Through the ups and downs of royal family life, Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle has always been able to count on her mother, Doria Ragland.
Born Sept. 2, 1956 in Cleveland, Ohio, Ragland was raised in Los Angeles with her mom Jeanette Arnold and dad Alvin Ragland, according to Oprah Mag.
Ragland got a temp job at a production studio, where she met fellow worker Thomas Markle in the late 1970s. They soon fell in love and were married in 1979.
“My dad was a lighting director for a soap opera and my mom was a temp at the studio,” Meghan recalled in a 2015 Elle essay about being biracial.
“I like to think he was drawn to her sweet eyes and her Afro, plus their shared love of antiques. Whatever it was, they married and had me,” Meghan continued.
Ragland and Thomas welcomed Meghan on Aug. 4, 1981. Meghan is Ragland’s only child while Thomas has two other children from a previous relationship: daughter Samantha and son Thomas Jr.
The couple divorced when Meghan was 6 years old.
Meghan and Ragland, a yoga instructor and a former social worker, have maintained a strong bond over the years, with the former “Suits” star reflecting on their relationship to Glamour in August 2017.
“My mom’s a yoga instructor, but she does social work, as well, and she works specifically with the geriatric community,” Meghan said at the time.
“For me to watch this level of life-long sensitivity to nurturing and caregiving, but at the same time my mom has always been a free spirit. She’s got dreadlocks and a nose ring. She just ran the LA Marathon. We can just have so much fun together, and yet, I’ll still find so much solace in her support. That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend,” she continued.
Ahead of Meghan’s May 2018 nuptials to Prince Harry, Ragland met Queen Elizabeth II for tea at Windsor Castle.
For Meghan’s wedding day, Ragland wore custom Oscar de la Renta. Her ex, Thomas, was not in attendance amid a staged photo scandal.
Ragland, who resides in the LA’s View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood, traveled to the UK in late April of 2019, ahead of the birth of her grandson, Archie.
Following Archie’s arrival in May, Ragland joined the Queen and Prince Philip to meet the new royal arrival.
In July 2019, Ragland also joined the royals for Archie’s christening.
Less than a year after Archie’s birth, Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, announced in January 2020 that they’d be stepping away from their senior roles as working members of the royal family. They have since relocated to a sprawling estate in Montecito, Calif.
In March 2021, Meghan and Harry will sit-down with Oprah Winfrey — who has befriended Ragland — for a highly anticipated two-hour interview set to air on CBS.