Since launching her game-changing lifestyle brand Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow has been dubbed the Queen of holistic wellness. And as such, whenever a fellow celebrity attempts to carve their own space in the field, comparisons become part and parcel with the endeavour—remember Kourtney Kardashian’s POOSH backlash? But when it comes to her competitors, the actress has always extended a warm welcome, even going as far as to collaborate with them with tongue-in-cheek candles. Now, fresh from her rebrand and Netflix series launch, Meghan Markle is falling under the same microscope. But as far as Paltrow is concerned, there’s plenty of space at the rustic-chic farmhouse table.
Speaking candidly in her Vanity Fair April 2025 cover story, the Goop founder weighed in on Markle’s pivot from royalty to lifestyle brand with an approving nod.
“Everybody deserves an attempt at everything that they want to try,” she mused, admitting she hadn’t seen the trailer for Markle’s Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. But, true to her ethos of women supporting women, the 52-year-old added, “I was raised to see other women as friends, not foes. I think there’s always more than enough to go around.”
Recalling wisdom from her mother, Blythe Danner, Paltrow shared the lessons she instilled in her.
“Another woman is never your competition…What is right for you will find you,” she explained. Despite being Montecito neighbours, Paltrow also shared that she has met, but does not personally know, the royals.
“She seems really lovely,” she remarked, joking, “Maybe I’ll try to get through their security detail and bring them a pie.”
Paltrow’s instinct, she discussed, has always been to defend others when there is “noise about certain women in the culture”—an experience Markle knows all too well. The Duchess’ latest moves, from rebranding her lifestyle company from ‘American Riviera Orchard’ to ‘As Ever’ to the release of With Love, Meghan and its mixed reviews, have kept her firmly in the spotlight.
As for Goop, Paltrow insists it remains as strong as ever.
“We’re still here. We just had our best year,” she asserted, brushing off 2024 headlines about company restructuring and layoffs. “We’ve gotten bloated. We need to focus.”
As she sets out to expand her own empire, it’s safe to say the Duchess has at least one seasoned lifestyle mogul in her corner.
