Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have plenty of critics in both Britain and America—but have also been supported by major U.S. celebrities.
The Duke and duch*ess of Sussex are friends with Serena Williams, were given use of Tyler Perry's house and got a supportive text from Beyoncé.
And that trio are just a handful of the big names who have supported them down the years.
Serena Williams
Meghan and retired tennis ace Serena Williams have a friendship dating back to before her relationship with Prince Harry.
The pair discussed their fondness for one another when Williams was a guest on Meghan's Archetypes podcast, shortly after the grand slam champion retired from tennis.
The sports star said she "just wanted you to just understand what it meant to have your support and for H's support, for everything. Because it's been hard, you know, like you've been in the locker rooms where I've been really down and debating 'Why am I even doing this?'"
Beyoncé and Jay Z
The music industry power couple posed in front of a painting of Meghan done in the style of a traditional portrait in an acceptance video for the Brit Awards in February 2019.
And Beyoncé further backed Meghan by texting her in the aftermath of the Oprah Winfrey interview to say she had been "selected to break generational curses."
A clip of Meghan receiving and reading out the message was included in the Sussexes Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan.
Chrissy Teigen
Meghan and Teigen met in 2014 at the DirecTV Beach Bowl at Pier 40 and were also on Deal or No Deal together.
In 2018, the year Meghan and Harry got married, Teigen told You magazine: "I am especially a fan of Meghan. I was on Deal or No Deal with her and she was lovely. Now everyone asks me what she was like and I say: 'Sorry, no dirt. She's gorgeous.'"
More recently, Meghan gave Teigen a jar of her American Riviera Orchard jam, which the star shared with her husband John Legend.
In an Instagram post, Teigen said: "This might have been one of the best bites we've had all year - all we used is some rustic bread, salted butter, triple cream brie, thick cut bacon and some @americanrivieraorchard jam!"
"Took about eight mins total," she added, "and made us happy for the entire weekend."
Mindy Kaling
Actor Mindy Kaling was a guest on Meghan's Archetypes podcast in 2022 and gushed about her love of the royal during the recording: "Hey, now I'm going to say this is a revelation to me because I went through life being like, okay, well, Meghan Markle was like that one nice hot girl who like has her head screwed on right cause her mom's probably like, really cool."
Responding to Meghan suggesting she was the smart one not the pretty one in school, Kaling added: "But knowing that you were not that, is news to me, probably news to people listening to this."
And Kaling described Meghan as her friend after meeting Prince Harry at a conference by workplace coaching firm Better Up, which counts the prince as its chief impact officer.
Abigail Spencer
Meghan and Spencer co-starred on Suits and the actress is one of the few from the show that Meghan is still in touch with.
Spencer was also interviewed for Netflix show Harry & Meghan in which she gave an emotional account of the moment Meghan lost her baby in July 2020, when Meghan had just moved into her home in Montecito.
"I'm driving up like, 'We're gonna unpack, we're gonna get settled,'" Spencer said. "And Meg is standing outside waiting for me and I can tell something's off. And she's showing me the new home so it's very mixed emotions. 'Here's our new home,' but she's like, 'I'm having a lot of pain.' She was holding Archie and she just fell to the ground."
Tyler Perry
The Madea star offered Harry and Meghan the use of his Los Angeles mansion when they first moved to California in 2020, after quitting the palace that year.
Their stay lasted a few months before they bought their own home but they left on good enough terms to have the actor and producer on as a guest for a one off festive podcast episode, Archewell Audio, in December 2020.
He is godfather to Princess Lilibet, their daughter, and recently told podcast Let's Talk Off-Camera with Kelly Ripa: "They make beautiful babies—that's all I'll say. They make some beautiful kids. Archie and Lili are beautiful."
Elton John
The "Rocket Man" singer and his husband David Furnish were friends of Princess Diana's and remained close to Harry throughout his life, introducing him to attorney David Sherborne—who recommended he hire his own legal team.
The celebrity lawyer would go on to represent Harry in a number of high-profile lawsuits against the British media.
"It was partially down to Elton and David," Harry wrote in Spare. "At the end of our recent visit they'd introduced us to a barrister, an acquaintance of theirs, a lovely fellow who knew more about the phone-hacking scandal than anyone I'd ever met.
"He'd shared with me his expertise, plus loads of open-court evidence, and when I told him I wished there was something I could do with it, when I complained that we'd been blocked at every turn by the Palace, he offered a breathtakingly elegant work-around. 'Why not hire your own lawyer?'"
It was summer 2019 and they were months away from quitting Britain and facing a torrent of negative press coverage.
Describing the holiday, Harry wrote: "M and I phone with Elton John and his husband, David, and we confessed: 'We need help. We're sort of losing it here, guys.'
"Come to us,' Elton said. By which he meant their home in France. Summer 2019.
So we did. For a few days we sat on their terrace and soaked up their sunshine."
George Clooney
George and Amal Clooney were guests at Harry and Meghan's wedding and also invited them for a holiday at their mansion in Lake Como in 2018.
The following year, the actor spoke out to defend Meghan during a wave of negative press coverage: "They're just chasing Meghan Markle everywhere, she's been pursued and vilified," Clooney told reporters at a press panel, according to Australia's Who magazine.
"She's a woman who is seven months pregnant and she has been pursued and vilified and chased in the same way that Diana was and it's history repeating itself."
Jameela Jamil
The Good Place star got into many scraps with the British tabloids over her support for Meghan before discussing the issue with the duch*ess during an interview for Archetypes.
"It's just it's an unfathomable amount of s*** that you take, Meghan," Jamil said. "I can't believe it.
"And I fought back on your behalf of years before I'd ever met you because I was so outraged by the twisting of this, very normal, very kind, very civilized woman. That demonization just shows how afraid they are of you."
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about Charles, Camilla, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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