How Meghan Markle & Oprah Quietly Put Those Fallout Rumors To Bed

After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, stepped down as senior royals and moved to Montecito, California in 2020, they became neighbors with media mogul Oprah Winfrey. But their relationship with the icon goes back even further — Winfrey was in attendance at their 2018 nuptials, which seems to have been the start of their friendship. Meghan and Winfrey grew closer over the years until rumors began to circulate in June 2024 that Winfrey's relationship with the Sussexes had soured. "Harry and Meghan's circle is getting smaller and smaller. I think the A-list stars are dropping like flies," the late Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, told Closer (via The U.S. Sun). "Some already have done – Oprah no longer seems involved with them and some other celebrities have also dropped them."

Just three months later, though, Meghan was spotted at a bookstore opening with her supposedly estranged pal. Both women were present at the September 7 launch of Godmothers, located not far from their Montecito home in Summerland. Style journalist Elizabeth Holmes, author of "HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style," posted an Instagram Reel of Meghan giving a speech at the event as Oprah walks into view and takes a seat in the front row.

While the two women appearing at the same event may not be enough to convince everyone that they're not at odds, Holmes also posted a several photos of the event, including one of the pair locked in a warm embrace. Based on the heartwarming pic, there's still a lot of love between them.

While it seems that Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and Oprah Winfrey are as close as ever, former royal butler Paul Burrell claimed there was a good reason for their alleged rift. Burrell said that Winfrey's beef with Meghan — and with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex — is due to the Sussexes' falling out with the rest of the royal family. He told Closer that the devotion Americans have to the royals has them (including Winfrey) siding with Harry's estranged family — the "main event" — rather than with the "side show" Sussexes.

It's hard to imagine that the widening royal rift would cause Winfrey to abandon her friends, though. After all, the tension between the royals was already there when Harry and Meghan left the U.K. in 2020, and it continued to grow after the bombshell revelations Meghan and Harry made in their 2021 interview with Winfrey. It seems unlikely that the Sussexes would have chosen someone unsympathetic to their side to interview them.

Winfrey notably expressed her loyalty to the couple when they made the controversial decision to step away from life as senior royals. "I support them 1,000 percent," she said in a video published by TMZ in 2020. She also clapped back at those who criticized the Sussexes, saying, "None of us have any right to say anything."