'
Instead, British Vogue's September 2022 cover star was Canadian fashion model Linda Evangelista.