Meet the Markles! Meghan Markle and Prince Harry walked down the aisle in May 2018 at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, but only one of her family members was in attendance — her mother, Doria Ragland.
Meghan’s relationship with her relatives has been rocky, at best, since she stepped further into the spotlight. The Suits actress’ father, Thomas Markle, did not attend her nuptials after suffering a heart attack following a paparazzi photo scandal. Harry’s dad, King Charles III, stepped in his place to accompany his daughter-in-law to the altar.
The Duchess of Sussex confronted Thomas about their rift in an August 2018 letter, which the former lighting director shared with Mail on Sunday. “Your actions have broken my heart into a million pieces — not simply because you have manufactured such unnecessary and unwarranted pain, but by making the choice to not tell the truth as you are puppeteered in this,” she wrote. “Something I will never understand.”
Meghan faced similar trouble with her half-sister, Samantha Markle, and half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr. The author lashed out at her younger sibling in the 2019 documentary Meghan and the Markles: A Family at War. “She doesn’t have a heart or she would [have] been doing everything she could to make [Thomas Sr.] comfortable, and reciprocate, and be loving and gracious, and make sure he’s comfortable in his old age,” she said. “So broken heart? No, his heart’s broken. She can’t turn herself into the victim here.”
In the royal couple’s Netflix docuseries that came out in December 2022, the Bench author revealed that she maintains a close bond with her niece, Ashleigh Hale, who is the biological daughter of Samantha.
“I am Meg’s niece,” the immigration attorney revealed in the third episode of Harry & Meghan. “Meg is my aunt on the maternal side of my family. So, she is my biological mother’s half-sister.”
As the couple planned their wedding, Meghan revealed she was “guided” to not invite her niece due to the drama going on with her father and siblings.
“How do we explain that this half-sister isn’t invited to the wedding, but that the half-sister’s daughter is? And so with Ashleigh, the guidance at the time was to not have her come to our wedding,” the “Archetypes” podcast host recalled. “I was in the car with H. I had [Ashleigh] on speakerphone and we talked her through what guidance we were being given and why this assessment was made and that’s painful.”
Despite the drama on her father’s side of the family, the former actress relied on her mom as she and Harry welcomed their first child together in May 2019. Ragland was by her daughter’s side as she gave birth and introduced son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor to her in-laws, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
Following their move to California, the couple enjoyed Doria’s frequent visits as they welcomed their second child, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, in June 2021.
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Here’s everything you need to know about the royal’s family:
The actress opened up about her childhood in Elle magazine in July 2015 and revealed her mother met her father while they were both working for a soap opera in the late ‘70s. (Ragland was a temp at the studio, while Thomas was a lighting director.) They divorced when she was young, and Ragland went on to work at a mental health clinic and as a yoga instructor. Meghan described her mother in 2014 as a “free spirit” and “lover of potato chips & lemon tarts” on her since-shuttered lifestyle blog, The Tig. A source close to Ragland told Us Weekly in May 2018 that she quit her job and is “no longer working at the mental health clinic in the Los Angeles area.” The source added that she “has talked about starting her own private practice, focusing on working with elderly patients.” Ragland met Harry at the Invictus Games in September 2017, and a source exclusively confirmed to Us in November 2017 that he asked Ragland for permission to propose to Meghan at that time. Kensington Palace announced in May 2018 that Ragland would travel with her daughter by carriage to the chapel ahead of the wedding ceremony. Ragland flew to London for the nuptials, meeting the queen,Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate before the wedding. On the big day, she wore a Wedgewood green wool crepe dress and coat by Oscar de la Renta. Ragland has remained a consistent presence in her daughter’s life after the royal wedding, traveling to the U.K. to visit Meghan and Harry. She was also with the duchess when she welcomed son Archie in May 2019. Ragland posed with the new parents, her grandson, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip for a historic photo after the baby’s birth. Following the arrival of her first grandchild, she has “been a big help with the baby and the life adjustment,” a source told Us in July 2019. The duchess’ mother even traveled to Vancouver Island, Canada, to celebrate her grandson’s first Christmas with the Sussexes during Harry and Meghan’s holiday hiatus in December 2019. After Lilibet's birth in June 2021, a source told Us, "Meghan’s so grateful to have her mom to lean on, and Harry just adores her." Lili's name offered a slight nod to Doria, who called her daughter "Flower" when she was growing up. MEGA
According to IMDb, Thomas worked as a lighting director on Married With Children, The Facts of Life and General Hospital through his career. He was nominated for a primetime Emmy in 1986 for Outstanding Lighting Direction for the 58th Annual Academy Awards and won a daytime Emmy in 2011 for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Drama Series for General Hospital. Thomas made headlines in May 2018, after the Daily Mail published footage of him appearing to stage photos with the paparazzi. He told TMZ that he looked “stupid and hammy” amid the photo scandal. As a result of the backlash, he told the outlet that he no longer planned to attend his daughter’s wedding, despite the palace confirming on May 4 that he was set to walk Meghan down the aisle. A source told Us that the former actress was “devastated” by her father’s decision to skip out on her big day. The 73-year-old told TMZ on May 14 that he was having second thoughts and wanted to attend the wedding. However, later that same day, Thomas said he was having heart surgery on May 15, after suffering a heart attack a week earlier. Charles stood in for Thomas and walked her down the aisle. He has subsequently criticized the royal family in interviews with British tabloids and claimed that his daughter is "under too much pressure" and looks "terrified" in photos from royal engagements. A source close to the duchess told Us that "Meghan is so upset" over her father's actions and while she still cares for him, "she doesn't even know how to communicate with her dad without knowing he won’t exploit her. She lives in fear that he'll leak their communication. If he's spoken this much already, why wouldn't he leak their conversation?" Meghan expressed her frustration over her father’s numerous scandals in an August 2018 letter, telling Thomas that he had “broken [her] heart into a million pieces.” The former actress did not inform her dad about her pregnancy before the news broke in October 2018, and a source revealed exclusively to Us after Archie’s birth that Thomas was “devastated” that he would not be given the chance to meet his grandson. The Duchess of Sussex’s father spoke his mind following his daughter and her husband Harry’s announcement that they were stepping back from their “senior” royal duties on January 8, 2020. “I’ll just simply say I’m disappointed,” he told Us at the time. A week later, the British press reported that he was set to testify against his daughter in her legal battle against The Mail on Sunday, who Meghan is suing the U.K. for publishing the heartfelt letter she wrote to her dad. Following Meghan and Harry's tell-all interview in March 2021, her father weighed in on their comments about their time in the royal family. “I have great respect for the royals, and I don’t think the British royal family are racist at all,” Thomas said at the time. “I don’t think the British are racist. I think Los Angeles is racist, California is a racist, but I don’t think the Brits are.” Thomas later opened up about how he wasn't made aware that Meghan had welcomed her daughter, Lili. "I'm not a tearful type ... but I'm certainly hurt by a lot of it," he said during an interview with 60 Minutes Australia in June 2021. "There's a good chance I might never see my grandchildren." Rachpoot/MEGA
Meghan’s half-sister made headlines after it was revealed she was writing a memoir titled The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister around the same time that the former Suits star announced her engagement to Harry. She told Us in November 2017 that she has barely spoken to Meghan, who is 16 years younger than her, since 2008, despite sharing the same father. Samantha also confirmed to Us that she has been in a wheelchair ever since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. While Samantha told Us in November that she would “love to go” to the royal wedding, a source previously confirmed to Us that Samantha was not invited. Shortly after news of her father’s photo scandal broke, Samantha took responsibility for the scandal in a since-deleted tweet. Samantha lashed out at her half-sister on Twitter in July, blaming Meghan for their father's health problems and claiming she would hold the former actress responsible if he dies. Samantha publicly apologized in October 2018, but slammed her sibling again in March 2018, claiming that she has “no heart.” Following her half-sister and her husband Harry’s announcement of their planned “step back” from their royal duties in January 2020, Samantha voiced her opinion on the matter. “It’s a slap in the face,” she told Inside Edition after the couple released their statement. “I think what is shocking is the lack of consideration for the people involved, the British royal family, the promises that were originally made to honor royal duties and to lead by example.” In her new memoir, which was released in February 2021, Samantha claimed that Meghan got "whatever she wanted and needed" from their father as a child. Samantha said her sister became more "demanding" of Thomas as she got older. "He was paying for Meg to get a great education, and instead of showing gratitude, she was being belittling and controlling," Samantha wrote at the time. In March 2022, Samantha sued her sister, claiming that Meghan lied about her, their father and the "Archetypes" podcast host's childhood in her 2021 tell-all interview with Harry. One year later, according to multiple reports, a judge dismissed the case in Meghan's favor.
Meghan also has a half-brother. Thomas Jr. spoke out about Meghan and Harry’s relationship in January 2018, blaming his drunken New Year’s brawl with his fiancée, Darlene Blount, on media attention that he and his family had to face following their engagement. (Blount was charged with fourth-degree assault on New Year’s Day after their altercation in Oregon, though the charges were dropped.) “Meghan’s relationship with Prince Harry has shone a spotlight on our family. It doesn’t help when you have issues and your sister is engaged to royalty,” Thomas Jr. told the Daily Mail at the time. “We’ve been under a lot of stress because of all the attention. At some point you find yourself drinking too much to escape the pressure.” According to The Sun, Thomas Jr., who has the same father as Meghan, currently works as a window fitter in Oregon and has two sons with his ex-wife, Tracy Dooley. Thomas Jr. was not invited to Meghan and Harry’s nuptials, but his two children and ex-wife were spotted arriving in London on May 14. They also did not score invites but were set to appear on multiple British outlets to discuss the nuptials. Blount was arrested for assault for the second time in six months after police were called to the couple's home in July 2018. She was charged with fourth-degree assault and released after spending a night in jail. Blount was later found not guilty. Thomas Jr., for his part, was arrested for DUI in January 2019 and eventually entered a DUI diversion program. Days earlier, he confirmed his engagement and asked Harry and Meghan to attend his wedding. Meghan’s half-brother, Samantha and Thomas Sr. all noted that they hoped baby Sussex’s arrival would bring the Markle family together again. ohnChapple.com/MEGA
The lawyer is the biological daughter of Meghan’s half-sister, Samantha. However, Ashleigh, and her brother, Christopher Hale, were raised and adopted by her paternal grandparents. She connected with her biological mother in 2007. Meghan learned about her niece’s existence shortly after and was immediately interested in reaching out to her via email. The pair hit it off and communicated back and forth via emails, texts and calls. “I think she takes on a lot of roles to me. There’s a sister element, there’s something maternal, she’s a best friend, she’s kinda all the things,” Ashleigh gushed about her aunt in Harry & Meghan. Netflix
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