Tragic Details About Meghan Markle's Parents

The following article contains references to racism, domestic violence, and suicide.

They may be international superstars and bona fide royalty, but in many ways, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seem like just a normal couple. And, like many couples, they have endured a lot of family drama. Meghan's life has been filled with tragedy, from personal loss to being subjected to racist harassment by the press. Tragedy has also beset the lives of her parents, Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle.

Throughout all the drama surrounding Meghan and the royal family, the duchess' mother has been a particularly dignified and inspirational figure. Accordingly, Meghan has spoken of her appreciation of the sacrifices her mother made to give her a good life. "As a kid, you don't really get it," she wrote in a 2014 blog post (via Marie Claire). "You don't get that your parents are real people. There are just your parents. She was just my mom ... But now, oh but now... I'm a grown woman. And I get it. Get all of it ... The curfews ... The jogs together ... Time spent in the kitchen."

Since there are signs that a Meghan Markle memoir may be just around the corner, the star will undoubtedly open up about her parents' heartbreaking experiences. In the meantime, get ready to weep as we take a look at tragic details about Meghan Markle's parents.

Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle first met while they were working behind the scenes on "General Hospital" in 1979. The two fell in love, moved to Los Angeles, and welcomed their only child together, Meghan Markle, in 1981. However, by the time their daughter was 2 years old, the couple called it quits. Meghan divided her time between her mom and dad's homes thereafter.

Opening up about the divorce in the British documentary "Thomas Markle: My Story" (via Express), Thomas admitted that he was frequently absent from his wife and children's lives. "It went well for a while but I wasn't home enough," he said. "Doria had other interests as well. What was going on in that household at that time wasn't making me happy ... Then we divorced after that. 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."

In an interview with InTouch Weekly, Tom Markle Jr., Thomas' son with his first wife, Roslyn Markle, claimed that he witnessed significant disharmony between his father and Ragland. "I saw the frustration, I saw the fighting, I saw all of this go down," he said, adding, "Some of my dad and Doria's fights were pretty horrendous, pretty loud, a lot of yelling and screaming."

After tying the knot, Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle moved to the Woodland Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles. As a Black woman and the mother of a biracial child, Ragland was met with prejudice while living in the predominantly white neighborhood. "There was my mom, caramel in complexion with her light-skinned baby in tow, being asked where my mother was since they assumed she was the nanny," Meghan Markle recalled in an interview with Elle.

The racist abuse escalated following Ragland and Thomas' divorce. In an episode of "Harry & Meghan," Meghan recalled driving to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl with her mom, when a stranger honked their horn at Ragland and screamed the n-word. "I just remember my mom, the grip that her hands had on the steering wheel," Meghan said. "You could, it was so tight, like the knuckles get all white, and she was just silent the rest of the drive home. We never talked about it."

Reflecting on the incident and the ensuing racism that Meghan faced when she wed Prince Harry, Ragland said that she regretted not speaking to her daughter about racism when she was a child. "As a parent, in hindsight, absolutely, I would like to go back and have that kind of real conversation about how the world sees you," she acknowledged.

Meghan Markle comes from a long line of strong Black women. By all accounts, her maternal grandmother, Jeanette Ragland, was a hardworking, fiercely protective woman left to care for three children on her own when her husband walked out. Having suffered a stroke in her later years, Jeanette was cared for by Meghan. "Meghan would sit there, talk to her, hold her hand, cook for her and take care of her – whatever she could to bring comfort," Meghan's uncle, Joseph Johnson, told the Daily Mail. "She loved her grandmother." In her aforementioned 2014 blog post, Meghan recalled her mother caring for both of her grandmothers, and tearfully kissing them goodbye whenever they would visit. In 2000, and just two days after Christmas, Jeanette died. She was 71.

Doria Ragland was 44 when she lost her mom. Subsequently, insiders have suggested that her shared trauma with her son-in-law Prince Harry, who also lost his mom at a young age, has underscored the pair's close bond. "Meghan has always trusted her completely but she has become a rock to Harry who, of course, lost his own mother so young," a source told the Daily Mail. "Doria has a great warmth. She's a brilliant cook and is very motherly, but she isn't someone who seeks attention, and for Harry her discretion and silence mean the world."

Much like her mom, Dori Ragland's father, Alvin Ragland, was a survivor. Having endured racism as a young man, Alvin moved to Los Angeles and became a popular antiques dealer. "He spent so much of his life on the receiving end of really ridiculous, abominable treatment to black people," Edward Ingram, the son of Alvin's former colleague, told the Daily Mail. "He resisted that all his life. He was never ashamed of who he was and what he believed and he didn't care what you thought about it. He would fight prejudice."

In 2011, just over a decade after losing her mom, Doria's dad died in a freak accident. Alvin was walking his dog when his legs got tangled up in the leash. Unable to break free, he tripped and fell outside his Los Angeles home, suffering a catastrophic brain injury. After nine days in hospital and major brain surgery, he died of a brain bleed, aged 82.

Doria inherited Alvin's modest, two-bedroom home, where she still lives. The house has been in the Ragland family for generations, having been previously owned by Meghan's great-great aunt Lillie Evans, who left it to Alvin when she died. Since it was the site of her father's death, it undoubtedly remains a poignant dwelling for Doria.

Thanks to a lottery win in 1990, Thomas Markle was once a wealthy man, his riches enabling him to send Meghan Markle to private school. But by 2016, he was bankrupt. The following year, Meghan was hoping that her father would walk her down the aisle for her upcoming wedding to Prince Harry. But at the time, Thomas was living a secluded life away from the limelight, as he was reportedly embarrassed of his regal in-laws finding out about his dire financial situation. "He hates the spotlight and wants to keep his financial problems out of the press ... Thomas Sr doesn't want his personal problems overshadowing his daughter's special day," an insider told New Idea. "He's also not stupid — he knows the royal family will be looking down on him at the wedding and would really rather spare his daughter that stress."

In 2018, Meghan's half-sister, Samantha Markle, claimed that the "Suits" star didn't help her father out when he was struggling financially. "He was very clear with her about the fact that he needed some help and by his report, twice, she flatly refused," Samantha told "Inside Edition." "I live on a lot less than she does and he really had to chew on his pride to call me and ask me for help." However, in 2020, legal documents proved that Meghan had been sending her father money since 2014, and continued with the payments until she married Harry.

Though Meghan Markle has a good relationship with her mom, things aren't rosy between the duchess and her father. Back in 2016, Meghan, who had not yet married into the royal family, spoke positively of her dad in her aforementioned chat with Elle. However, the relationship between father and daughter appeared to have soured in the lead-up to Meghan's 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.

Days before Harry and Meghan tied the knot, Thomas Markle was exposed for staging photos of himself browsing news stories about the Sussexes, which he intended to sell to the paparazzi for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thomas reportedly hasn't spoken to Meghan since the incident, and has never met his son-in-law, Harry. Doria Ragland also condemned his behavior.

Following the wedding, Thomas again spoke to the press and made bizarre claims about Harry supposedly being a Trump supporter. (History suggests Harry actually feels otherwise.) That December, he appeared on "Good Morning Britain" and apologized for staging the paparazzi pics, but claimed his daughter was still ghosting him. "I've been trying to reach out for several weeks — every day I try to text her, I just haven't received any comment back," he said. In an episode on "Harry & Meghan," Harry admitted to feeling guilty over Meghan's estrangement from Thomas. "She doesn't have a father," Harry said. "I shouldered that because if Meg was not with me, then her dad would still be her dad."

In addition to everything else that went wrong at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, the duchess wasn't walked down the aisle by her dad. Meghan has always been one to break the royal rules, and this deviation from tradition was yet another reminder that the former "Suits" star is living life on her own terms. Thomas Markle didn't attend his daughter's wedding, due to both the aforementioned family drama and his ill health.

Shortly before Meghan's big day in 2018, Thomas was hospitalized following a heart attack and persistent chest pains. While in hospital, his youngest daughter didn't pay him a visit. "Throughout the heart attack, I feel my dad was ignored," Meghan's half-sister, Samantha Markle, told Vanity Fair. "Meg and Harry should have been on a plane, and been there at the hospital, minimum. They should have taken him back on a plane to Kensington, and had him meet Charles, and included him in the big picture." 

Samantha also claimed that Harry and Meghan thought Thomas faked the heart attack for attention. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Thomas presented medical documents that proved he did not fabricate the heart attack. "I had two heart attacks, the second of which the doctor called a widow-maker and nearly killed me," he said.

While living a quiet life in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, Thomas Markle befriended Lori Davis, a mom four decades his junior. But in 2018, Thomas found himself the target of Davis' former partner, Jose Sandoval, who reportedly began harassing the retiree incessantly.

According to a report by the Daily Mail, Meghan Markle's father had been shielding Davis from Sandoval, who allegedly tried to choke his ex, poured lighter fluid on her, and threatened to murder her in front of her daughter. Sandoval allegedly yelled out that he was going to kill Thomas while driving past his home, and also reportedly slashed his tires and sent abusive emails and texts. "The first time he threatened me was after I took Lori and Jocelyn for pizza and we were photographed by the paparazzi," Thomas said. "He texted me saying, 'I will kick you a**, you fat f***.' I wrote back saying, 'You don't even know me, what's wrong with you? Why would you feel threatened by a 74-year-old man?'" Sandoval denied most of the claims, but admitted to hitting his ex and tried to justify giving her two black eyes.

Davis praised Thomas for supporting her throughout the terrifying ordeal, revealing that he was like an uncle to her daughter. "My ex-boyfriend is demented," Davis said. "He has threatened to kill me and my daughter multiple times and has made multiple threats to Tom's life."

During her explosive 2021 sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle revealed that she was left feeling suicidal while in the royal family. Such feelings were compounded by the widespread negative publicity she garnered after marrying Prince Harry. "I just didn't see a solution. I'd sit up at night, and I don't understand how all of this is getting churned out," she said (via Vogue). "I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry especially, because I know how much loss he's suffered, but I knew that if I didn't say it, that I would do it."

Though Doria Ragland largely stays out of the spotlight, she broke her silence following the release of "Harry & Meghan" in 2022. In an episode of the Netflix series, Ragland burst into tears when discussing the powerlessness she felt amid Meghan's struggles with suicidal ideation. "That she would actually think of not wanting to be here, that ... that's not an easy one for a mom to hear. You know," she said. "And I can't protect her. H can't protect her."

Since their births in 2019 and 2021 respectively, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet have remained estranged from their maternal grandfather. This is due to Meghan Markle's own estrangement from her father. After feeling betrayed by his various tell-all interviews with the press, Meghan chose to keep her distance from Thomas Markle. In 2021, Thomas told Fox News that he would petition the California courts for the right to see his grandchildren.

But speaking to the Mirror, Thomas' first wife, Roslyn Markle, claimed that his grandchildren were better off without him. Roslyn argued that Thomas liked portraying himself as a devoted father who simply wanted to reconnect with his daughter and grandchildren, but claimed this couldn't be farther from the truth. "Repeatedly he has shown to Meghan he cannot be trusted," she said. "She must know that now ... Archie deserves to be brought up in a happy home, not in this vengeful situation that has been created. Tom was an awful father. What makes him think he'd be a great ­grandfather to Archie?"

It thus remains to be seen whether Archie and Lilibet decide to form a relationship with their maternal grandfather in the future. "That is the underlying sadness and whether they're going to one day heal this rift, we don't know, but at the moment I don't think there's much prospect," royal author Phil Dampier told The Sun.

By 2022, Thomas Markle's health was failing. The ailing retiree was seen being transported into an ambulance on a stretcher following a stroke that spring. It was later revealed that he had been suffering from ill health for a few days, having fallen over while shopping before experiencing a blood clot in his brain, leading to the stroke. Worried about her father's failing health, Meghan reportedly considered reconciling with Thomas. "Despite their estrangement, Meghan is concerned," a source told the Mirror. "She wants to know if there is any way to contact her father privately, without other family knowing about it or having to get involved."

The following year, Meghan's father was interviewed by Australia's 7News. Thomas, who was struggling to speak, criticized his daughter for supposedly acting like he was already dead. "I refuse to be buried by her," he stated. Accordingly, he discussed his desire to reconnect with Meghan as his health continued to decline. "Let's go somewhere and talk," he said when asked what he would say to his estranged daughter. "And I'd say, 'What's wrong? How can I fix this? ... Of course I love you.'"

If you or anyone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, or may be the victim of a hate crime or domestic violence, contact the relevant resources below:

• The Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

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• The VictimConnect Hotline by phone at 1-855-4-VICTIM or by chat for more information or assistance in locating services to help. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.