Will Sophie lean on Meghan during divorce? Duchess became ‘fast friends’ with Mrs Trudeau in Canada – and First Lady supported royal through her pregnancies and enjoyed pool parties at her Montecito mansion

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau may be looking to her close friends for support during the breakup of her marriage with Canadian Prime Minister Justin.

And among those she may be leaning on will likely be Meghan Markle, 41, with whom she has been friends since 2016.

According to Finding Freedom, the pair became ‘fast friends’ while the Duchess of Sussex was living in Canada – and have remained in touch ever since.

In recent years, their friendship appears to have only strengthened – with the former journalist appearing on Meghan’s podcast Archetypes in November 2022.

Meghan, who referred to her friend as ‘Soph’, revealed she threw a pool party last summer for Mrs Trudeau, in which the two ‘giggled like schoolgirls’ and drank wine on the terrace of her Montecito mansion. 

The Duchess of Sussex previously revealed how Sophie supported her during her pregnancies  

According to the explosive biography Finding Freedom, when she began dating Harry in 2016, Meghan was urged to take advice from Mrs Trudeau by her friend Jessica Mulroney, who deemed the two women ‘now had a lot in common’ due to their famous husbands.

Speaking on the podcast, Meghan introduced Mrs Trudeau as a ‘humanitarian mother’ she met in Toronto, where Meghan was living while filming Suits, at the city’s fashion week seven years ago.

The Duchess of Sussex became part of Toronto’s ‘platinum elite’, which included their mutual friend Ms Mulroney. 

‘Sophie had given up a career in television, where she had been working as a correspondent on CTV’s eTalk, to take on a more formal role alongside her husband as he hit the campaign trail,’ the authors of Finding Freedom claim.

‘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.’

A close friend of Trudeau and a former cabinet member told the authors: ‘Sophie would have made it clear that every single aspect of Meghan’s past would be dug up, so the most important thing was to be honest with Harry – tell him everything.

‘Sophie’s a smart woman and the perfect brain for Meghan to pick. She knows how difficult something like this is. 

‘Few people can relate or truly sympathise. For those of us that knew about their friendship, it was amazing to see the change in Meghan that followed.’

Then  Meghan and Sophie were pictured in a series of photobooth images with Jessica taken at the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards at Soho House in Toronto.

And despite Meghan leaving Canada for the UK, the two are believed to have stayed in close contact.

Justin and Sophie were among the attendees of the late Queen’s funeral in September 2022  (pictured) 

Meghan admitted on her Archetypes podcast Sophie ‘used to send me little meditations during my pregnancy’ and voice notes ‘of encouragement’, adding: ‘I’ve gone to her over the years for advice.’ 

In what appeared to be a show of how close the two women are, Sophie then appeared on Meghan’s failed podcast last year, discussing their friendship and her desire to break away from traditional feminine domestic roles.

The 48-year-old was featured on an episode titled Good Wife/Bad Wife, Good Mom/Bad Mom.

Markle described how she had ‘gone to Sophie for advice’ over the years, after meeting ‘seven years ago.’

Then Sophie spoke about how all women ‘long to be free in who we are’ since they carry ‘most of the load’ in the household and with the children. 

Meghan described Sophie as ‘a dear friend’ who is ’emblematic of strength that comes from embracing humanity, even in the face of all these family and home and public pressures.’

In the podcast, Meghan describes a day of laughter and fun at her Montecito mansion with Mrs Trudeau. Their children played in the swimming pool on pizza-shaped floats while they drank wine ‘on the terrace’ and were ‘giddy like absolute schoolgirls.’

Meghan said: ‘This wasn’t our day of being the wives and moms, all perfectly quaffed with up-dos and pearls and demure smiles.

‘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, quiet whispers of girl talk on the terrace, giddy like absolute schoolgirls. We were just having so much fun.’

Sophie had a ‘full plate,’ while being a parent and a spouse in the public eye after being married to Justin for 18 years, Markle claimed in the podcast. 

In the podcast, Meghan describes a day of laughter and fun at her Montecito mansion with Mrs Trudeau. Their children played in the swimming pool on pizza-shaped floats

Sophie had a ‘full plate,’ while being a parent and a spouse in the public eye after being married to Justin for 18 years, Markle claimed in the podcast

The Canadian First Lady also knew about the ‘crushing the guilt of expectations’ set upon mothers and women in general, the Duchess said in her introduction.

Grégoire Trudeau agreed and said about the guilt of being a woman and having to take on multiple roles: ‘I think we’ve learned to self-impose it. 

‘A little girl is not born feeling guilty for being a girl. 

‘We learn it. And that’s completely unacceptable. When I started becoming an older girl in an early adult stage, I realized that we often define ‘freedom’ as a way to be free from the world, but it’s really a way to be free in the world.’

Meghan then started reading a passage from ‘A Radical Awakening’ by Shefali Tsabary about a woman, like a brave lioness, who sheds all expectations and lives authentically. 

Continuing the woman-lioness comparison, Meghan ends it on: ‘She drops the role of savior, knowing she can only save herself.’ 

Agreeing with the metaphor of the lioness, Grégoire Trudeau added: ‘This is a metaphor for everything.

According to the explosive biography Finding Freedom, when she began dating Harry in 2016, Meghan was urged to take advice from Mrs Trudeau by her friend Jessica Mulroney, who deemed the two women ‘now had a lot in common’ due to their famous husbands

Meghan met Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau at the One Young World summit in Ottawa in 2016. Pictured together in a throwback snap from the event shared to the Sussex Royal Instagram page in October 2019

Prince Harry and Trudeau have always looked to enjoy each other’s company at events and engagements 

‘She does a lot of work in the lion tribe, she is the one hunting the food and all that.

‘Women across this planet are still the nucleus of the family, they still carry most of the load for housework, contributing to the family’s well-being and most decisions concerning the kids.

‘But I think we’re all that lioness, we all have that inside of us, and we all long to be free in who we are.’

However Meghan, and her husband Prince Harry, are also believed to be close friends with Justin. 

Meghan met the Canadian PM at the One Young World summit in Ottawa that year.

The pair were pictured deep in conversation. 

And Prince Harry and Trudeau have always looked to enjoy each other’s company at events such as Commonwealth commemorations. 

The two have also encountered each other on multiple occasions through Harry’s Invictus Games for disabled servicemen. 

Back in January 2020 there was speculation that Justin Trudeau may have given a cryptic Twitter clue about Meghan and Harry’s departure from the Royal Family.

Diplomatic sources claimed Trudeau and his wife Sophie were consulted about the decision, before members of the Royal Family and even the Queen.

Nine months later, on Wednesday, in his Instagram post announcing the split, Trudeau, 51, wrote: ‘Hi everyone,

‘Sophie and I would like to share the fact that after many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate.

‘As always, we remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and we will continue to build.

‘For the well-being of our children, we ask that you respect our and their privacy.’

The pair have been married since 2005 and share three children, the youngest of whom is nine.

Sophie was a childhood friend and classmate of Trudeau’s older brother Michel, who died in an avalanche in 1998 aged 23.

They began dating in 2003 after reconnecting as adults and were engaged a short time afterwards.