The Duchess of Sussex and Ms Mulroney have been linked since Meghan’s days in Canada for the show Suits in 2011. After last year saw reports surge the pair had fallen out, Ms Mulroney has stayed silent about the Duchess’s 40th birthday initiative 40x40 initiative.

       On August 4, Meghan released a video to her Archewell charity website encouraging people to donate 40 minutes of their time to mentor women re-entering the workplace.

       Despite winning endorsements from Adele and Stella McCartney, Ms Mulroney posted nothing about her best friend's initiative.

       Reports also held Ms Mulroney uploaded, and then deleted, an Instagram post about friends who “distance” themselves.

       As of writing, the Canadian has not re-uploaded the post about friends.

       READ MORE: Harry and Meghan may be finding freedom but they’re losing respect

       A palace insider told The Daily Mail Mrs Mulroney was “more influential on Megxit than anyone really realised”.

       One woman, who knows both Toronto-based Jessica and her husband Ben Mulroney, also told the outlet: “Jess would post about the opening of an envelope, so the fact she’s the only one of Meghan’s close friends not to wish her a public happy birthday is definitely strange.

       “It is something which has certainly raised eyebrows. Yes, Jessica was always protective of her friendship with Meghan.

       “But it was always something that was there, front and centre. You could tell how important it was to Jessica."

       Ms Mulroney came under fire last year after a race row with influencer Sasha Exeter over the former TV host’s “white privilege”.

       Ms Exeter claimed Ms Mulroney “took offence” at her posts about Black Lives Matter, and was sent “a trail of offensive messages” and was allegedly threatened by her.

       Ms Mulroney was reported to have said: “I have also spoken to companies and people about the way you’ve treated me unfairly.

       “You think your voice matters, well it only matters if you express it with kindness and without shaming people who are simply trying to learn. Good luck.”

       Ms Mulroney apologised for her comments, but was also alleged to have threatened to sue Ms Exeter for publicising the issue.

       After the controversy, Ms Mulroney lost her job as a presenter at CTV and as host on her show I Do Redo.

       Page Six reported at the time Meghan and Ms Mulroney’s longstanding friendship was broken by the scandal, with a source close to the pair saying their relationship was already rocky before it.

       Sources close to Meghan told Page Six: “I don’t know what the tipping point was, but Jess has been on the outs for some time. Their friendship is definitely not what it was.

       “And really, how can you have such a close friendship when one person is basically making a career out of the friendship?”

       After returning to social media in August, Ms Mulroney hit back at reports she and Meghan had fallen out over the issue.

       She said on her Instagram story: “I’m going to tell this once and for all. Meghan and I are family.

       “She is the kindest friend and has checked up on me every day.

       “Tabloid culture is atrocious. It creates lies and hurtful storyline. Stop feeding into it. Done.”

       Express.co.uk has contacted jessica Mulroney's representatives for comment