Are Meghan Markle and Oprah Winfrey still ‘close’ friends?

A couple of years ago, Oprah Winfrey revealed on the Making Space with Hoda Koth podcast that she does not have many friends. Joining her for the podcast was Maria Shriver (former wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger) and incidentally one of the three friends she considers herself closest to.

“So I don't have a lot of friends,” Oprah said on the podcast. Everybody knows Gayle (King). There’s Gayle, there’s Maria, there’s Bob (Green). And that’s-that’s about it, you know?”

When it comes to other friends and in particular Meghan Markle, Oprah clearly does have a ‘friendship’ with the Duchess of Sussex. However, as Oprah has openly spoken about having ‘three’ close friends, it is clear that Meghan is not in her inner circle. Nevertheless, Oprah and Meghan do seem to have a mutual respect for each other.

Before Oprah Winfrey interviewed Harry and Meghan for their explosive two-hour interview, she had been a guest at their wedding in 2018. Oprah described Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding as a ‘cultural moment.’

Even before Oprah was photographed at Meghan and Harry’s wedding, Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland had been at Oprah’s home. Oprah spoke about this with Entertainment Tonight and said: “The story was that Meghan’s mom had come to my house and she left laden with gifts,” (this was in response to rumours that Oprah had lavished Doria with gifts in the hope of achieving an exclusive interview with her).

Oprah went on to say:”You know what the gifts were? First of all, she’s great at yoga, so I said, ‘Bring your yoga mat and your sneaks in case we just want to do yoga on the lawn.’ So one of the bags was a yoga mat and the other was lunch.”

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided in January 2020 to step back from their royal duties, Oprah Winfrey was quick to offer her support to the couple.

Another Oprah/Meghan connection occurred when Save the Children UK shared an Instagram video of Meghan reading to her son Archie. According to Insider Magazine, “Oprah Magazine confirmed that it was a part of the collection of books Winfrey had gifted the toddler….”

In March 2021, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry sat down with Oprah for a tell-all interview. After it had been televised, Oprah revealed to her friend Gayle King that she “set out to do an interview, have a conversation that will allow them to tell their story.”

One other factor that connects Meghan with Oprah is that they were until recently neighbours as Oprah was living in Montecito. Oprah may have now sold her property there, but the new owner is believed to be none other than Jennifer Aniston.

It is believed that Oprah is still in touch with Prince Harry and Meghan after their interview and the couple were reported to have visited her home a few months before the late Queen passed away in September of last year.