Doria Ragland will celebrate her 70th birthday on September 2, marking the milestone just after her family crossed the Atlantic.
Her daughter Meghan Markle, son-in-law Prince Harry, and grandchildren Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, left California and settled in Britain last week, where the children will begin attending English schools this month.
For the past six years, Ms Ragland has served as the family’s emotional anchor and a constant figure in their daily lives, ever since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex relinquished their roles as senior working royals and moved to the United States in 2020.
The devoted grandmother currently resides in a bungalow in an affluent neighbourhood on the outskirts of Los Angeles, situated less than two hours’ drive from the Sussexes’ Montecito estate.
Doria Ragland will celebrate her 70th birthday on September 2, marking the milestone just after her family crossed the Atlantic
|
PA
Her steadfast support has earned Ms Ragland the description of a “rock” during the turbulent period when the couple departed royal duties and established themselves in California.
A royal source has revealed that Harry has become exceptionally close to his mother-in-law, who has proved a “tower of strength” for the pair.
A source previously told The Sun: “Harry obviously doesn’t have a mum whom he can turn to for advice, but he has always been incredibly close to Doria and never more so than now.”
The Duke himself called Ragland “amazing” during a BBC interview announcing his engagement. A former confidant of hers told the Mail on Sunday: “She is like the Queen – she never complains and never explains.”
Meghan Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, will remain in the United States despite the Duke and Duchess of Sussex relocating to Britain
|
GETTYThis bond has endured throughout Harry’s estrangement from his brother and Meghan’s breakdown in communication with her father, Thomas Markle.
Ms Ragland is expected to keep her West Coast home as a base while travelling regularly to visit the family in Britain.
According to TMZ insiders, she will remain close to the couple’s American property, where she reportedly has a dedicated “granny flat” within the Montecito mansion. Her wide circle of friends in California provides further reason to stay rooted there.
Her importance as a grandparent was evident in September 2022, when she looked after Archie, then three, and Lilibet, then one, at the Montecito home while the Sussexes were stranded in Britain following Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
Meghan Markle is extremely close with her mother Doria Ragland | PA
The couple had been in the UK for engagements and ended up staying for the funeral, a three-week absence that Meghan later described on her Netflix programme as leaving her feeling “not well”.
Ms Ragland, a social worker and yoga instructor by profession, has largely shunned public attention since sitting alone in a pew at the 2018 Windsor Castle wedding, the sole representative from Meghan’s side of the family, after Thomas Markle did not attend.
Meghan has described her mother as a “free spirit” and spoken publicly about drawing strength from her example.
“I find inspiration in the strong women around me. Of course, my mother being one of them,” the Duchess told an Afro Women and Power Forum in Colombia.
Despite her privacy preference, Ms Ragland has appeared in family moments shared by her daughter, including a Mother’s Day outing to Disneyland in Anaheim in May and footage from January showing her swimming with Lilibet in the California sunshine.