Meghan Markle was missing from her friend Serena Williams‘ combined baby shower and gender reveal party. Serena, 41, shared a YouTube video from the event — where the tennis pro revealed she’s expecting a baby girl — on July 31 and Meghan, 41, was nowhere to be found in the six minute-long footage. It’s possible Meghan was at the event but didn’t want to be included in the video, for privacy purposes. Or, Meghan may have decided to skip the party where Serena and her husband Alexis Ohanian learned the sex of their second child.
Meghan and Serena have been friends for over a decade. Serena attended Meghan’s Royal Wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. Serena even helped throw Meghan’s first baby shower at the Mark Hotel in New York in Feb. 2019. The Duchess of Sussex was pregnant at the time with her and Harry’s son Archie, who turned 4 in May. Serena spoke about the process of coordinating Meghan’s shower in April 2019. “Planning something like that takes a lot of effort,” the professional athlete said in an interview with Business of Fashion. “I’m a perfectionist, so I’m like, ‘Let’s make it perfect.’ ”
Over three years after Meghan’s shower, Serena and the former royal confirmed that their friendship was going strong, when Serena appeared on the first episode of Meghan’s Spotify podcast Archetypes. Serena promoted the episode on Instagram by sharing a photo of the pair with her daughter Olympia. During the podcast, Serena and Meghan had a great conversation that Harry, 38, briefly interrupted so he could say to to the tennis legend.
Another instance of the pair’s strong friendship was when Serena supported Meghan after that infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey, where she and Harry discussed their reasons for leaving the Royal Family. Serena wrote a touching letter to the former Suits actress after the Oprah interview came out in March 2021.
“Meghan Markle, my selfless friend, lives her life — and leads by example — with empathy and compassion,” Serena wrote. “She teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble. Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she experienced.” Serena also said in the letter that she could relate to Meghan facing racism while she was a working royal in the U.K.