Meghan Markle's former co-stars, friends defend her amid onslaught of negative press

Meghan Markle may not read any press about herself, but her friends do and they are breaking their silence to defend her character.

In what has been described by a royal watcher as “unprecedented,” five of the duchess’s “best friends” — all females, including a former co-star — have spoken out to People magazine about the “lies and untruths” being spread about their pal “Meg.” One member of the group, which spoke anonymously to “protect” the private relationships they have with her, expressed worry over what the barrage of negative press — including stories from her own family — is “doing to her and the baby” that she’s expecting with Prince Harry this spring.

The women spoke out to “stand up against the global bullying we are seeing and speak the truth about our friend,” according to one identified as Markle’s longtime friend and former co-star (though it doesn’t specify whether it was on Suits, on which Markle appeared from 2011 until 2018). “Meg has silently sat back and endured the lies and untruths.” She added that, with Markle pregnant, “We worry about what this is doing to her and the baby. It’s wrong to put anyone under this level of emotional trauma, let alone when they’re pregnant.”

A longtime friend addressed some claims made by Markle’s family. Her father, Thomas Markle, said in one interview that he can’t get in touch with his daughter, which the woman says is hooey. “He knows how to get in touch with her. He’s never called; he’s never texted. It’s super-painful.”

As for her half-siblings, Samantha, who regularly attacks the duchess in the press, and Thomas Jr., who was arrested last month for DUI, “They have been made to appear as siblings who had this falling out, and that’s not the truth at all. They were not a part of her life,” added the same friend, who noted Thomas Jr. and Samantha were already teenagers when Thomas’s second wife, Doria Ragland, had Markle.

In the interview, other friends talked about visits to Kensington Palace’s Nottingham Cottage. One stayed for a few days when Prince Harry was away and talked about The Tig blogger having her room all made up with “a candle lit by the bed, slippers and a robe.” And it wasn’t overrun by staffers to whom Markle was shouting demands. “We were the only two in the house. It was our time. She made the most lovely meals. She made tea every day. It was raining and muddy outside, so the dogs got all dirty, and she’s wiping them off with towels. How much she loves her animals, how much she loves her friends, how much she loves feeding you, taking care of you — none of that has changed.”

Markle and hubby Prince Harry continue to stay busy with their charitable work.

Another confidante described the abode as “small” but “she’s made it cozy, but the perception of their lifestyle and the reality are two different things. Meg cooks for herself and Harry every single day.” (The royal couple will be moving from Kensington to Frogmore Cottage, Windsor in March.)

And — despite her new workload — she’s still their loyal, dependable pal, they insist. “If I’m thrown some kind of curveball, I always think, ‘I gotta talk to Meg,'” a friend who still speaks to her daily tells the mag. And when they do? “The first thing out of her mouth is, ‘How are the kids? How are you?’ I’m not even allowed to ask about her until she finds out about me.”

The former co-star added that when you see Markle greeting the public at charity events and “she crouches down to talk to the kids and genuinely has real conversations with people, that’s Meg. That’s how she crouches down with our kids at home. That’s how she plays with them. That’s how she engages with people and how she always has.”

The Today show’s royal expert Keir Simmons described her friends speaking out like this as unprecedented,” noting, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard friends of a member of the royal family speaking up for her like this.” He later added, “Good. For. Them.”

However, as the stories blasting her continue — including the narrative of frosty relations with sister-in-law Kate Middleton and drama with her staff — Markle’s friends apparently felt like there was no other option.

This big rally of support makes you wonder if Markle’s 2017 claim that she never reads any press — and hadn’t while she starred on Suits, calling it all “noise” — is still true. In November, Vanity Fair claimed Markle was starting to feel “to a degree the British press is out to get her,” however, “while she’s aware of the news and what’s going on, she tries her best not to read all the stories about her.”

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