Meghan’s Secret Calls TO THE QUEEN

Despite her on going drama with the royal family, Meghan Markle has maintained a close bond with Queen Elizabeth II!

to personally be worth a combined $500 million. “They’ve actually been mistaken for homeless people before!” The overly baggy clothes that have become their signature are no doubt to blame for that. Haters of the look may not be surprised to learn Ash says she likes “to get ready with the lights off,” but others online have dubbed it “hobo chic.” The Internet isn’t where the siblings find style inspiration themselves, though. In fact, Mary-kate reveals, “I’ve never purchased anything online.”

She doesn’t need much when she’s behind closed doors. “I run around my house naked with heels all the time,” Mary-kate has said. The home buff used to share a $13.5M, six-floor townhouse in NYC’S Turtle Bay neighborhood with ex Olivier Sarkozy prior to their 2020 split. “Ashley was over there so much, alone with Mary-kate, that they started joking that it was their ‘spinster mansion,’” says the source. “Now that they’ve been staying at Ash’s Greenwich Village place, Mary-kate’s given it the same nickname!”

THROUGH THICK & THIN

Unsurprisingly, Ashley has been MK’S rock throughout her difficult divorce. She first filed to end things in mid-april 2020, claiming the marriage had “broken down irretrievably.” But due to the pandemic, the court blocked the petition. Marykate — who memorably served bowls of cigarettes at her 2015 wedding — soon renewed her plea, however, when Olivier demanded she move out of their place by mid-may 2020, saying she was “petrified” of losing her home. A judge again rejected her request. The divorce wasn’t finalized until this January. “Mary-kate says she’ll definitely never marry again — she had way too messy a breakup to go through that another time,” says the source. “She doesn’t even want to date for at least a year.”

Mary-kate hasn’t been the luckiest in love. Her romantic history includes heirs to car, shipping and oil fortunes, Hollywood scions and artists. But the

relationship that nearly destroyed her was with the most famous guy of all of them: Heath Ledger. MK was rumored to be seeing the actor around the time of his deadly prescription drug overdose in 2008. She was the first person called, instead of 911, when Heath’s body was found, quickly sending her bodyguards over to his apartment. Later, uncooperative Mary-kate was subpoenaed as part of a criminal investigation as she reportedly sought immunity in the case. “Mary-kate Olsen had nothing whatsoever to do with the drugs found in Heath Ledger’s home or his body,” her lawyer Michael Miller insisted at the time, “and she does not know where he obtained them.”

Though both of their images and careers could’ve taken a major hit because of the ordeal, Ash stood by her side. Two years earlier, she’d also had to play the strong sister when weeks after their second-ever theatrical release, New York Minute, flopped, Mary-kate underwent six weeks of treatment for an eating disorder. “We have each other to lean on,” says Ashley of navigating the perils of fame — including her own headline-making breakups from men like Lance Armstrong — alongside her sibling.

UNBREAKABLE BOND

The crystal-loving, chain-smoking sisters who’ve been drinking coffee since they were 10 are seemingly never more in-sync than when it comes to The Row. Despite the fact that they could rest on their laurels and let others run the biz, the duo spend most of their time supervising the line’s designs, as well as overseeing marketing and production. “We’re very much perfectionists and hard workers,” MK says. “We’ve always been hard workers.”

And, the source says, that’s something the men in their lives need to understand. “Running their billiondollar business comes first, and most guys can’t deal with that,” the source says, revealing that while Marykate’s ex Olivier “didn’t get” the stars’ extreme work ethic, Ashley’s current beau, artist Louis Eisner, 32, does. “He’s super low-key and he doesn’t crave the spotlight, so that’s a huge plus,” the source adds. “And Marykate adores him.”

It’s just a fact that he’ll never have the same connection with Ashley that Mary-kate does, though. “They do weird twin stuff all of the time — like they won’t say a word to each other during a meeting with their design team because they can communicate just with their eyes,” says the source. “Everyone thinks it’s a little spooky, but they know each other that well.”

They live thousands of miles apart and hadn’t seen each other in well over a year. Yet when Meghan Markle heard that Queen Elizabeth II’S husband, Prince Philip, had been hospitalized back in February, she didn’t hesitate to reach out to her grandmother-in-law. “I just picked up the phone, and I called the queen just to check in,” Meghan explained at the time. “That’s what we do.”

And she’s still doing it. Throughout these past difficult months, which have included Philip’s death at the age of 99 and family fallout from Meghan and husband Prince Harry’s blockbuster CBS interview, Meghan has been secretly phoning the queen for open chats. “Meghan loves catching up with the queen,” reveals an insider of the surprisingly close bond that still exists between the two women. “Besides Harry, Queen Elizabeth is Meghan’s favorite royal. She has the utmost respect for her, and despite everything that’s happened, views the queen as a true friend and confidante.”

A SHARED COMPASSION

Some conversations are deeper than others. Rather than ignoring the March CBS sit-down — in which Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, complained that the palace brushed aside their serious security concerns and mental health issues — the ladies talked it all out. “There were long discussions and, ultimately, apologies from both

sides,” the insider says. “Meghan confessed she never meant to hurt the queen by doing the interview, and the queen has personally apologized for the way Meghan felt like she was treated while in England.”

Gradually, Meghan and the monarch, 95, have been able to put the past behind them — and their conversations these days are a lot lighter than they once were. “They’re both compassionate women, which is why they get along,” the insider shares, adding that Meghan enjoys “filling the queen in on her charity work, as well as the latest milestones” with newborn daughter Lilibet and her big brother, Archie, 2. She’s even set up Zoom calls so the queen can see the kids. “Archie is able to put a couple of words together now, point to his ears and nose, and he loves to scribble,” says the insider of their video calls. “Queen Elizabeth adores him.”

Both women hope to get together in person in the future — which is music to Harry’s ears. “Knowing that the queen and Meghan have a special bond makes Harry’s heart melt,” says the insider. “He prays more royals will come around to Meghan, too.”