“Meghan is absolutely mortified that she’s been dragged into this complete mess,” a close friend of Markle’s, 38, told The Daily Mail. “She said Jessica is in no way a racist, but the way she handled the situation (with the fashion influencer) was tone-deaf and heartbreaking.”

“Meghan said friends reflect friends and because of what’s at stake, she can no longer be associated with Jessica, at least not in public,” The source continued. “She has to do what she has to do in order to preserve her dignity and her own reputation.”

The source added that they “wouldn’t be surprised” if this incident marked the “beginning of the end of their friendship.”

On Wednesday, Sasha Exeter slammed the 40-year-old stylist in a lengthy Instagram video, claiming Mulroney “took offense” when she encouraged her followers to speak up about the Black Lives Matter movement, “wrongly assumed” the prompt was directed at her specifically, and exhibited “very problematic behavior” that culminated in a written threat to sue the lifestyle blogger.

“For her to threaten me ― a single mom, a single black mom — during a racial pandemic blows my mind,” Exeter said in the clip, adding, “Listen, I am by no means calling Jess a racist but what I will say is this: She is very well aware of her wealth, her perceived power and privilege because of the color of her skin,” Exeter said. “And that, my friends, gave her the momentary confidence to come for my livelihood in writing. Textbook white privilege, really, in my personal opinion.”

Even after apologizing, the controversy lead to Mulroney’s wedding series “I Do Redo” being dropped by Canadian network CTV. She also lost her gig as fashion contributor for ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“It’s not like Meghan can just call up ABC and defend Jessica,” the source explained. “There was a reason Meghan waited to so long to make a statement. She wanted to get it right. She said she urged Jessica to do the same thing from the get-go.”

Canadian department store Hudson’s Bay, which had employed Mulroney as a fashion and bridal specialist since 2014, announced it was also severing ties on Thursday.