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

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau may be seeking support from her close friends during the breakdown of her marriage to Canadian Prime Minister Justin.

And among those she might lean on is likely Meghan Markle, 41, who she’s been friends with since 2016.

According to Finding Freedom, the two became “fast friends” while the Duchess of Sussex was living in Canada — and have stayed in touch ever since.

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

Meghan, who called her friend “Soph,” revealed she threw a pool party for Ms. Trudeau last summer, during which the two “giggled like schoolgirls” and drank wine on the patio of her Montecito mansion.

According to the explosive biography Finding Freedom, when she started dating Harry in 2016, Meghan was urged to seek advice from Mrs. Trudeau by her friend Jessica Mulroney, who felt the two women “now had a lot in common” because of their famous husbands .

Speaking on the podcast, Meghan introduced Mrs. Trudeau as a “humanitarian mother” she met seven years ago in Toronto, where Meghan lived while filming Suits, during the city’s fashion week.

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 worked as a correspondent for 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 pals, Meghan was interested to hear how Sophie had successfully made the transition from entertainment news correspondent to beloved First Lady, while skillfully dodging controversy.”

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

Sophie is a smart woman and the perfect brain for Meghan to choose. She knows how difficult this is.

“There are very few people who can empathize or really empathize. For those of us who knew about their friendship, it was amazing to see the change in Meghan that followed.”

Next, Meghan and Sophie were photographed in a series of photobooth shots with Jessica taken at the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards at Toronto’s Soho House.

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

Meghan admitted on her Archetypes podcast that Sophie “sent me little meditations throughout my pregnancy” and gave “encouraging comments,” adding, “I’ve gone to her for advice over the years.”

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

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

Markle described how she had “turned to Sophie for advice” over the years, after meeting “seven years ago.”

Sophie then spoke of how all women “desire to be free in who we are” as they bear “the most burden” 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, home and public pressures.”

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

Meghan said: “This was not our day of wives and mothers, all dressed up perfectly with updos and pearls and demure smiles.

“This was the other version of both of us with wild curly hair and swimsuits and loose linens and huge belly laughs.

‘Big hugs with our little ones, soft whispers of girl talk on the terrace, dizzy like real schoolgirls. We just had so much fun.’

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

Canada’s First Lady also knew of the “crushing guilt of expectations” imposed on mothers and women in general, the Duchess said in her introduction.

Grégoire Trudeau agreed, saying of the guilt of being a woman and having to take on multiple roles, “I think we’ve learned to impose it on ourselves.

“A little girl isn’t born with guilt because she’s a girl.

‘We learn. And that is completely unacceptable. When I became an older girl in early adulthood, I realized that we often define “freedom” as a way to be free from the world, but it really is a way to be free in the world.”

Meghan then began reading a passage from Shefali Tsabary’s “A Radical Awakening” about a woman, like a brave lioness, who shakes off all expectations and lives authentically.

Meghan continues the comparison between woman and lioness, ending with, “She drops the savior role, knowing that she can only save herself.”

Grégoire Trudeau agreed with the lioness metaphor, adding, “This is a metaphor for everything.

“She does a lot of work in the lion tribe, she hunts the food and stuff.

“Women on this planet are still the core of the family, they still do most of the household chores, contribute to the family’s well-being, and make most of the decisions about the children.

“But I think we’re all lionesses, we all have that in us, and we all long to be free in who we are.”

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

Meghan met the Canadian Prime Minister that year at the One Young World Summit in Ottawa.

The pair were pictured deep in conversation.

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

The two have also met multiple times through Harry’s Invictus Games for disabled military personnel.

In January 2020, it was speculated that Justin Trudeau may have issued a cryptic Twitter clue about Meghan and Harry’s departure from the royal family.

Diplomatic sources claimed that Trudeau and his wife Sophie were consulted about the decision, in the presence of members of the royal family and even the Queen.

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

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

“As always, we remain a close-knit family with deep love and respect for each other and for all that we have built and will continue to build.

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

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

Sophie was a childhood friend and classmate of Trudeau’s older brother Michel, who was killed in an avalanche in 1998 at the age of 23.

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