Has Meghan hired Oprah's party planner for her 40th birthday bash?

Meghan Markle turns 40 on Wednesday, and will celebrate her second birthday outside of the royal fold.

The former actor will still have to consider coronavirus restrictions in her home state of California, where the Delta variant has prompted health officials to advise wearings masks in indoor settings, even if they have had two vaccinations.

According to reports in the Mirror and the MailOnline, she has hired Hollywood's party planner Colin Cowie to help her mark the milestone with 65 guests joining her and husband Prince Harry.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not formally disclosed the details of their plans for Meghan's birthday, which is 4 August.

Meghan and Cowie have a mutual friend, Oprah Winfrey, who once said of Cowie: "He’s the man to call if you want to have a good time. No question about it!"

Cowie describes his work as creating "luxury, bespoke experiences worldwide".

The party guru recently shared some of his memories of working with Winfrey on several of her events, including a 2005 'Legends Weekend' which was attended by Michelle and Barack Obama, Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, Usher, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, and John Travolta, he revealed on Instagram.

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Among the reviews of Cowie's work on his website are testimonials from the likes of Ryan Seacrest and Alyssa Milano.

Seacrest's review reads: "The best night ever! Amazing, Epic!"

Milano said she felt "blessed" to have met Cowie.

Winfrey's neighbour, with whom she once hosted a joint birthday party, enthused: "We never expected that this incredible venue, a sea of red, the seductive lighting, food and service ...Oprah’s intoxicating expression of love…would turn loose such emotion.

"I had no expectation that this endorphin-laced “brew” that you created, in combination with our hosts words, would intoxicate our guests.

"You exceeded all expectations, although I did not have any. Again, your team is fabulous! How in the world do you do it?!?! You are the master!"

Cowie worked with Winfrey on her book launch in 2017, for The Wisdom of Sundays, in an event featuring a gospel choir, brunch for 450 people and cocktails with an image of the book cover floating on the top.

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Montecito has been a location for a number of his events, including another book launch where people sat around camp fires and teepees as they looked across a pond with 1000 candles floating in it.

If Meghan and Harry have opted to book Cowie for the celebrations, they can ask him to take care of all elements from guest list management, security and venue hire, to party favours at the end of the evening.

Cowie's website explains he has put on events which cost anywhere from $25,000 to $25m, with his fee ranging from 18-20%.

Both Winfrey and Meghan might be attracted to working with Cowie because of his philanthropy. He works with a number of charities including some linked with South Africa, where he grew up.

But Cowie has admitted his friendship with Winfrey actually limited his business for a while, because people thought he was too expensive for them.

In a video shared online, he said: "It's very important to know your market, and when I realised that through the Oprah Winfrey effect that people thought I only did multi-million dollar parties for billionaires, I was losing out on a very big chunk of business.

"An area of business where people were spending quite a bit less money but still a lot of money, and because I was put into this echelon ... it was far too expensive, so I came up with a new product called Team Cowie."

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Those who want Cowie's direct input have to book him through the company's white or signature packages, where customers can even get access to some venues which are not on the open market.

For smaller budgets, Team Cowie means events are planned by people other than the man himself.

Cowie works in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, or "wherever else your special day is taking place".

As well as events like birthday parties, Cowie plans weddings, anniversaries, and galas, and was named the best wedding planner by Vogue in 2018.

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