Meghan Markle’s close friend, Kelly McKee Zajfen, has spoken about her friendship with the Duchess of Sussex during an event on Thursday, calling her an “incredible role model.”
The friends of over 20 years were in attendance for the Alliance for Children’s Rights 34th Annual Champions for Children event at the Beverly Wiltshire.
Ms McKee Zafjen co-founded the Alliance of Moms to support the Alliance for Children’s Rights in 2014, which provides legal services, education, safe housing, and support for at-risk children.
At the event on Thursday, she spoke about her relationship with the Duchess of Sussex, saying they met “in a different life”.
Kelly McKee Zajfen has praised Meghan Markle for the role model she has become
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She continued: “She’s (Meghan) an incredible role model in living a life of service. She does not do everything loudly; she does things quietly, so it’s really beautiful to watch.
“I think we feed off of each other because we love to give back, and we love to support and be of service to others.
“Meghan is one of my best friends and I'm honored that she said yes [to presenting] and that she's been along this journey with me as well.
"She supports the alliance and she's been doing this for a few years now.
“She not only shows up for my family, but it's a real privilege to be able to watch her mother too and so it means a lot for her to be a part of this.
“We met 20 years ago, in a different life, and it's so amazing to show up for each other when things are also not perfect and great.
“She's been a part of my journey with the loss of my son, and she hasn't left my side since. It's a beautiful friendship, and I'm really grateful to have her.”
The pair have been friends for over 20 years
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Meghan awarded her friend an award in honour of their close friendship for her philanthropic work during the ceremony.
After the event, Ms McKee Zafjen concluded to Hello: “I'm honoured and humbled to be a part of such an incredible organisation that helps families and pregnant parenting foster youth.
"A lot of times things happen quietly, and it feels really good to shine a light on our foster youth tonight, and our pregnant and parenting community. I'm honoured.”
The event marked the first time that Meghan has been seen in public since her lifestyle brand split from streaming giant Netflix.
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Earlier this month, it was announced that after a year of working together, Meghan would take full ownership of her brand, with Netflix stepping back.
Netflix provided backend staff as well as development teams to help As Ever when it launched in March 2025, but they are now being organised by the duchess.
Well-placed insiders claimed that the relationship between the streaming site and the Sussexes has been "far from a fairytale".
Meghan Markle was making her first public appearance since the split from Netflix was announced
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Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Bela Bajaria, set the record straight following the claims, saying: “We still have a relationship with them. We have movies in development with them. We have an amazing doc with them.
“They have things in development on the TV and film side. Deals come and go all the time, and we don’t renew so many deals, those just don’t get as much press for obvious reasons. There’s no juicy story there."
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