Victoria Jackson, known as the Queen of Cosmetics, is not just renowned for her beauty empire but also for her lavish hospitality. As a close friend of the Duchess of Sussex, she offers a gracious welcome to Meghan and Prince Harry at her stunning residences scattered across prime locations.

Jackson’s impressive real estate portfolio includes opulent homes on New York’s Upper East Side, the glamorous hills of Beverly Hills, and a serene retreat nestled between the mountains and ocean in Montecito. These luxurious abodes provide the perfect backdrop for high-profile guests.

Recently, it has come to light that Meghan Markle has been a fortunate beneficiary of Jackson’s generosity. When the Duchess was interviewed by Harper’s Bazaar, she was introduced at the door of Jackson’s stately New York brownstone by a house manager, highlighting the close ties between the two women.

According to insiders, Meghan and Prince Harry frequently find solace in Jackson’s New York residence whenever they visit the city for business. Notably, in 2023, the couple was staying there during an incident involving a controversial encounter with paparazzi.

A well-connected source says that Meghan and Prince Harry habitually stay there when they have business in the city. Indeed, they were staying there in 2023 when there was a disputed car chase with paparazzi.

Exquisitely appointed, the property boasts the interior glass elevator and kitchen with oak worktops noted in the magazine’s cover interview.

‘They have been staying there for years, they always stay at Jackson’s houses,’ says the source.

I’m told that Jackson’s home in Los Angeles is also used as a base by the couple. They are understood to have stayed there two weeks ago before – controversially – going to Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday party.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex regularly use Victoria Jackson’s New York pad when they have business in the city

Award-winning make-up tycoon Jackson also has a mansion in Montecito, the same California neighbourhood where the Sussexes live

That whopping 14-bedroom Beverly Hills mansion, originally built for silent film star Buster Keaton in 1926, has a 50 ft living room, 60 ft pool, and staff quarters. Actor Cary Grant previously lived there and its olive-lined driveway is 500 ft long – such a distance that guests are shuttled to the front door on a golf cart.

Meghan also uses Jackson’s other mansion in Montecito. Indeed, she had her 41st birthday party there in 2021 rather than at her own home and, the following year, she met an interviewer from The Cut there. It’s a venue that’s also proved popular with children Archie and Lilibet, who apparently love petting the micropigs Jackson keeps there.

‘Victoria’s houses make their place in Montecito look like a prison or a beach shack,’ I’m told. ‘It suits them for security, the houses are unbelievable, and they don’t have to pay at all, which is also appealing.’

What’s more, the generous Jackson apparently lends the couple her Dassault Falcon private jet for trips. This will save them hundreds of thousands of dollars and allow them to travel with enhanced security.

And earlier this month, Meghan set up her first ever pop-up store, featuring her As Ever produce, in Godmothers, the Montecito bookstore co-owned by Jackson and her literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. An Instagram Reel on November 6 showed the duchess arranging her fruit spreads and candles in an event space on the first floor.

Clearly, through the patronage of this elegant, super-rich businesswoman, the couple are managing to have a quasi-royal lifestyle without spending a dime.

Indeed, Jackson, 70, appears to have become something of a mother figure to both the prince and Meghan. They were introduced to each other by feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who is one of Jackson’s New York neighbours, soon after ‘Megxit’.

They quickly became close friends and Prince Harry and Meghan gladly fell into Jackson’s millionaires-only social circle, which also includes Kardashian momager Jenner, who Jackson has been close to for decades. Ditto Oprah Winfrey.

In return, the Sussexes have supported Jackson’s ventures.

Before the As Ever launch this month, they have attended a number of events at the Godmothers book store in Summerland, close to Montecito.

And last year, Meghan wore foundation and blusher from Jackson’s new range No Makeup Makeup to the ESPY awards where Harry received an honour. Unusually, her make up artist Daniel Martin credited the brand on Instagram.

I was told that no money changed hands and it wasn’t an official ambassadorship – just a sweet gesture between friends.

Jackson wrote on Instagram: ‘You look stunning, Meghan! Thank you @danielmartin so much for your support with No Makeup Makeup’s red carpet debut! Xo Victoria.’

Jackson was among the friends of Meghan’s featured in the first series of With Love, Meghan, joining her as one of the ‘Maj squad’ to play the game mahjong.

So who is the woman who is playing such a significant role in the life of Harry, separated from his family, and Meghan, who has cast out her father?

Jackson is a genuinely impressive entrepreneur who has overcome poverty and trauma. In an interview in January with Meghan’s favoured magazine, People, Jackson said that she was born to a mother too young to have a child and raised in a house with an alcoholic stepfather. Aged 17, she was sexually assaulted and stabbed in her own bedroom by a serial rapist who was later convicted of multiple crimes.

The Duchess of Sussex is the new Harper’s Bazaar cover star with a ‘bareface’ portrait and an article where she hails the ‘childlike wonder and playfulness’ of Prince Harry and his ‘bold’ love for her 

‘I never went back in my room again,’ she told the magazine. ‘I could have let that be a defining moment where I never got off the floor again. Or I could go, “OK, that is really horrible and I’m going to do the work to help me get to the other side. It’s always going to be there, but how can I move through it?”‘

She moved to Hollywood and after winning a scholarship to beauty school in 1976 embarked on a successful career as a make-up artist. In 1986 she created her own foundation and formed Victoria Jackson Cosmetics. It was a backlash to the heavy make-up which dominated the Eighties, and she promised: ‘When you look better, you feel better and when you feel better you can change the world.’

She sold $1million of cosmetics in the first week of her infomercial and went on to have a stellar career on the home shopping network QVC, with women buying into her ‘No Makeup Makeup’ philosophy. She says that during this period she generated a billion dollars in sales.

In 1991 she married for a second time to wealthy Bill Guthy, the co-founder of an infomercials business and they had children Ali and Jackson. In 2008, Ali was diagnosed with the rare autoimmune disease neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and given four years to live. Jackson started a charitable foundation to help people to better understand and treat the condition.

By 2020, there were three approved treatments for the disease and she says that she has contributed more than $80million of her own money to the charity. Her daughter Ali is now 31.

In 2024, Jackson returned to her make-up roots by launching a new brand, now called No Makeup Makeup – on QVC.

She credits Meghan’s natural look at her 2018 wedding with sparking interest in pared-down beauty. ‘I think now more than ever, people feel, “I don’t have to hide behind it all.” Look at women like Pamela Anderson and Sharon Stone. They’re feeling more confident in themselves and in their skin. That’s always been the philosophy of No Makeup Makeup,’ she said.

She has written five books, and founded the Godmothers book store with her literary agent. She also – like Meghan – has an interest in design and decorating.

Jackson’s close friend and mentor, feminist icon Steinem, told People: ‘If you put her in a novel, it would be unbelievable.’

Meanwhile, in an interview in 2021, Meghan referred to Jackson as her ‘safe harbour’ – and now we know what she meant.