Meghan Markle’s style whisperer
Meet Meghan’s best friend — who knows all the secrets in her (and Sophie Trudeau’s) closet
MEGHAN Markle may be a native Californian and on her way to becoming a British citizen, but she shocked fashionistas around the world when she showed up for her official entree into royalty in a coat and earrings designed by Canadians.
Chalk it up to her best friend, Jessica Mulroney, who has guided the style choices of Prince Harry’s fiancée for years — and who happens to be a prominent member of Canada’s first family.
Mulroney, 36, is the daughter-inlaw of a former Canadian prime minister and has dressed the country’s current first lady, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, since her husband’s inauguration two years ago.
Now fashionistas are whispering that Mulroney — the self-described “fashion and bridal stylist” — is also Markle’s behind-the-scenes wardrobe adviser.
“Jessica is very well connected and savvy, and she knows fashion,” said Canadian fashion journalist Jeanne Beker. “She would tell Sophie about up-and-coming Canadian designers that Sophie might wear. And she’s certainly helped Meghan.”
Markle and Mulroney met through a mutual friend and bonded while Markle was living in Toronto and shooting the legal drama “Suits,” on which she starred from 2011 until a few weeks ago. (The actress’s episodes will run through the TV show’s 2018 season.)
Last week, Markle stunned at the Kensington Palace photo op announcing her engagement to Prince Harry, wearing a $627 belted white coat from Line the Label, a small knitwear line based in Toronto. The company’s Web site reportedly crashed after the appearance, and a spokesman for the brand said they have since named the coat “Meghan.”
Fashion insiders are crediting Mulroney for the look, right down to Markle’s opal and 18-karat yellowgold studs from Birks, a storied Canadian jeweler established in 1879.
A spokeswoman for Birks confirmed to The Post that it was Mul- roney, who has long worked with the jeweler and whose daughter Ivy models for the company’s children’s line, who introduced Markle to the brand.
“[Mulroney] came to us at one point a few months ago, and we knew she had been working on dressing Meghan for a few different things, then introduced us,” said Eva Hartling, the chief marketing officer and vice president for the company’s Maison Birks line.
Photographs of Markle in Maison Birks earrings and rings are featured prominently on the company’s Instagram feed.
“Meghan has worn some of our pieces on a few occasions now, and she acquired some of our pieces recently,” Hartling told The Post.
MARKLE’S engagement look was very similar to one worn by Sophie Trudeau at the swearing-in ceremony of her husband, Justin, as prime minister in November 2015. The first lady chose a white alpaca coat by Canadian brand Sentaler and nude pumps — an outfit coordinated
by her friend Mulroney, whose husband, Ben, is pals with Justin. Ben’s father is Brian Mulroney, who served as Canada’s Conservative prime minister from 1984 to 1993; Justin’s father was Pierre Trudeau, who served three terms as Canada’s Liberal prime minister. (Jessica and Ben have three young children.)
Mulroney has remained tightlipped about her influence on Trudeau and Markle, refusing interviews on both women (although The Telegraph in London has stated she is Markle’s stylist). “She’s not going to be talking to the press about this,” Ben said when The Post called their Toronto home last week to ask about Markle.
Retailers and fashion watchers in Canada say Mulroney has influenced many of Markle’s stylis- tic decisions over the years and introduced her to her favorite Canadian brands such as Line the Label, Smythe and Sentaler. She also nurtured Markle’s love of Erdem, the highly successful label started by Montreal-born designer Erdem Moralioglu in 2005.
Mulroney even encouraged Markle to start her own capsule collection with mid-priced retailer Reitmans.
The company made the actress a brand ambassador in August 2015 and featured her in its ads. Markle ended the contract with the store in April, some nine months after she reportedly met Prince Harry.
THE future royal and the fashionista share not just a fashion partnership but a real friendship that spans vacations, charity work — and may even see Mulroney as maid of honor when the royal wedding takes place at Windsor Castle in May. The two embarked on a holiday to the Amalfi Coast last year and chronicled some of their adventures in glossy-magazine-worthy snaps. The trip even had its own Instagram hashtag, #MJxItaly. The actress is also a spokeswoman for Mulroney’s charity, the Shoebox Project for Shelters. The charity was established by Mulroney and her sisters-in-law in 2011 to deliver gifts to women who are homeless or living in shelters. Each shoebox is filled with items “valued at $50 that can enhance self-esteem and reduce feelings of isolation for women in crisis,” according to the group’s Web site. The Canadian organization, which recently acquired nonprofit status from the IRS in an effort to establish itself in the US, shot to international prominence when Markle was spotted watching Prince Harry at a polo match in Ascot, England, last May while wearing the charity’s “Share Joy” bracelet on her wrist. Although Markle has formally ended her commitments in Can- ada in preparation for becoming the latest addition to the British royal family, she remains in close contact with Mulroney, especially in the run-up to the nuptials. Fashion insiders say Mulroney is uniquely positioned to offer bridal style advice.
In addition to her work promoting Canadian designers, Mulroney also works as a consultant with the Canadian outpost of Kleinfeld New York’s bridal emporium, which is home to the reality show “Say Yes to the Dress.”
“The picking of the dress, whether it’s together with your mother, sister, auntie, best friend or grandmother, is very much a part of any bride’s journey,” Mulroney said in a press statement for the bridal-dress retailer. “It’s lovely when I get to be part of that process and get to know the couple and their family.”
And last year, Mulroney began working as a contributing editor for Wedding Vacations magazine, a publication that helps couples plan destination weddings in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. Mulroney’s social-media posts feature many images of her in cutoff shorts and tank tops, pinning wedding gowns and styling shoots on sunny Caribbean beaches.
Will Mulroney be involved in styling Markle’s May nuptials?
Beker, the fashion journalist, told The Post that it’s likely Markle will listen to her best pal’s advice, at least when it comes to choosing the perfect wedding dress.
So could a Canadian designer actually land the prize job of creating the royal wedding gown? Beker thinks so.
“I can see Erdem,” Beker said. “He’s become a real darling of the fashion media.”
Jessica is very well connected, and she knows fashion. She’s certainly helped Meghan. — Jeanne Beker, Canadian fashion journalist