Meghan Markle and her dad, Thomas Markle, have been estranged for years after he skipped her royal wedding to Prince Harry. However, according to a royal expert, the father and daughter are closer to each other in her early years. However, her only family member who showed up on her big day was her mom, Doria Ragland.
Meghan Markle Relationship With Dad Thomas Markle And Mom Doria Ragland Examined
The Duchess of Sussex has been estranged from her dad and his entire family's side. Meghan Markle only invited her mom to the royal wedding and no other family members after her dad cancelled his attendance as he reportedly needed to recover following heart surgery.
Just recently, royal biographer Tom Bower dropped his book Revenge, and many noticed that it didn't mention much about Markle's mom, who has been known as a yoga teacher. Royal commentator Neil Sean, who has been featured in multiple outlets, including NBC News, MSNBC, Access Hollywood and more, shared some details as he weighed in on Markle's "disappearing mom."
"What I do find fascinating is as things emerge about Doria, there's so many inconsistencies," Sean said on his YouTube channel. "According to a very good source, it was incredibly complicated [and] he wasn't able to find too much information about her."
Sean pointed out that there is a lot of information about Doria online being a trained yoga teacher, boutique owner, and other staff. However, Sean wasn't sure if the information was true.
He quoted a good source who told him that "it's been deliberately made very muddy to be able to find out [her] background because as we found out before, it would appear that Meghan lived or had a far closer relationship with Thomas Markle in the early part of her life, than she did with her mother allegedly."
Meghan Markle Was A Proud Daddy's Girl Before Thomas Markle Falling Out
Meghan Markle hasn't spoken to her dad for years. However, in her previous interview before her royal wedding in 2018, she was a proud daddy's girl. She even gushed at how her father, Thomas Markle, worked hard to invest in her future.
"The blood, sweat and tears this man who came from so little in a small town of Pennsylvania, where Christmas stockings were filled with oranges, and dinners were potatoes and Spam invested in my future so that I could grow up to have so much," Markle said about her father, who was an award-winning lighting director, Express reported.
"It's safe to say I have always been a daddy's girl - he taught me how to fish, to appreciate Busby Berkeley films, write thank-you notes, and spend my weekends in Little Tokyo eating chicken teriyaki with vegetable tempura."
Markle also shared how her dad put together a family of Barbie dolls of mixed color in an effort to make her happy.
"A black mom doll, a white dad doll, and a child in each colour," Markle said. "My dad had taken the sets apart and customised my family."
The former Suits star also shared how Thomas used to tell her to "draw her own box" whenever she was told to fill a form at school about her ethnicity.
"My dad said words that will stay with me forever: 'Draw your own box," she said.
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Markle reportedly stopped talking to her dad after he missed her royal wedding. However, Tomas Markle Sr. said his daughter with Doria was upset because he would not cut off her step-siblings Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Markle.
"There are some reasons that she got upset with me, and one was that she thought I was giving too much attention to her brother and sister. They were step [sic] brother and step sister but nonetheless she wanted me to stop talking to them and I couldn't," Thomas said on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Newsweek reported.
"We're at a point where I think both [of] us, we should grow up, talk, make up for the sake of the children now and for ourselves," he continued. "This is ridiculous, it's been going on for almost four years. It's crazy."
Meghan Markle And Doria Ragland Closer At Present
Since Meghan Markle and her father have been estranged, the only family member by her side is her mom. When she welcomed her and Prince Harry's youngest child, the Duchess of Sussex was thankful that her mother was there to offer an extra hand.
"They’ve had lots of lovely gifts sent from friends and family members including Doria, but the most special thing she’s provided is her time," a source told Us Weekly. "She’s been helping out at the house and her hands-on support is a major bonus."
Prince Harry also reportedly gets along well with his mother-in-law. In fact, the Duke of Sussex reportedly "adored" Doria.
Doria was also with Prince Harry and Markle when they welcomed their firstborn, son Archie, at Frogmore Cottage, in 2019. The first-time parents even gave a shoutout to her when they announced the arrival of Archie.
"The Duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, who is overjoyed by the arrival of her first grandchild, is with Their Royal Highnesses at Frogmore Cottage," the Sussexes said.
Markle gushed over her relationship with her mom, Glamour, in 2017.
"We can just have so much fun together, and yet, I'll still find so much solace in her support," she said. "That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend."
Stay tuned for more news and updates about the royal family.
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