Doria Ragland

Doria Loyce Ragland (born September 2, 1956)[1][2][lower-alpha 1] is the mother of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, the mother-in-law of Prince Harry, and the maternal grandmother of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who is seventh in line to the British throne. She is a former makeup artist, business owner, yoga instructor, and former social worker who worked in the mental health sector from 2015 to 2018.[4]

Doria Ragland
Ragland on May 18, 2018, the day before her daughter's wedding
Born
Doria Loyce Ragland

(1956-09-02) September 2, 1956
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
NationalityUnited States
EducationUniversity of Southern California (MSW)
Occupation
  • Makeup artist
  • business owner
  • yoga instructor
  • therapist
  • social worker
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1979; div. 1987)
ChildrenMeghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex
RelativesArchwell Mountbatten-Windsor (grandson)

Early life

Born to a family in Cleveland, Ohio, Doria Ragland is the daughter of Jeanette Arnold (1929–2000) and her second husband Alvin Azell Ragland (1929–2011).[5] Her mother was a nurse and her father was an antique dealer who sold items at flea markets.[6] Ragland's maternal grandparents, James and Netty Arnold, worked as a bellhop and an elevator operator at the whites-only Hotel St. Regis on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.[5][7][8] When Ragland was a baby, her parents moved to Los Angeles.[5] She attended Fairfax High School.[6] Ragland's parents divorced, and in 1983 her father married Ava Burrow, a kindergarten teacher,[9] who is close to Ragland's age and to whom Ragland remained close after that marriage also ended in divorce.[10] Ragland has two older maternal half-siblings, Joseph Jr. and Saundra Johnson, and a younger paternal half-brother, Joffrey Ragland.[11][lower-alpha 2]

Career and education

After high school, Ragland worked as a makeup artist, where she later met her former husband Thomas Markle while employed at the studio for the television show General Hospital. She later worked as a travel agent and she also owned a small business, before filing for bankruptcy in the mid 2000s.[12] She went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts in psychology at an undisclosed university.[6] In 2015, Ragland passed her social work licensing exam in California, after having received a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California in 2011.[13][14] Ragland worked as a social worker for a mental health clinic, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, in Culver City, California for three years.[15] Ragland resigned from the clinic in May 2018,[16][17] soon after Meghan's wedding ceremony. Ragland has also worked as a yoga instructor.[18]

Personal life

Ragland was married to lighting director Thomas Markle, at Paramahansa Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship Temple in Hollywood by Brother Bhaktananda on December 23, 1979.[19][20] She and Markle had a daughter, Rachel Meghan Markle, on August 4, 1981.[20][lower-alpha 3] Their marriage ended in divorce in 1987[18] or 1988.[21] The divorce was reportedly amicable, and both contributed to the raising of their daughter.[6] Ragland resides in View Park–Windsor Hills, California,[22][23] in a house she inherited from her father in 2011.[6] She has accompanied her daughter to public events such as the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Invictus Games. She attended the wedding of her daughter and Prince Harry, a member of the British royal family, in 2018.[24][25]

On May 6, 2019, Ragland's first grandchild, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born and Ragland flew from Los Angeles to the UK to see her grandson and his parents.[26] In July of that year, she also attended her grandson's christening, which was held at the private chapel at Windsor Castle.[26]

Notes
  1. A genealogical blog published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society contains an essay by a staff member that says she was born September 15, 1956.[3]
  2. According to information passed down (much of it verbally) from earlier generations the Ragland name came from William Ragland, a Methodist who had emigrated during the eighteenth century from Cornwall, England to North America, settling successively in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.[7] It is inferred by family members that Doria Ragland's first identifiable African American Ragland ancestor was Richard Ragland, born in Jonesboro, Georgia, in 1830; he lived long enough to experience the abolition of slavery in 1865.[7]
  3. The New Yorker magazine mentions that the relationship between Meghan and her mother is close. The article quotes Meghan as saying of their relationship as being an "us against the world". Meghan paid for her mother to attend graduate school when she became wealthy. On Meghan's blog she is quoted as saying in a Mother's Day post "There's no Imitation of Life drama", referring to a film in which a light-skinned daughter that has been passing for white shuns her dark-skinned mother.[4]

References
  1. "Doria L. Ragland". U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2. Retrieved October 10, 2019 – via Ancestry.com. Birth Date: 2 Sep 1956 (subscription required)
  2. Morton, Andrew (April 17, 2018). Meghan: A Hollywood Princess. Grand Central Publishing. p. PT19. ISBN 978-1-5387-4734-6. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  3. Child, Christopher C. (May 18, 2018). "Meghan Markle's maternal family". Vita Brevis. New England Historic Genealogical Society. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  4. St. Félix, Doreen (May 21, 2018). "The Profound Presence of Doria Ragland". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  5. Driscoll, Kara. "Meghan Markle has an extraordinary connection to Ohio". Dayton Daily News. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018. ...While Meghan Markle is headed across the pond for the royal wedding, her roots are deeply connected to Ohio.
  6. Alexander, Harriet (May 19, 2018). "Meet Meghan Markle's family: The diplomat uncle, the yoga teacher mother and the cannabis-growing nephew". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  7. Morton, Andrew (2018). Meghan: Von Hollywood in den Buckingham-Palast. Ein modernes Märchen. Heyne Verlag. ISBN 978-3-641-23580-2. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  8. DeMarco, Lauren (May 8, 2018). "Meghan Markle's surprising Cleveland connection: The Royal Wedding". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on May 18, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  9. Freeman, Kasey (November 27, 2017). "Prince Harry's American fiancee has ties to Chattanooga". WRCB-TV. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  10. "Why most of Meghan Markle's family won't make it to the royal wedding - Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. April 13, 2018. Archived from the original on June 11, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  11. "Meghan: From actress to duchess". BBC News. October 15, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  12. Morton, A. (April 12, 2018). Meghan: A Hollywood Princess (304 pages). Michael O'Mara Books, 2018. p. Chapter 2 – Growing up Markle. ISBN 978-1782439653. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018. She (Doria) also worked as a travel agent....
  13. Dewan, Angela (May 19, 2018). "Doria Ragland: Meghan Markle's mother by her side on wedding day". CNN. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  14. Smithers Peckham, Tina (April 30, 2018). "Doria Ragland: 7 Things to Know About Meghan Markle's Mother". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018 – via Yahoo News.
  15. Williams, Janice (May 19, 2018). "Who is Doria Ragland?". Newsweek. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  16. Lapin, Tamar (May 15, 2018). "Meghan Markle's mom quits job at mental health clinic". Page Six. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  17. "Meghan Markle's mother has reportedly quit her job at a Los Angeles mental health clinic". New York Post. May 15, 2018. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018 – via Fox News.
  18. Porter, Lauren (May 19, 2018). "Who Is Meghan Markle's Mom? 7 Things To Know About Doria Ragland". Essence. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  19. Chhabra, Shivani (May 25, 2018). "Did you know Meghan Markle's parents got married at an Indian temple?". India Today. Archived from the original on May 26, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  20. Carroll, Leslie (2010). Notorious Royal Marriages: A Juicy Journey Through Nine Centuries of Dynasty, Destiny,and Desire. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 468. ISBN 978-1-101-15977-4. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  21. Jones, Richard (May 17, 2018). "Thomas Markle Snr: How Meghan Markle's reclusive father helped propel her into the spotlight". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on May 18, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  22. Willgress, Lydia; Boyle, Danny (November 8, 2016). "Who is Meghan Markle? Everything we know about Prince Harry's girlfriend". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  23. Morris, Regan (September 27, 2017). "'Meghan who?' LA shrugs over Harry's hometown girlfriend". BBC News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017. But Markle's mother lives in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighbourhood, which is one of the wealthiest, primarily African American areas in the US.
  24. AOL Staff. "Meghan Markle's mom Doria Ragland seen headed to London amid drama around Meghan's father". aol.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  25. "What You Need to Know About Meghan Markle's Mother Doria Ragland". Town and Country. May 19, 2018. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  26. Furness, Hannah (July 7, 2019). "Modernity meets tradition as Prince Harry and Meghan show first official pictures of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor's christening". The Telegraph. UK. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
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