Pregnant Duchess Meghan Markle’s Best Friends Speak out in Midst of Drama With Sister Samantha

Meghan Markle’s friends are coming to her defense as estranged half-sister Samantha Markle continues her attacks on the pregnant Duchess.

Anonymously speaking to PEOPLE, five women who are part of Meghan Markle‘s innermost circle broke their silence for the first time in two years to “stand up against the global bullying we are seeing and speak the truth about our friend.”

Describing the newly minted Duchess as “selfless,” “the best listener,” and having “silently sat back and endured the lies and untruths” since tying the knot to Prince Harry in May of 2018, the women addressed a number of topics, including the continuous headlines sparked by Markle’s own family.

“They have been made to appear as siblings who had this falling out, and that’s not the truth at all,” one friend said of Markle’s estranged half-sister Samantha and half-brother Thomas Jr., who have reportedly not had any communication with the Duchess in years. “They were not a part of her life.”

Both Samantha and Thomas have notably appeared in headlines since the months leading up to the royal wedding, with Samantha’s attacks against her sister continuing well after Markle was welcomed into the British Royal Family.

Samantha recently announced that she would be writing and publishing two tell-all books about her sister, In the Shadows of the Duchess I and In the Shadows of the Duchess II. The books, according to Samantha, will “cover everything from behind the scenes that the world does not know about.”

The books are set for release dates in April, around the time that Markle is set to give birth to her first child, and July, the same month as Markle’s birthday, which will mark her first birthday as a mother.

The books will also reportedly cover Markle’s strained relationship with her father, Thomas Markle Sr., who was set to walk his daughter down the aisle before a paparazzi scandal and a series of health concerns forced him to back out. Since that announcement, the Duchess has not had any contact with her father, a point that Samantha has frequently condemned in her interviews with various outlets, though Markle’s friends claim that Samantha and Thomas Markle’s claims that he cannot get in contact with his daughter are false.

“He knows how to get in touch with her,” one of the Duchess’ friends said. “He’s never called; he’s never texted. It’s super-painful.”

Markle’s friends added that what people see of Markle on her public outings is the real “Meg,” stating that “That’s how she crouches down with our kids at home. That’s how she plays with them. That’s how she engages with people and how she always has.”

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