Prince Harry, Meghan Markle’s new celebrity pal after bitter Beckhams split
Amid rumours of a falling out with several of their celebrity buddies, the Sussexes have scored a new high-profile pal with an enduring connection to the late Princess Di.
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Amid rumours of a falling out with several of their celebrity buddies, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to have scored a new high-profile pal, with an enduring connection to the late Princess Di.
The Sussexes appear to have put a bitter split, over alleged leaks to the media, with UK A-listers David and Victoria Beckham aside to forge a new friendship with a Hollywood megastar.
According to The Sun, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have befriended movie star John Travolta.
The estranged Royals are said to have been spending time with the Pulp Fiction actor at celeb hotspot The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
Travolta famously danced with Harry’s mother Princess Diana at a White House gala dinner in 1985.
Travolta and Princess Di danced to a number of songs including the hit tune from his 1978 blockbuster Grease – You’re The One That I Want – in front of assembled media, actor Clint Eastwood and then US President Ronald Reagan.
Travolta later said it was “one of the highlights of my life”.
Travolta and the Sussexes are said to have socialised at the Beverly Hill’s ultra VIP Polo Lounge, where its trademark salad can cost almost $3,000.
The trio shared food at drinks at a party for the Sussexes’ Archewell foundation, which was hosted by the famous hotel.
The Sun reported that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not Scientologists, like Travolta but they enjoyed each other’s company.
“They all got on extremely well,” a source told the publication.
Earlier this week it was revealed the friendship between the Sussexes and the Beckhams is over amid claims of royal story leaks.
That came amid talk the Sussexes are also apparently off-side with several other celebrity buddies also.
SUSSEXES ‘PLANNING SEPARATE CAREERS’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to be planning separate career paths as the Sussex brand loses its lustre.
It comes as friends of the couple moved to debunk speculation their marriage was on the rocks, with a family insider saying their relationship is “just a dynamic that works for them” despite its “challenges”.
The duel roles, pivoting away from Hollywood, come after the Duchess lost a lucrative podcast contract with Spotify and the Duke saw his cushy Silicon Valley gig lay off 16 per cent of its staff.
“Meghan does seem to run the household and make the decisions, but it’s not that he bends for her,” the anonymous source said in a new interview. “It’s just a dynamic that works for them, and maybe one that he needs after everything he’s been through.”
On Friday, news broke that BetterUp, the career coaching start-up that hired Prince Harry as “Chief Impact Officer”, was slashing more than 100 employees despite raising USD $300 million ($A455m) at a USD $4.7 billion ($A7.13bn) valuation
It was unclear if Prince Harry was among the staff cut, and the company did not respond to requests for comment. The Duke showed no signs of disappointment as he took his wife to up-scale Montecito restaurant Tres Lune on the eve of her 42nd birthday.
It was the second time this week the couple stepped out together after a two-month hiatus on public appearances. Until releasing a video promotion for a sustainable travel initiative, they hadn’t appeared together since their “near catastrophic” New York jaunt that ended in a so-called car chase in May.
The video, full of forced laughs and strained smiles that body language experts said were signs of “tension”, was released amid rumours of an unravelling marriage.
Their Italian dinner, photographed in The Daily Mail, coincided with an exclusive interview with the family’s “insider” in People Magazine confirming marital bliss as they worked from a shared office in their new California home.
“They seemed really happy together. Harry seems to be embracing this life he has with Meghan and knows it’s a very different one than he had before, of course,” the insider said.
“They’re not into a big scene. They prefer smaller group hangouts at home, karaoke, that sort of thing,” the friend said, adding royal life “wasn’t a world they wanted for their family”.
“Everything else flows from that, for whatever time period it takes.”
As Hollywood deals with Netflix and Spotify appear to slow, their new career paths are reportedly flowing in different directions as the Duke and Duchess look to play to their strengths.
The coming release of Prince Harry’s documentary on the Invictus Games is seen as a way forward from the sordid details of his family feud, while Ms Markle is increasingly said to be feeling out a role in politics.
“I’ve heard from some very reliable sources that she is writing to people to try and secure political positions,” True Royalty TV co-founder Nick Bullen told Fox News Digital. “I think that is absolutely an ambition for her.”
Bullen, who has produced documentaries about the royal family for two decades, added that they will begin working much more separately “because brand Sussex is definitely on the wane”.
“Now, I think you’ll see them concentrating on their individual brands to try and reclaim some of the ground,” he said.
“I think it would be fascinating. Imagine a world in which she does make it to the White House. Harry is the first husband. There’s a state visit, and what happens then if Meghan is hosting [the British royal family] at the White House? You’re going to want a front-row seat for that, aren’t you?”
A state visit for a future President Markle may be the only way to guarantee the estranged side of the Windsor family is invited back to the United Kingdom after they were snubbed from the Queen’s death anniversary ceremony.
The Sussexes have not, yet, received an invitation for a family reunion at Balmoral Castle on September 8 to commemorate the one-year mark of the late monarch’s passing, and the accession of King Charles.
All senior royal family members, even Prince Andrew, are expected to be at the ceremony but there has not been “any outreach” to Prince Harry or Ms Markle, according to The Sun.
That is despite the pair being in Europe a day after to mark the start of the Invictus Games.
“If they are not included in any of those plans they will find a way to mark the significance in their own way,” a Sussex source added.
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