Meghan Markle’s designer friend just opened up about dressing the Duchess

(Image credit: Getty)

It's no secret that the Duchess of Sussex, aka Meghan Markle, and Jessica Mulroney are virtually best friends. The fashion designer and entrepreneur had an important role at the royal wedding, and she also attended her baby shower last month.

She's also a stylist, and sometimes helps dress Meghan in her favourite fashion brands, which include Canadian brand NONIE, founded by Nina Kharey.

She's now opened up to Harper's Bazaar US, saying Meghan helped save her brand, after she was spotted wearing one of her trench dresses last summer.

She said, 'It's tough to be a designer. It is really tough to be a Canadian designer. Sometimes all you need is that onetime break and it'll change your life. If you get your item on a celebrity, that's almost like the top of the top—a new way of creating business.'

'I have a lot of friends in the entertainment business and I myself have a significant Instagram account, so I can throw them a bone and wear the earrings if I like them' she added, 'or if I know somebody's doing a red carpet, I'll be like, ‘Hey, you should try these.’ It's kind of organic, but if I can do it, it usually does help.'

The designer also opened up about the negative press around Meghan and herself, 'It comes with the territory. There are so many benefits to certain things, but then also a lot of negativity that you have to deal with at the same time.'

She also explained she won't ever spill the beans on the wedding, 'This is my first interview that I’ve done since the wedding or anything. Listen, every person has to have a bit of privacy in their life. 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.'

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.