Meghan Markle and Serena Williams’ Sweetest Quotes About Their Friendship

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Meghan Markle and Serena Williams’ Sweetest Quotes About Their Friendship

A special bond! Meghan Markle and Serena Williams have had each other’s backs for years. The former Suits star and the tennis champion first hit it off when they were put on the same flag football team at DIRECTV's Celebrity Beach Bowl in February 2014. In the months following the event, Meghan started showing support for Williams at her tennis matches and more. "My eyes are closed but my heart is so open!" Meghan captioned a sweet snap of the pair in September 2016 via Instagram. "So proud of your new collection @serenawilliams Happy I could be there to support you xx #NYFW.” Though Meghan started spending more time in London after she met Prince Harry, her friendship with Williams didn’t suffer. The athlete even attended the couple’s royal wedding in May 2018. “You know, I’ve known Meghan for years, so it was good to see my friend happy,” Williams told InStyle in June 2018 about the nuptials. [jwplayer IS9zSB9Z-l3ahXupL] Less than a year later, the Grand Slam title winner planned Meghan’s New York City baby shower at the Mark Hotel in New York City in February 2019. (The Duchess of Sussex was pregnant with son Archie at the time.) “Planning something like that takes a lot of effort,” Williams said in an interview with Business of Fashion in April 2019. “I’m a perfectionist, so I’m like, ‘Let’s make it perfect.’” Williams proved to be a good friend once again in January 2020 after Meghan and Harry announced their plans to step back from the royal family. “Yeah. I have absolutely no comments on anything with that,” Williams quipped after a reporter asked how she felt about Meghan’s “extraordinary and historic” move during a post-match interview at the Australian Open. “But good try. You tried. You did good.” Harry and Meghan made their royal exit permanent in February 2021. Several months later, they welcomed their second child, daughter Lilibet Diana, in June 2021. Scroll through to read Meghan and Williams’ best quotes about each other:

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Meghan Markle and Serena Williams’ Sweetest Quotes About Their Friendship

A special bond! Meghan Markle and Serena Williams have had each other’s backs for years. The former Suits star and the tennis champion first hit it off when they were put on the same flag football team at DIRECTV's Celebrity Beach Bowl in February 2014. In the months following the event, Meghan started showing support for Williams at her tennis matches and more. "My eyes are closed but my heart is so open!" Meghan captioned a sweet snap of the pair in September 2016 via Instagram. "So proud of your new collection @serenawilliams Happy I could be there to support you xx #NYFW.” Though Meghan started spending more time in London after she met Prince Harry, her friendship with Williams didn’t suffer. The athlete even attended the couple’s royal wedding in May 2018. “You know, I’ve known Meghan for years, so it was good to see my friend happy,” Williams told InStyle in June 2018 about the nuptials. [jwplayer IS9zSB9Z-l3ahXupL] Less than a year later, the Grand Slam title winner planned Meghan’s New York City baby shower at the Mark Hotel in New York City in February 2019. (The Duchess of Sussex was pregnant with son Archie at the time.) “Planning something like that takes a lot of effort,” Williams said in an interview with Business of Fashion in April 2019. “I’m a perfectionist, so I’m like, ‘Let’s make it perfect.’” Williams proved to be a good friend once again in January 2020 after Meghan and Harry announced their plans to step back from the royal family. “Yeah. I have absolutely no comments on anything with that,” Williams quipped after a reporter asked how she felt about Meghan’s “extraordinary and historic” move during a post-match interview at the Australian Open. “But good try. You tried. You did good.” Harry and Meghan made their royal exit permanent in February 2021. Several months later, they welcomed their second child, daughter Lilibet Diana, in June 2021. Scroll through to read Meghan and Williams’ best quotes about each other:

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The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

"We hit it off immediately, taking pictures, laughing through the flag football game we were both playing in, and chatting not about tennis or acting, but about all the good old fashioned girly stuff," Meghan wrote on her since-deleted blog The Tig. ”So began our friendship."

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Shine Bright

“Her personality just shines,” Williams told Vanity Fair when asked about Meghan in September 2017. The athlete also revealed that the future-duchess asked for tips on how to handle media attention. “I told her, ‘You’ve got to be who you are, Meghan. You can’t hide,’” Williams recalled. 

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Biggest Cheerleader

Meghan supported Williams at the U.S. Open championship in September 2014. "She did it! @serenawilliams ! #bravo #friends #usopen,” the Suits alum wrote via Instagram at the time.

A few months later, Meghan celebrated Williams win at the 2015 Australian Open via Twitter: ”So happy for you @serenawilliams!! I was juuuust hugging you for your win at #usopen. Now @AustralianOpen! #onfire.” 

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Always There

Williams praised Meghan for flying from the U.K. to New York City for the U.S. Open women’s final in September 2019 with a then-6-month-old Archie. 

“She flew all the way with a newborn to see me play in New York and flew all the way back that night, and I probably couldn’t have done that,” Williams told Access Hollywood in November 2019, noting Meghan’s decision to go to the match “kinda goes to show you what an amazing person she is.”

“I just really think she’s the strongest — literally the strongest — person I know and the nicest [and] sweetest,” Williams continued. “And that’s just one of the many things that she does for me,” she added. “I call her, text her anytime, crying, upset — she’s always there. Doesn’t matter what she’s going through, she just sets time away, and she’s just so amazing.”

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Not Worried About the Negativity

While Meghan made headlines for her security requests and attire at Wimbledon 2019, Williams wasn’t here for the negativity.

“I didn’t know there was negative media out there. Any time I see her name attached to anything, I don’t read it,” she told reporters in July 2019. “She couldn’t be a better friend to me. Low moments, high moments, she’s always there, and that’s all I want to be to her.”

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Motherhood

“She’ll be the best mom, for sure,” Williams told E! News in April 2019, one month before Archie was born. 

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So Much in Common

"She quickly became a confidante I would text when I was traveling, the friend I would rally around for her tennis matches, and the down-to-earth chick I was able to grab lunch with just a couple weeks ago in Toronto," Meghan once wrote on The Tig. “We are both the same age, have a penchant for hot sauces, and adore fashion, but what connects us more than those things is perhaps our belief in exceeding expectations–our endless ambition."

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Amazing Meghan

"She is the most positive, amazing human that I know," Williams told E! News in September 2019. ”Everyone needs to know how amazing she is.” 

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Stylish Duo

Williams told Us exclusively in December 2019 that she keeps Meghan in mind when she’s designing clothes for her S by Serena line. “Because she’s one of my best friends,” the tennis pro said.

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Proud Pal

Following Meghan's emotional March 2021 interview on CBS, the Olympic gold medalist championed her friend's strength. "I know it's not easy — and you can see from the interview that it wasn't easy — but she had so much poise and she still had so much class," Williams said on the Stuart Weitzman Shine Series at the time. "I just think that she is the strongest person I know. I don't know anyone else that could handle everything on such a global scale the way that she's had to handle things that are just untrue, minute after minute. Not even day after day. Just minute after minute, just another untrue allegation being thrown at her."

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Their Strong Bond

"We became such fast friends," Meghan said of Williams during the inaugural episode of her "Archetypes" podcast in August 2022. "You experience behind closed doors the pain that I'm going through and vice versa. But I think what's so interesting is even though that's on a world stage, I don't know if that feels much different for any woman. If you're in a small town and you see someone saying something about your best friend that is just completely untrue, [you know] how that feels."

The tennis icon, for her part, praised her friend's "fearless" attitude. "You're way more fearless than I am," Williams said. "That is absolutely true."

The duo also noted that they always have a great time when they hang out, in part because they're always in stitches. "I think you’re funny!" Meghan told her friend. "And I love that you are someone who always laughs at my jokes. Either we’re the only two people in the world who find each other funny or we're genuinely funny. But I mean, most of our time chatting is just laughing."