Priyanka Chopra Defends Her Pal Meghan Markle

Priyanka Chopra and Meghan Markle's friendship appears to run deep — Priyanka attended the Duchess of Sussex's wedding to Prince Harry last year, and they apparently “bonded as actors” since meeting a few years ago.

Now Priyanka is coming to Meghan's defense in a new interview with The Sunday Times, speaking out against the public scrutiny and racism her friend has endured since her relationship with the royals began.

When asked if the criticism had to do with racism, Chopra said, “Of course (the criticism) has to do with racism, it's an obvious reason. But the beauty of Meg is that she's been herself through all of this."

According to Priyanka, Meghan hasn't changed since she got involved with Harry, calling her “the same chick.” “Now that she's got a real platform, she talks about the same things we always did.”

After Priyanka didn't attend Meghan's New York baby shower in February, rumors started brewing of a feud between the pals. Of course, they turned out to be false. When asked in March if she was upset that Meghan didn't attend her nuptials to Nick Jonas, Priyanka shut down the speculation, saying, “Oh, my god. No, it's not true.”

According to USA Today, Priyanka called the the media's criticism “really unfortunate” but noted that “if there's anyone who can handle it, it's her.”