Where is Meghan Markle from in America and where did her mum and dad grow up?

MEGHAN Markle became a member of the Royal Family following her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018.

Meghan and Harry ditched the UK for the States in 2020 but what was Meghan’s life like before she met Harry and where in America was she raised?

Where did Meghan Markle grow up?

Meghan, 37, was born on August 4, 1981.

Her full name was actually Rachel Meghan Markle – interestingly Rachel was also the name of her character on TV series Suits.

She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.

From age five, she was educated at private schools – first at Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse and later at Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girl, private Catholic school in Los Angeles.

What nationality are her parents Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle?

Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland , a yoga instructor and social worker, and father Thomas divorced when the future princess was six.

Thomas worked as a television lighting director.

He worked on iconic American shows including Married With Children and General Hospital.

Meghan describes her parents as “coming from little” but they were able to privately educate her in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles.

Doria is African-American, while Meghan’s father is Dutch-Irish, and their difference in skin tone led to the family receiving racial abuse when she was younger.

Thomas is now retired and living in Rosarito, Mexico.

What has Meghan said about her ethnicity?

In an article for , Meghan wrote: “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.”

In her interview with Oprah, she shared her experience of being mixed race within the royal family, revealing her son Archie wasn’t made a prince after “concerns and conversations” about “how dark” his skin would be when he was born.

The Duchess of Sussex said there had been conversations with Prince Harry and a ‘family’ member about their unborn son and what colour his skin would be – and “what that would mean or look like”.

She declined to say who had started those conversations, saying it would be “damaging” to them.