One of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s key mentors in America has been billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who joined them them on Friday for a star-studded book event in California, which also featured the likes of Ellen DeGeneres and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos.
The Duke and Duchess arrived in style to the literary evening, rolling up in a dark Range Rover before greeting their hosts and other celebrity guests. The event was being held for the Hollywood literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and cosmetics entrepreneur Victoria Jackson, in a shop that had been inspired by a term Harry had used to describe the influential women in his life.
At the bookshop event near Montecito, the Duke of Sussex paid tribute to his friend and ally Oprah, who he has previously revealed that he has a two-word nickname for. The star chat show host had been instrumental in the pair stepping back from royal life and making their move over the pond, conducting their bombshell 2021 interview that opened up their rift with the Royal Family to the public.
Oprah reportedly earned the nickname after helping to launch the Prince’s own book, Spare, which further cemented this rift between Harry and his father King Charles, and brother William, with a laundry list of family tensions, disagreements, and full-blown fights exposed for the first time.
When the Duke and Duchess made their leap across the pond, Walsh, Jackson, and Winfrey, were the figures who took the couple under their wing. Speaking at the launch of his memoir Spare, Prince Harry is reported by the Mail to have thanked the trio and called them his “fairy godmothers.”
At the time, the Prince would likely not have been able to guess that a year and a half later, he would be standing in a shop named after his tribute, hugging his mentors – with the Californian bookshop being named ‘Godmothers’ in honour of his comments.
Among their friends and peers, the royal couple appeared relaxed, dancing to popstar Chappell Roan and joining some of the other notable attendees in giving speeches to the crowd. Images from the event show the glamorous Duchess, clad in a casual sleeveless collared jumpsuit, hugging close friend Oprah Winfrey during the festivities, reports the Daily Mail.
The couple were also seen posing for photos outside of the Godmothers bookshop, standing with the owners while Prince Harry even cracked a wry joke when asked for a book recommendation. Pointing to a copy of his Spare, the Duke indicated his weighty memoir as a worthy read.
Victoria Jackson, who founded the bookshop with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, told Town and Country that they wanted the venue to be a “safe space” for the Sussexes, who have often complained about intrusion into their private Lives. Jackson said: “Seeing them be able to come here and be in a safe space… it’s what we want it to be.”
She added: “Their support, and the light that it will shine on Godmothers, is pretty extraordinary.”
Godmothers is not afraid to promote the books of its friends, with Harry’s Spare and Meghan’s children’s story The Bench both front and centre for shoppers.
