Meghan Markle Once Considered Herself a ‘Daddy’s Girl’: Meet Her Dad Thomas and Mom Doria Ragland

Ever since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their engagement in November 2017, fans have wanted to know everything there is to know about the former actress, including her parents. While Meghan was raised in Los Angeles by her mother, Doria Ragland, and her father, Thomas Markle, her parents split when she was just 2 years old. Keep reading for everything we know about Prince Harry’s in-laws.

Who Is Meghan Markle’s Mom, Doria Ragland?

Doria was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1956, before her family relocated to Los Angeles when she was an infant. After high school, Doria began working as a makeup artist on television sets, including General Hospital – which is where she ultimately met Meghan’s father. 

The mother of one later graduated from college with a degree in psychology before receiving her Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California in 2011. She later worked at a nonprofit mental health clinic in L.A. before quitting ahead of the royal wedding.

“It was Doria’s decision to leave,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “She has talked about starting her own private practice, focusing on working with elderly patients.”

Meghan previously described her mother as a “free spirit” on her now-defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig. 

“Dreadlocks. Nose ring. Yoga instructor. Social worker,” the Suits alum wrote in 2014. “Lover of potato chips and lemon tarts. And if the DJ cues Al Green’s soul classic ‘Call Me,’ just forget it. She will swivel her hips into the sweetest little dance you’ve ever seen, swaying her head and snapping her fingers to the beat like she’s been dancing since the womb.”

In a 2017 story she wrote in Glamour, Meghan likened their mother-daughter relationship to that of “best friends.”

“We can just have so much fun together, and yet, I’ll still find so much solace in her support,” she said at the time. “That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend.”

Who Is Meghan Markle’s Dad, Thomas Markle?

Thomas was born in Newport, Pennsylvania, in 1944. He got his start in show business working as a lighting director for the local PBS affiliate WTTW-TV Channel 11 in Chicago in the 1970s. After relocating to Los Angeles, the father of three – who also shares daughter Samantha and son Thomas Jr. with ex-wife Roslyn Loveless – began working as a lighting director on television sets for shows such as Married…With Children and General Hospital. 

In the Meghan & Harry Netflix docuseries, Meghan opened up about her close bond with her Emmy winning father, saying she was a “daddy’s girl my whole life.”

“Happy Father’s Day, daddy. I’m still your buckaroo, and to this day your hugs are still the very best in the whole wide world,” the Deal or No Deal alum wrote via Instagram on Father’s Day 2016. “Thanks for my work ethic, my love of Busby Berkeley films & club sandwiches, for teaching me the importance of handwritten thank you notes, and for giving me that signature Markle nose. I love you.”

Despite telling The Mirror that he’d “love to” walk Meghan down the aisle, the father-daughter duo severed ties after Thomas was paid to stage paparazzi photos and continuously spoke to the media about his daughter and her relationship with Prince Harry. ]

“Look, they’ve hunted my mom down,” Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in 2021. “And you’ve never heard her say a word. She’s remained in silent dignity for four years, watching me go through this.”