Duchess’s ‘dear friend’ Gregoire Trudeau says they do not spend much time together
THE Duchess of Sussex has described her as a “dear friend” with whom she has shared summer days by the pool “giddy, like absolute schoolgirls”.
In 2022, when Sophie Grégoire Trudeau was on her podcast, she told the wife of the Canadian prime minister at the time: “I just absolutely adore you.”
Asked about their friendship in an interview, however, Ms Grégoire Trudeau said simply: “I know her”.
The interviewer, for The Sunday Times magazine, reported she “does not gush back” and added “they haven’t spent much time together”. Instead, it is claimed, she revealed “how terrible she feels for Kate Middleton after her cancer diagnosis”, saying: “My heart just sunk when I saw what was happening.”
The Duchess and Ms Grégoire Trudeau are believed to have been introduced through their mutual friend, Jessica Mulroney, a stylist and the daughter-in-law of Brian Mulroney, the former Canadian prime minister. At the time, the Duchess lived in Toronto, where she was filming Suits, and they met at the Canadian Fashion Awards.
In her Archetypes podcast, the Duchess described a day spent at home with Ms Grégoire Trudeau and her family.
“We swam, we drank wine, we splashed in the water. Then threw some pool floats in,” she said. “This was the other version of us. Both with wild curly hair and swimsuits and loose linen and huge belly laughs. Big cuddles with our little ones and quiet whispers of girl talk on the terrace, giddy, like absolute school girls. We were just having so much fun.”
The Duchess called Ms Gregoire Trudeau a “dear friend” who sent supportive voice notes during her pregnancy. According to Finding Freedom, the unofficial biography of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand: “The pair became fast email friends, Meghan was interested to hear how Sophie had successfully made the move from an entertainment news correspondent to much-beloved First Lady, all while skillfully dodging controversy.”
They have since both campaigned on the issue of paid parental leave.
In August, Ms Grégoire Trudeau and Justin Trudeau announced they were separating after 18 years of marriage.