A low-key birthday for Meghan’s former best friend, Jessica Mulroney, as she turns 44 today

Canadian socialite Jessica Mulroney, who was once Meghan Markle’s best friend, is celebrating a rather somber 44th birthday today.

Her father-in-law, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, recently passed away.

Mr. Mulroney, the former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993, died on February 29 at the age of 84 and will lie in state in Ottawa before his funeral in Montreal on Saturday, March 23.

Jessica, mother of three children and married to Ben, the statesman’s son, will undoubtedly keep a low profile during the official mourning period.

If so, it will be in line with recent years, and especially since an unfortunate white privilege row. After which Meghan would have cut her adrift.

The two women were once inseparable after developing a close friendship around 2011, while the actress was living in Toronto working on the hit legal drama Suits.

They were at the center of Canada’s social scene, often spotted dining out – complete with obligatory Instagram posts – and often arriving together at glamorous society events.

In Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s 2020 book Finding Freedom, the authors write that Jessica and her husband Ben were the “hottest young power couple” in town.

They explain: ‘After the women were introduced by a local fashion publicist, Jessica not only encouraged Meghan to follow the same path, but also introduced her to an exciting, vibrant social scene full of high-profile charity events, the opening of new hotspots, fantastic restaurants and chic friends like Michael Bublé.

“Jessica and Ben were close friends with the Canadian singer-songwriter and his wife, Argentine-born actress-model Luisana Lopilato, whose intimate parties at their home in Vancouver were a coveted invitation.”

The two BFFs even spent a “month of wanderlust” in Europe in the summer of 2016, and when Meghan and Prince Harry first started their relationship, the Mulroneys offered the loved-up couple a refuge from nosy paparazzi in their home in a chic suburb. of Toronto.

In fact, they were so close that Jessica, a fashion stylist and marketing consultant, was the first person Meghan told after Prince Harry proposed on the grounds of Kensington Palace.

In the suspenseful Sussex Netflix docuseries ‘Harry and Meghan’, the Duchess is seen making the transatlantic FaceTimie call to Jessica to break the news that ‘it’s happening’.

In addition to attending Meghan’s lavish baby shower in New York in 2019, she played such an integral role in the planning of the royal wedding that she arrived at St George’s Chapel Windsor with the Princess of Wales and her children acted as page boys and bridesmaids.

She even accompanied the couple on their royal tour of Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga and is also said to have played an “influential” role in Megxit – the couple’s momentous decision to give up their royal duties and privileges and move to California to leave.

Even in early 2020, Jessica spoke out in support of Prince Harry and Meghan amid the furore surrounding their move to America, posting on her Instagram account: ‘A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink. ‘

It’s not hard to suggest why the two friends seemed so perfectly matched. Jessica brought with her the old money connections and social cachet that comes from being part of one of Canada’s most prominent families.

Aside from the Mulroney connection, she’s an heiress in her own right.

Born Jessica Bownstein, she is a great-granddaughter of Benjamin Brownstein, the founder of Brown’s Shoes, a retailer prominent on every high street in Canada and known for its philanthropic work – the company gives 10 percent of its profits to charity goal.

Her brother John is a professor of epidemiology at Harvard Medical School.

Meghan, meanwhile, was the hottest celebrity in town while “Suits” was showing and her Hollywood stardust undoubtedly boosted Jessica’s profile, leading to TV appearances on “Good Morning America” ​​and the Canadian talk show CityLine and a spot as host of the reality show TV program ‘I Do, Redo’ in which couples whose wedding had failed were given the opportunity to experience another special day.

But in recent years, rumors of a rift between the two women have swirled, fueled by indirect references on Jessica’s social media accounts.

The schism appears to date back to 2020, when Jessica became involved in an inappropriate argument with lifestyle blogger Sasha Exeter, who criticized her for “taking offense” to a “generic call to action” post Sasha had shared about the Black Lives Matter movement. .

Sasha Exeter said at the time: ‘I am by no means calling Jess a racist, but what I am saying is this: she is very aware of her wealth, perceived power and privilege because of the color of her skin and that, my friends, gave her in writing the temporary confidence to earn my living. A textbook example of white privilege, in my personal opinion.’

Despite making a number of public apologies, including posting the statement: “As some may have seen, Sasha Exeter and I had a disagreement. She rightly called me out for not doing enough when it came to starting the important and difficult conversation about race and injustice in our society. I took it personally and that was wrong. I know I have to do better. Those of us who have a platform should use it to speak out.”

She also wrote, commenting on a video clip shared by Sasha, that she is “unequivocally sorry,” adding, “As I told you privately, I went through a very public and personal experience with my best friend that centered race was standing. It was very educational.’

That statement was reportedly seen by Meghan as an exploitation of their friendship.

The feud had a huge impact on Jessica’s professional career, causing her to be dropped by a number of television networks.

ABC confirmed that Jessica would not return to her occasional role as a fashion contributor on Good Morning America. And Canadian network CTV also cut ties, revealing it would be pulling all episodes of its wedding-themed reality TV show I Do Redo from its platform.

Jessica also stepped down from the board of directors of The Shoebox Project, the charity she co-founded a decade ago to “provide gifts to women living in shelters or accessing community support,” according to public records.