Who is Meghan Markle’s mum Doria Ragland and where does she live?
DESPITE having previously lived near each other, Doria Ragland, Meghan Markle's mother, is reported to have moved in with her daughter.
The pair have always boasted a very close relationship. Here we take a look at Meghan's mum's life and relationship with her royal relatives.
Who is Doria Ragland?
Doria Ragland was born in America— in Cleveland, Ohio on September 2, 1956.
Her mother Jeanette Arnold worked as a nurse and her father Alvin Azell Ragland, was an antiques dealer.
The family later moved to Los Angeles, where she attended Fairfax High School.
She met lighting director Thomas Markle, then 35, when she was 23 while working as a makeup artist on the soap drama General Hospital, and the pair married six months later in December 1979.
Ragland then worked as an air stewardess, with Meghan — who was born on August 4, 1981 — looked after by her father, but the couple divorced in 1987, when Meghan was six.
Doria has had many careers and now works as the boss of an elderly care company and a yoga instructor.
She previously worked as a travel agent and owned a small business, before filing for bankruptcy in the mid-2000s.
Where does Doria live?
Although Ragland has a home in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles, a two hour drive from Meghan and Price Harry's Meghan and Prince Harry’s home in Montecito, a source has claimed that she has moved in with them.
Speaking to the Daily Express, a source revealed that Ragland has chosen to move into the family's guesthouse - to avoid the long drive between the homes.
The source said: “Doria looks fighting fit, but she’s nearly 70 and gets tired of the car tides from her home to see her daughter and grandchildren.
“It takes nearly three hours to drive one way, so it made sense for her to move into the guesthouse. She now spends more time there than in her own house.”
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Ragland's other house is located between Culver City and Inglewood, just east of Los Angeles International Airport.
According to a listing on Zillow, it is worth an estimated £678,000.
The home is just under a three hours drive from Harry and Meghan's, where they live with her two grandchildren Prince Archie and .
The news that Ragland has moved in with her family follows a long stint spent there over Christmas.
She reportedly spent the holidays in the Montecito house before they all travelled to together.
The source added: “Doria has basically become the mother of the household.
“Harry loves to be mothered, so he finds Doria being there very refreshing.
"Harry appreciates the warmth and kindness that Doria brings to the family.
"He doesn’t get that from his side of the family and thinks it important that the children are close with their grandmother.”
What was life like for Doria and Meghan growing up?
Ragland is African-American, while Meghan's father is -, and their difference in skin tone led to the family receiving racial abuse when she was younger.
The actress has said that because her mother is black with dreadlocks, and she passes as Caucasian, she often received hurtful comments about whether Ragland was her real mom.
Meghan recalled how her mother was mistaken for the nanny before adding in an interview: "I was home in LA on a college break when my mom was called the ‘N’ word.
"We were leaving a concert and she wasn’t pulling out of a parking space quickly enough for another driver."
Writing for Elle Magazine, she added: “Being biracial paints a blurred line that is equal parts staggering and illuminating.
“While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that.
"To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman."
When did Doria meet Meghan's husband Prince Harry?
Prince Harry flew Ragland out to Toronto to join Meghan and himself at the Invictus Games in October 2018.
Royal experts said Harry’s decision to invite Meghan’s mum to join them at the closing ceremony of his Invictus Games was “hugely significant.”
They said that flying yoga instructor Doria Ragland 2,500 miles from LA to Toronto to be seen alongside them in the VIP box suggested an engagement announcement was imminent.
She watched them marry on May 19 2018, fighting back the tears as they shared their first kiss.