Meghan Markle’s ex-best friend Jessica Mulroney has split with her husband Ben after 16 years of marriage, Page Six can reveal.
The Canadian stylist and her husband are divorcing after a fraught few years, in which Mulroney was dumped by the Duchess of Sussex after being caught up in a racism scandal that left her “toxic” on the Toronto social scene.
The Mulroneys share three children, and a source in Toronto told us Mulroney is not exactly keeping it a secret.
She is no longer wearing her wedding ring and apparently broke the news of the split to friends when she attended the glitzy wedding of producer and entrepreneur Vinay Virmani to Sara Koonar at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto last month.
The wedding was attended by A-listers including Drake and LeBron James, however, Mulroney turned heads in a red gown – and by the conspicuous absence of her husband.
“They’re split,” a Canadian source told us, “Jessica seemed “sad, but also relieved to have some clarity.” Another insider in the know confirmed they have separated “some time ago”.
Page Six has reached out to the Mulroneys for comment.
One of the last times that Mulroney mentioned Ben on her Instagram was back in March 2024 when she joked about them both forgetting their wedding anniversary.
Mulroney, 45, was at the top of the Toronto social scene alongside her husband, who is the son of former Canadian Prime Minister, the late Brian Mulroney, who died in February 2024.
They were elevated to the highest echelons of society when Mulroney’s BFF, Meghan Markle, then an actress on “Suits”, started dating Prince Harry in 2016.
She was one of the trusted few who knew about their secret romance and Harry’s furtive visits to Toronto; and she even styled Markle for her engagement photos at Kensington Palace in November 2017.
They were so close that Mulroney’s daughter, Ivy, now 12, was a bridesmaid at the Sussex wedding in May 2018, while her twin sons, Brian and John, now 14, were page boys.
However, things went downhill when Canadian influencer Sasha Exeter accused Mulroney of racism back in 2020.
Indeed, a well-placed insider added, “Ben’s family did an intervention because she was damaging the Mulroney brand.
“The family is still hoping that (Ben’s sister) Caroline [who is a Minister of Provincial Parliament for Ontario and the province’s minister of Francophone Affairs and president of the Treasury Board] can run for leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.
“She is the next hope for the Progressive Conservatives and wants to be Prime Minister.”
During the 2020 fallout, Exeter had said Mulroney “took offense” to a generic call to action she posted online encouraging other bloggers and social media influencers to use their platforms to speak out for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“What happened next was a series of very problematic behavior and antics that ultimately resulted in [Mulroney] sending me a threat in writing,” Exeter said.
Mulroney then seemingly referred to Markle as she issued a public apology, telling Exter, “As I told you privately, I have lived a very public and personal experience with my closest friend where race was front and centre. It was deeply educational. I learned a lot from that. I promise to continue to learn and listen on how I can use my privilege to elevate and support black voices.”
After this, Mulroney’s friendship with Markle waned and they are no longer believed to speak.
Mulroney also lost her job as a stylist on ‘Good Morning America’, and her show “I Do, Redo” was axed by Canadian network CTV. She also had to step down from her roles with charities.
However, the well-placed insider said, “She was upset that she couldn’t get a job after Meghan dumped her. She’s become a toxic socialite.”
Breaking her silence about the situation in November 2020, Mulroney told Page Six: “I still feel a lot of shame. I feel that people believe the worst in me.”
Friends revealed at the time Mulroney was put on heavy antidepressants.
“Jessica has always been very open about dealing with anxiety since she was 12,” said a source close to Mulroney. “But the anxiety turned into severe depression and suicidal thoughts.”
Her mother had to come over to care for her, the source said, adding: “Jess couldn’t talk without crying. She didn’t feel like herself on the meds and she didn’t want to talk to anyone. She could barely respond to a text message.”
Ben, who quit his job as a TV presenter to help his wife, told a pal at the time: “I would wake up and Jess wouldn’t be in bed, and my mind would go to the worst.”
In November 2021, Mulroney told her followers “there is hope” at the end of the tunnel, writing, “I’ve found it through sobriety and therapy. My life is happy again. I wish this for you all.”
More recently, Ben has recently transformed himself into a podcaster with a right-wing tilt.
“They presented a united front at the time,” another source said,”It was them against the world, and they were so angry for a while that the anger possibly fueled them. For a while. But in many ways, the incident also exposed cracks in their marriage.”