Prince Harry and Meghan Markle travelled to Canada on Friday evening to show their support for music mogul David Foster, who was marking four decades of his foundation at a special anniversary gala in Victoria, British Columbia.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were photographed with the 76-year-old record producer and composer alongside his wife, actress and singer Katharine McPhee, 42.
The warmth between Harry and the Canadian-American hitmaker was unmistakable.
One image captured Foster beaming as he stood arm-in-arm with the Duke, who appeared equally delighted to be at his side.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were photographed with the 76-year-old record producer and composer alongside his wife, actress and singer Katharine McPhee, 42.
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Foster has long been described as one of Harry’s “father figures”. McPhee herself has spoken openly about the bond between her husband and the royal.
In May 2020, she told Access Hollywood: “My husband has a really, really beautiful relationship with Harry. They’re so cute. They’re like father and son.”
The comparison carries particular weight given Foster’s age; born just twelve months before the monarch, he belongs squarely to the same generation as Harry’s own father.
The couple’s friendship with the Sussexes stretches back years, with Harry and Meghan having been spotted on double dates with Foster and McPhee.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle travelled to Canada on Friday evening to show their support for music mogul David Foster, who was marking four decades of his foundation at a special anniversary gala in Victoria, British Columbia.
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GETTY
Their connection also has roots in McPhee’s own history with the Duchess of Sussex. Both attended Immaculate Heart, a Catholic school in Los Angeles, where they performed in musicals together as children, though McPhee has said they were never close friends at the time.
The relationship between Foster and the Sussexes deepened when the couple stepped back from senior royal duties in January 2020.
Foster arranged for Harry and Meghan to stay at a sprawling $14.1 million waterfront property in North Saanich, near Vancouver, after McPhee learned they needed a discreet location for their first Christmas with a then-seven-month-old Archie and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.
Foster told the Mail: “I felt honoured that I was able to help Meghan there because I’m a Canadian and we’re a Commonwealth country. It’s important to us, so I grew up with that kind of sentiment.”
He added: “I was really happy to be able to help them to find a respite just to take a little time off.”
The relationship between Foster and the Sussexes deepened in a particularly practical way when the couple stepped back from senior royal duties in January 2020.
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The mansion belonged to a close friend of Foster’s, and he said he simply connected the two parties, noting he was unsure whether the Sussexes had been paying rent.
McPhee elaborated on the school connection in an interview, explaining: “She went to a school called Immaculate Heart, as did I. She went there for middle school and high school, and I went there just for middle school.”
Recalling their early encounters, McPhee said: “I did a couple of shows with her and she was always put together and great. I was never really close friends with her.”
In 2019, McPhee shared a throwback photograph of the Duchess on Instagram, writing: “Meghan and I did musicals together as kids. She grew up to be the Duchess of Sussex and I grew up to star on the West End, so same life if you ask me.”
The two couples later reconnected when McPhee was performing in Waitress in London’s West End, where she and Foster spent time with Harry and Meghan.