Meghan Markle’s comic-con-style appearance at an Australian ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ where women pay £1,705 for a ‘VIP experience’ including a picture with the Duchess of Sussex was brokered by the ‘third wheel’ in her marriage to Prince Harry, the Daily Mail can reveal today.
Just as it emerged that Meghan’s As Ever deal with Netflix ended, her close friend Markus Anderson has been credited with helping her secure the gig Down Under next month.
Meghan, 44, has been announced as the headline guest at the inaugural ‘Her Best Life Retreat’, a three-day event organised by the events company Besties, founded by radio host Jackie O Henderson and her close friend Gemma O’Neill.
Fans can buy ‘VIP experience’ tickets for £1,705 ($3,199) that includes a ‘group table photo with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex‘ and the chance to hear her interviewed on stage during a two-night stay in a 5-star Sydney hotel.
A gift bag will also be handed out – and there is speculation it could contain As Ever staples such as jam, flower sprinkles and candles.
Ms O’Neill said that Markus reached out to her to suggest Meghan as their guest of honour. She said Mr Anderson is ‘the bee’s knees and a top-notch human’ so despite Gemma’s initial reluctance she had agreed because Markus ‘wouldn’t be so close with someone who wasn’t also the same’.
Although the booking appears to have not been agreed by the Duchess of Sussex directly. ‘All of my dealings with Meghan’s team have been so lovely, they’re so delightful’, Gemma added.
It is not known if Meghan is being remunerated but experts have predicted that Meghan will attend as a ‘paid celebrity’. One royal source likened the appearance to the former Duchess of York. ‘She’s basically Fergie,’ they said.
The Daily Mail can also reveal today that Meghan has denied that her trip to Australia with Prince Harry is about the global expansion of As Ever – calling it ‘speculation’ – but her spokesman also urged her fans to ‘watch this space’.
Few can have had more impact on Meghan’s life than handsome Canadian Markus Anderson, because it was him who organised her blind date with Prince Harry. And it was him who reached out to the Australians behind ‘Her Best Life Retreat’ while he was at her Montecito mansion.
Markus Anderson helped set up Meghan’s blind date with Harry in 2018 – and eight years on he helped set up her appearance at an Australian ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ where women will pay for a photo with her
An advertisement for the event, which is to be held in Sydney, Australia
Meghan and Harry, pictured arriving in Sydney for their trip in 2018, are expected to tour the city again and also head to Melbourne next month – but the duchess’s spokesman has said it is not related to As Ever’s international launch
Gemma O’Neill said she initially considered rejecting his idea to have Meghan meet 300 women gathering for a weekend focused on connection, wellbeing and personal development, because she didn’t consider herself worthy.
She said: ‘Markus messaged me because he was at Meghan’s house. Markus is also very close friends to Meghan and has been for many years, long before she was married, and they have a beautiful friendship too’.
And she has concluded that Markus is a ‘top-notch human’, so Meghan must be too. ‘I’ve always felt protective that my friend Markus is the bee’s knees, he’s a top-notch human. The first person to be there, check on you. I knew that Markus wouldn’t be so close or best friends with someone who wasn’t also the same’, she said.
Along with access to Meghan, the chance to ask her questions and a photo with her, paying guests have been promised the ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ in a brand new 5-star hotel.
As well as hearing the Duchess of Sussex speak in the ballroom of the InterContinental, there will be a DJ, disco and the chance to lounge by the pool with cocktails overlooking Coogee Beach.
Inside the hotel there will be the chance to meditate, try sound healing and discuss women’s psychology.
Ms O’Neill said ‘there’s no one more shocked than me’ that Meghan would headline the event and host a Q&A session for guests, and admitted she almost turned her down because ‘I felt like I didn’t deserve her’.
The exclusive event costs thousands of pounds for the weekend
A post on social media from the retreat also announcing that Meghan will be involved
Before deciding the audience of 300 women did.
‘She’s risen above everything and I have so much respect for that’, she said.
‘Early bird’ tickets to the retreat with Meghan start at $2,699 Australian dollars, while the VIP experience costs $3,199 per person.
‘Join us for an intimate luxury weekend by the ocean designed to bring women together for powerful conversations, relaxation, laughter and unforgettable experiences,’ the event website states.
‘The highlight of the weekend will be an in-person conversation and gala dinner with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. An intimate gala like no other.
‘This is your chance to step away from everyday life and spend a weekend focusing on connection, growth, joy and celebration.
‘Come by yourself, come with your best friend, or bring a whole group of your favourite women.’
Markus was there with Meghan on the July 2016 holiday to London when she met Harry for the first time.
He set up their blind date at the city’s Soho House at 76 Dean Street and was in the tight circle who helped keep their nascent love affair secret as they courted in Toronto while she filmed Suits.
In 2018 Markus organised her hen do and was front and centre at the royal wedding in Windsor.
Megxit in 2020 led to a reshuffle in her inner circle including the jettisoning of her ‘BFF’ Jessica Mulroney.
Some feared Markus had gone the same way when he did not appear at all on With Love, Meghan, where she hosted friends at a TV mansion.
Not only did Gemma O’Neill reveal that Markus helped broker the deal, she inadvertently also told the world that Meghan and Mr Anderson are close.
Last year a friend claimed that Markus and Meghan were friends but not as close as they were before she married Harry
Anderson (pictured here with Harry and Meghan in Vancouver in 2023) was nowhere to be seen in her recent Netflix lifestyle show With Love, Meghan
Meghan’s best friend Markus had been off the scene for some time, his own friends admitted last year, and claimed they were no longer best friends.
The tall, handsome Canadian was a third wheel in the early days of her romance with Prince Harry — and he was front and centre at their 2018 wedding.
However, he was nowhere to be seen in her two series and Christmas special of Netflix lifestyle show With Love, Meghan.
A friend of Anderson conceded last year that their bond ‘may’ not be quite as tight as it once was, in large part to Anderson’s extremely busy professional life – he’s an executive at Soho House and travels ‘almost constantly.’
As Meghan’s fame grew and she appeared on Oprah, a confidant of his said that he didn’t like the spotlight on him.
The last time he and Meghan were spotted together was at a baby shower for a mutual friend in December in 2024. And before that, he hadn’t been pictured with her in years.
On his birthday in August 2016, Meghan wrote in a celebratory post on Instagram: ‘What would I do without you, my loving, supportive, and endlessly fun friend? I know what… I would be bored, and life would be infinitely less interesting. I love you SO much.’
Meghan Markle has denied that her trip to Australia with Prince Harry is about the global expansion of As Ever – calling it ‘speculation’ – but she has urged her fans to ‘watch this space’.
The Sussexes will go Down Under in mid-April to take part in a number of ‘private, business and philanthropic engagements’.
Meghan has taken control of As Ever amid claims she felt it was being held back by her business partner Netflix
But the Duchess’ team have scotched rumours that the Australia visit next month will be used as a chance to launch deliveries of jam, tea and flower sprinkles outside the United States.
It came as Meghan decided to take complete control of As Ever and split with business partner Netflix after a year.
The Duchess of Sussex had apparently felt that it will help As Ever ‘go global’ amid claims she privately felt that Netflix was too cautious and held her back.
But today she shut down rumours that her return to Australia with Harry – seven years after their wildly successful visit royal visit – will part of her lifestyle company’s international expansion.
A spokesman for Meghan’s brand said: ‘This is speculation. No decisions have been made about when or where international expansion might take place. Entering new markets is a considered process, but it’s something the brand is excited to explore as it continues to grow in this next phase’. They added tantalisingly: ‘Watch this space’.
