It was released just over 24 hours ago, but the first volume of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix docu-series has already been making waves - and pretty big ones at that.
While it continues to be a hot topic across the globe, there is one woman who has been receiving ample praise on social media: Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland. She has been lauded for being 'solid', 'a gem' and 'a pillar of strength', with one even calling for her to have her own docu-series. Read on to discover more about the woman of the hour...
Early life
Doria was born in Cleaveland, Ohio, in 1956, to nurse Jeanette Arnold and antiques dealer Alvin Azell Ragland. The family uprooted to Los Angeles when she was a baby and her parents divorced shortly after. She attended Fairfax High School.
How Old Is Doria Ragland?
Doria is 66.
Career
After leaving school, Doria worked as a temporary assistant makeup artist. She then went on to work as a travel agent and owned a small business, but filed for bankruptcy in the mid-2000s. Doria returned to education and completed a BA (Bachelor of Arts) in Psychology, before earning a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California in 2011.
Four years later, she passed California's licensing exam which preceded three years of being a social worker at the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services clinic in Culver City. A woman with many strings to her bow, Doria has also worked as a yoga instructor and it was reported in 2020 that she would teach a jewellery making course at Santa Monica College. The same year, she became CEO, CFO and secretary of Loving Kindness Senior Care Management - a care home firm in Beverly Hills.
Marriage and children
Doria married Thomas Markle - a retired lighting director - in December 1979, at Hollywood's Paramahansa Yogananda Self-Realization Fellowship Temple. They crossed paths when Doria was working on the set of the television show General Hospital. They welcomed Meghan in 1981 but split when she was two, and later divorcing when she was six.
'It went well for a while but I wasn't home enough,' Thomas said in the 2015 Channel 5 documentary Thomas Markle: My Story. 'Doria had other interests as well. What was going on in that household at that time wasn't making me happy. So at first she wanted to move back into the city and that is what happened. Then we divorced after that.'
Thomas continued, 'The whole family split up at that time. Doria moved with Meghan to a nice little house and I would see her on weekends and whenever I could.'
Suits actress Meghan spent most of her childhood living in Los Angeles with her mother, and she opened up about their relationship in an unearthed extract from her former blog The Tig.
The post read, 'She was keeping me safe. She was teaching me to take care of my body. She was introducing me to history, and fostering a love of being outdoors. She was planting the seed for me to become a foodie. She was showing me how to be a daughter, not just in that moment, but for when I became that grown woman. For right now. And thirty years from now. She was loving me. So tightly.'
Her life now
Doria lives in View Park–Windsor Hills, California, in a property inherited from her father in 2011. During her appearances in Harry & Meghan, she dwells on a 'challenging five years' and recalls the moment she first met Prince Harry.
'He was just like six one, handsome man with red hair. Really great manners. He was just really nice. And they looked really happy together—like he was the one,' she said.
Doria also delved into the media scrutiny she faced owing to her daughter's relationship.
She explained, 'I felt unsafe a lot. I can't just go walk my dogs. I can't just go to work. There was always someone there waiting for me, following me to work. I was being stalked by the paparazzi. When one of them appeared to bribe her for a story, she recalled saying: 'This is my child. I have nothing to say.'