Friends of Meghan Markle’s first husband are still advised to ‘never mention the ‘M’ word’ after he was left ‘devastated’ when she demanded a divorce, despite being a Hollywood starlet with a new millionaire wife.

It was a typical lunchtime at Il Pastaio, an Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills, a favorite with celebrity agents, high-profile Hollywood directors and stars like Justin Beiber And Al Pacino.

At a sunny corner table, a handsome man in gold-rimmed sunglasses was sitting in the courtroom with a group of principals and agents.

While many in the packed restaurant knew who he was — he was constantly greeting his friends and fellow agents — there was one subject off the table: Meghan Markle.

for a while Duchess of Sussex She moved on with her life, and so did her ex-husband Trevor Engelson.

A friend of Engelson’s who recently saw him told the Foreign Office: “For a long time, things were difficult for Trevor. He’s a good guy but Meghan crushed him when she demanded a divorce. And when she got engaged to Prince Harry he was crushed again because he kept mentioning her because of the publicity surrounding the marriage and then Drama Interview Oprah But that’s all in the past now.

“When I saw him recently, he kept talking about how happiest he’s ever been, how he loves being a dad, and how it’s never been so good.”

However, his friend remarked: ‘Everyone in Trevor’s life knows not to mention the ‘M’. He’s over it, and you could say, in some ways, he’s living a better life than Megan’s. He probably has more money than she does now, and he’s doing what he does. He loves it while he’s out of the spotlight.It’s the ultimate revenge.

Trevor, 46, has seen his personal and professional fortunes blossom in recent years.

He has been happily married since 2019 to heiress Tracy Kurland, the nutritionist whose late father amassed a $500m (£395m) fortune in the mortgage sector before his premature death from Covid complications in 2021. The US claimed Tracy inherited $250 Million dollars.

Trevor and Tracy live on a sprawling estate in affluent Los Angeles with their two young daughters, and for the past two years have co-hosted a golf tournament in her father’s memory that has raised over $1 million.

“They are a very close family and an amazing couple,” the friend continued. Trevor adores his wife and two young daughters. When he is with them he never stops smiling.

On the professional level, too, he achieved success. His management and production company, Underground, based in Beverly Hills, created the hit TV crime drama Snowfall, which ran for six seasons and starred British actor Damson Idris. A spin-off is in the works.

Engelson represents a roster of rising stars and, unlike many in Hollywood, was a staunch supporter of the current writers’ and actors’ strike.

The friend said: “Trevor is this fast-talking guy from the Great Neck, New York, and in some ways he is your typical agent/manager, he’s always talking about his clients and different projects.

“But he’s also one of the nicest guys in Hollywood.” He will give you the shirt on the back. During the Hollywood strike, Engelson was on the picket lines, serving people coffee and cake. “He’s not a spotlight-seeking person at all and keeps his generosity quiet,” says his friend.

Trevor’s life is now a far cry from the one he shared with Megan. The duo met in a Hollywood bar in 2004, quickly fell in love and moved in together.

They dated for seven years before getting married on a Jamaica beach in 2011, at an event where guests were handed cannabis gift bags containing samples of the powerful local marijuana strain.

Meghan’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, 79, remembers Engelson with great fondness. “I really liked Trevor,” he said.

He got to know my mom and was always so kind and supportive. He was a perfect gentleman with my daughter and treated me with great respect.

“When he proposed to Meghan, I couldn’t have been more thrilled.”

Unlike Prince Harry, who never met his father-in-law, Engelson enjoyed a warm relationship with Thomas and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland. Mr Markle said: “He treated Meghan well and was always kind and respectful to me and Doria.”

“Meghan loves to entertain, so we are invited to meals and special events. She has enjoyed Trevor’s company so much.

For most marriages, Engelson was the main breadwinner. Megan struggled to become an actress, at one point becoming a “bag girl” on the TV show Deal Or No Deal, which she later said she felt “embodied” her.

Nevertheless, Engelson was consistently supportive of his wife, finding her roles in the low-budget film The Candidate and then a role in Remember Me with Little Before Twilight star Robert Pattinson. “Trevor has supported Meghan like a rock,” a State Department source said. “It was he who paid the greater part of the rent, and he was constantly building it up.”

When Megan finally landed a “decent” role as paralegal Rachel Zane on the TV series Suits, Engelson wholeheartedly supported her move to Toronto to film the show that would eventually run for nine seasons. “Trevor was always devoted to Meg,” said a friend who knew them as a couple. “When she got the suits, he was her biggest cheerleader.”

Meghan soon made her own group of influential friends in the Canadian city, including fashion designer Jessica Mulroney and Sophie Trudeau (the estranged wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau).

“No long-distance relationship is easy, and Meghan started drifting away from Trevor when she was in Canada,” the source told the Foreign Office. “When she told Trevor that she wanted a divorce after two years, he was devastated. He phoned Megan’s father, not knowing where it went wrong. He was really shocked.

According to Meghan and Harry biographers Finding Freedom, Meghan was hurt when Engelson was invited to the Oscars and went on his own, as he only had one ticket.

The source said: “That comment showed a basic lack of knowledge about Hollywood. The Oscars are the toughest ticket in town. Unless you get nominated, or a big name, it’s common for individual tickets to be handed out. It’s great that Trevor got a ticket.”

Why Meghan thinks she is entitled to accompany him is strange. Even the big stars can’t take everyone they want to take.

The couple divorced in 2013 due to “irreconcilable differences”.

According to multiple reports, Meghan sent her wedding and engagement rings to Engelson in Los Angeles.

“Trevor was heartbroken,” says his friend. “He was calling their mutual friends saying he didn’t know what went wrong?”

And as revealed by the Ministry of Science earlier this summer, some have coined the phrase “you’ve been singled out” to describe how quickly – some would say coldly – Meghan’s ability to weed out close friends. David and Victoria Beckham famously had a “sign” when Meghan allegedly suspected Victoria of leaking stories about her to the press.

This is what Beckham vehemently denies.

Megan dumped her childhood best friend Nenaki Priddy for unknown reasons. Some have suggested that Nenaki supported Trevor in the divorce.

“Trevor took some time to recover from Meghan,” said the friend. It was fine, and then, in 2016, it came out that Meghan was dating Prince Harry.

Poor Trevor had to go through it all, as the media and even friends called him, asking how he was feeling. It wasn’t easy. At one point, Engelson considered making a TV series about a man whose ex-wife falls in love with a prince. But this project has been “quietly shelved”.

By the time he met his second wife, Tracy, he was ready to settle down. The couple wed at a five-star beach hotel in May 2019, ironically in Montecito, California, just a short distance from the £11m 16-bathroom home Meghan and Harry later bought in this exclusive enclave.

One of the wedding guests said: “It was such a happy occasion. Trevor looked so happy. Very relieved. He’s a man who went through the mill. He loved Meghan but was so hurt by her. Everyone we love is so glad he’s in such a good place.”