DORIA Ragland is Meghan Markle's mother and lives near the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in California.
Here we take a look at Meghan's mum's life and relationship with her royal relatives.
Who is Doria Ragland?
Doria Ragland is an American — she was born 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.
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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?
Ragland inherited her home in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 2011 when her father died.
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It 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.
Her home is just under two hours drive from Meghan and Prince Harry’s home in Montecito, where they live with her two grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
What was life like for Doria and Meghan growing up?
Ragland 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.
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.”
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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.
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