MEGHAN Markle’s former friend claims she needs Los Angeles more than the city needs her.
British socialite Lizzie Cundy, 56, attended the LA Children’s Hospital Gala – the same event the Duchess of Sussex went to – on Saturday.
Meghan wore a plunging red Carolina Herrera gown – which she had previously worn at a gala for veterans with Prince Harry in New York in 2021.
Lizzie, who wore a $339 (£259) Pia Michi dress, told the Mail: “There wasn’t a great deal of warmth from people when she arrived. She wasn’t there long – she seemed to be there for the photographs.”
She added: “Meghan needs LA more than LA needs her. LA people feel they’ve been played by her. I’d have worn a different one if I’d known.”
Lizzie previously claimed that Meghan “ghosted” her, cutting off all contact, once she became engaged to Prince Harry.
In an address at the event, Meghan said: “No one wants to be in a position where you need to go to a place like this … but if you have to, the best place in the world you could go would be Children’s Hospital LA.”
Lizzie has this month been soaking up the sun in Los Angeles, expanding her already-extensive contacts book and working on some top secret projects.
At the gala, she posed for snaps with boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and Colin Hanks, son of Toy Story star Tom.
A source told The Sun: “Lizzie was relieved Meghan left the gala early, avoiding what could have been a very icy reunion.
“She’s been very open about how Meghan ghosted her after meeting Harry and was hurt by the sudden cut-off.
“It would have been incredibly awkward, given Lizzie didn’t even get an invite to the wedding.”
The former model struck up a friendship with Meghan after being asked to accompany her to a charity dinner in 2013.
She said at the time: “We were having a girly chat and then she said, ‘Do you know any famous guys? I’m single and I really love English men.’ So I said, ‘We’ll go out and find you someone.'”
The claims come after The Sun’s first ever Royal Exclusive Live show, featuring Arthur Edwards and Jennie Bond.
Veteran royal correspondent Jennie said: “Meghan is not popular. She doesn’t want to come back and they are going their own ways, to some extent”.
The pair spoke on our first Royal Exclusive Live show, which you can watch on our YouTube channel.
The event was hosted on Friday in front of a live audience of more than 100 special guests.
Mr Edwards said: “I don’t think Meghan can come here much. I don’t think people think too much of her.
“I think she’s struggling in popularity in the UK and I think they seem to be doing things separately now.
“She’s got her programme and he’s got his. He comes into Britain now with no fuss.
“He’s come for the Invictus Games, in and out with no fuss, he came for his uncle’s funeral, no fuss.”
Jennie added: “The point is he doesn’t want to come back into the Royal Family, I think.
“He regarded it as a trap. He still thinks his father and his brother are trapped and he’s finding his own way.
“All credit to him. I think Meghan has her own independent style and way of life.
“Yes, it’s not in tune with the people in the UK. She’s not popular and I don’t think she wants to come back.
“Therefore they are going their own ways, to an extent. But I hope and believe that Harry is very happy in his life.”
By Summer Raemason
PRINCE Harry’s tattoo shop visit and upcoming solo trip without Meghan is a major hint the couple could have separate future plans, claimed an expert.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, was spotted at a tattoo parlour in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and stayed for over an hour yesterday.
It was also revealed Harry will be jetting to Lesotho and South Africa early next month without Meghan Markle.
This comes after the duke attended at a string of events in New York unaccompanied by his wife, who stayed behind in Montecito, California.
Their separate appearances, including Harry’s surprise TV stint and tour of a haunted maze on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, has sparked rampant speculation regarding their future together.
Royal expert Hugo Vickers hailed the upcoming Lesotho and South Africa trips.
He told The Sun: “I rather commend what he’s doing with this, because this is more outgoing.
“It’s like when he does things with the Invictus Games and things like that.
“But there seems to be a pattern forming, even in these last few days, that he is going out on his own and doing things.”
The expert suggested there could be multiple reasons for the divide.
“One could be that, you know. He does indeed wish to establish himself more as the old Harry,” he said.
“It could be quite simply that Meghan Markle has responsibilities with her young children, and therefore feels she has to stay at home with them.
But he added: “There is a separation of, you know, of their different engagements, and that he’s going to be going more solo, in which case watch this space.”
Meghan and Harry have put on a largely inseparable front since quitting the UK and moving to the States in 2020.
But Mr Vickers warned the duke may have grown tired of Meg’s presence – and the negativity it attracts.
“It always seems to me that when she’s around she’s dictating the narrative, and that he kind of is very compliant and just goes along,” he said.
“A lot of the things that he says publicly I have always suspected are dictated by her. So I do wonder a little bit whether he isn’t trying to establish himself more in his own right.”
However, the expert hinted Meghan could still be behind everything.
He said: “It could be that she commends this idea because it gives him more of a a profile and sort of ups his game, and therefore, when they go out together in public, they’re more valuable.”
On the future of Harry and Meghan’s relationship, Mr Vickers added “personally think it’s quite likely to not end too well for [Harry]”.
Regarding rumours swirling their marriage, the expert suggested they may stay together – to preserve their image.
“It is possible that they need to keep stay together to keep their brand,” he said.
