Meet Meghan Markle's Best Friend Jessica Mulroney

From Town & Country

This week, Meghan Markle's close friend Jessica Mulroney gave her first in-depth interview since the royal wedding. She shared styling tips and spoke about the negativity she's faced in the tabloid press, but she remained tight-lipped about her royal BFF.

"Listen, every person has to have a bit of privacy in their life. There are certain things I hold very dear and secret," she told Harper's Bazaar's Julie Kosin. "There are things I'll never talk about for sure. My life is an open book, but there's always a few secret pages in the back that nobody will be able to read."

That said, here's what we do know about Mulroney:

She attended Meghan's baby shower in NYC.

In February, the Duchess of Sussex took a pre-baby trip New York City, where she caught up with old friends and celebrated her first baby shower. The invite list for the soirée read like a who's who of Meghan's pre-royal inner circle: Serena Williams, Janina Gavankar, Markus Anderson, and of course, her best friend Jessica Mulroney.

Meghan and Jessica reportedly also spent an afternoon enjoying macaroons at Laduree and had dinner at the Polo Bar while Meghan was in town.

She served as Meghan's unofficial wedding planner, even flying to London for a weekend in late April to help finalize plans.

She was spotted in Heathrow wearing an all-black ensemble, and even posted on Instagram implying she was traveling.

While in the U.K., she was reportedly on-hand for final dress fittings, and attended a "mini hen party" for Meghan.

All three of her children served as bridal attendants in the royal wedding.

Ivy, 4, will be a bridesmaid, while her 7-year-old twins, Brian and John will be page boys.

She did not serve as Meghan's maid of honor.

While it had been rumored that Mulroney would play a role in the wedding party, Meghan did not have a maid of honor. Rather, all of the bridal attendants were children. Royal weddings traditionally have young bridesmaids and page boys, but there might be another reason why Meghan has opted to forgo having a maid of honor. A source told royal correspondent Victoria Murphy that, "[Meghan] has a very close knit group of friends and did not want to choose one over the other."

Mulroney reportedly helped Markle pick her wedding dress designer.

Mulroney regularly works with brides-to-be, so it only makes sense that she'd help her BFF through the process. She Mulroney was also reportedly there to help with fittings for Markle's Givenchy dress.

"BFF and bridal expert Jessica Mulroney is guiding Meghan though the process and quietly flew in to London on Jan 10, spending four days at the couple’s Nottingham Cottage home," Scobie tweeted on January 19.

In addition to assisting with the dress, Muroney also helped "with several other wedding day elements."

According to Vanity Fair, "sources close to the Canadian stylist" revealed that Mulroney was Markle's "secret wedding planner," and had been "pulling plenty of strings behind the scenes."

"She is Meghan’s best friend and the person Meghan trusts with helping to plan every detail," a source reportedly says. "She’s the one helping Meghan to make all the key decisions. They are on the phone daily discussing every element of the wedding, from the dress to the flowers to the canapés and the photography. Meghan is very dependent on Jessica and Jessica has been totally indispensable. She’s helped Meghan and Harry with so much already."

She's a fashion stylist.

Mulroney is perhaps best known for dressing Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, the wife of Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, but the 36-year-old has had a long career in public relations and fashion design. She is also the co-founder of the Shoebox Project, a non-profit organization which collects and distributes personal items for women in crisis. And while it hasn't been officially confirmed that she's dressing Markle, we'll hardly be surprised when that news breaks.

She's married to Ben Mulroney, son of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

The have three children together, who make frequent appearances on her Instagram account.

She and Markle met years ago.

The two became close when Markle relocated to Canada for her show Suits, bonding over a love of yoga, reports Harpers Bazaar UK. The pair quickly became friends, even taking vacations together, as evidenced by Instagram shots like these:

The Mulroneys have reportedly hosted discreet dinner parties for Markle and Prince Harry in Toronto.

"Harry has become close with all of Meghan's closest friends," a source told E News.

"When Harry first started going to Toronto to visit Meghan, it was Ben and Jessica who had them over at their house for dinners because it wasn't easy for them to go out in public without the risk of getting spotted," the source added.

"Harry's become close with their children Brian, John and Ivy. Ivy especially is a big fan. She, of course, has no idea that he's a prince though-he's just auntie Meghan's special friend Harry, who sometimes comes over with fun presents!"

In the biography Harry: Life, Loss, and Love, author Katie Nicholl describes this further. "When Harry came to visit the [Mulroney] family he brought a bag filled with gifts. He won the kids over in an instant. He was brilliant with them and I think what swung it for Meghan was how good Harry was with them," a source told Nicholl in the book. "I actually think that might have been the moment Meghan really fell for Harry. He got to know the Mulroneys quite well, and they liked Harry from the beginning."

And Mulroney was with Markle at the Invictus Games closing ceremony.

When all eyes were on Markle at the Invictus Games in September, she had a few of her closest friends by her side. At the opening ceremony, the first time she had accompanied Prince Harry to an official royal appearance, she was seated with Markus Anderson, who reportedly introduced the happy couple. At the closing ceremony, she was seen in a private box alongside her mother, Doria Ragland, and Mulroney.

She was also in Australia for the start of Meghan's first royal tour, though not in an official capacity.

She was there with her husband. "They’d been planning this trip for a while and, while Jessica has helped Meghan with some style choices for her tour wardrobe, she’s not here in any sort of official capacity and Meghan has not flown her out here," a source told Harper's Bazaar.

('You Might Also Like',)

• Here's What Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Wedding Might Be Like

• Meghan Markle Joins Prince Harry at the Invictus Games Closing Ceremony

• Everything We Know About Meghan Markle's Family