Doria Loyce Ragland (born September 2, 1956)
is an American social worker. She is the mother of
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle, August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family, media personality, entrepreneur, and former actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son ...
and the ex-wife of American retired television lighting director and director of photography
Thomas Markle Sr. Ragland holds a degree in social work and is a former makeup artist and
yoga
Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...
instructor.
Early life
Doria Ragland was born in
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, to nurse Jeanette Arnold (1929–2000) and her second husband Alvin Azell Ragland (1929–2011),
an antiques dealer who sold items at flea markets.
Ragland's maternal grandparents, James and Nettie Arnold, respectively worked as a
bellhop and an
elevator operator at the
Hotel St. Regis on
Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.
Her parents moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
when Ragland was a baby
and later divorced. In 1983, her father married kindergarten teacher Ava Burrow, who is near to Ragland's age; the two remained close after that marriage also ended in divorce. Ragland has two older maternal half-siblings, Joseph (known as "JJ"; 1949–2021) and Saundra Johnson (born 1952), and a younger paternal half-brother, Alvin Joffrey Ragland.
Various contemporary records state that the Ragland family descend from Richard "Dick" Ragland, born into slavery c.1792 in
Chatham County,
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
; his son, Stephen Ragland (1848-1926) of
Jonesboro in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, lived long enough to experience the
abolition of slavery in 1865. The family's Ragland surname came from slave-owner William Ragland, a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
planter and land speculator who had emigrated during the eighteenth century from
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, to North America. Doria's daughter
Meghan Markle has claimed that a genealogy test revealed that she is 43%
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...
.
Career and education
After leaving
Fairfax High School,
Ragland worked as a temporary assistant makeup artist on the set of the television show ''
General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...
'' where she met future ex-husband Thomas Markle, Sr. She worked as a travel agent and owned a small business. After divorcing Markle, Ragland completed her undergraduate degree, a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in psychology.
In 2011, she earned a
Master of Social Work (MSW) from the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
.
After passing California's licensing examination in 2015, she was employed as a social worker for three years at the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services Clinic in
Culver City.
Ragland has also worked as a yoga instructor.
In 2020, it was reported that she would teach a jewelry making course at
Santa Monica College. In the same year, Ragland became
CEO,
CFO and secretary of a care home firm in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
, called Loving Kindness Senior Care Management.
Personal life
Ragland married
lighting director Thomas Markle on December 23, 1979, at
Hollywood's
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian and American Hindu monk, yoga, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga school, Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self ...
Self-Realization Fellowship Temple in a ceremony performed by Brother Bhaktananda.
Their daughter,
Meghan, was born in 1981. The couple separated when their daughter was two years old. They divorced in 1987.
Ragland resides in
View Park–Windsor Hills, California,
in a house inherited from her father in 2011.
She has accompanied Meghan to public events and attended her 2018
wedding to Prince Harry in Berkshire. Ragland became a grandmother on May 6, 2019. She flew to the United Kingdom to see her grandson,
Prince Archie of Sussex, and his parents.
In July, she attended Prince Archie's christening at the private chapel at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
.
Her granddaughter,
Princess Lilibet of Sussex, was born on June 4, 2021, in
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
.
See also
* "
(Almost) Straight Outta Compton", a 2016 tabloid article headline about Meghan Markle and her mother's background
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragland, Doria
1956 births
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
American people of Nigerian descent
American social workers
American yoga teachers
Living people
Markle family
People from Cleveland
People from Los Angeles
People from View Park–Windsor Hills, California
USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work alumni
20th-century American people