Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Spotted in Rome for Close Friend Misha Nonoo's Wedding

The Duchess and Sussex and her designer friend recently collaborated for the charity Smart Works

It’s a wedding weekend for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry!

The royal couple have been spotted in Rome to celebrate the wedding of Meghan’s close friend, designer Misha Nonoo, to American energy entrepreneur Michael Hess. Sources confirm they arrived via a commercial airline.

The festive weekend comes before the royal couple head to South Africa for the start of their tour — along with four-month-old Archie, who did not make the trip to Italy — on Monday.

The wedding is set to be a star-studded affair, with Hello! reporting that Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, Ivanka trump and Jared Kushner, Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner, and Harry’s cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are among the expected guests.

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Misha Nonoo
Chris Jackson/Getty. Inset: Andrew Toth/Getty

Nonoo has been a close friend of Meghan’s for several years, and it has been speculated that she helped introduce Meghan and Harry. The Bahrain-born business woman, who was raised in London, has long run in royal circles. Until 2016, she was married to Paddle8 founder Alexander Gilkes, who is one of Harry’s closest friends. Shortly after Meghan met Harry, she and Nonoo took a trip to Spain together.

Michael Hess and Misha Nonoo
Max Mumby/Getty Images
12th Annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards - Arrivals
Andrew Toth/Getty Images

Nonoo also attended Meghan’s royal wedding to Prince Harry last year and her baby shower in N.Y.C. in February. (Princess Eugenie was even in attendance at her pop-up launch event last week!).

Meghan turned to Misha Nonoo to design a crisp white shirt for her capsule collection on behalf of the Smart Works charity. At the launch, Nonoo told PEOPLE the project “aligned so closely with my values of empowering women and dressing women for their professional pursuits, so there was no way I’d say no to it. I was asked specially to do the white shirt because that’s our signature. It was actually a very, very easy process. The Duchess is a consummate professional. It’s been a real pleasure to work with everyone on the team.”

Princess Eugenie of York and Misha Nanoo
Steven Ferdman/Getty Images

Meghan also wore one of Nonoo’s designs — “The Husband Shirt” during her first public appearance alongside Harry at the Toronto Invictus Games in 2017.

meghan-markle-misha-nonoo
Meghan Markle/Instagram

“She is an extraordinarily supportive, kind and loving friend,” Nonoo told PEOPLE after the launch of the capsule collection last week. “From the beginning of our relationship we bonded over our shared ethos about supporting other women — it was something that we absolutely felt, and as friends who support each other over the years, you see that.”

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