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‘Dreadlocks. Nose ring. Free spirit’: How Meghan’s cool mum will rock the palace

Media outside Doria Ragland's Los Angeles house on November 28, 2017, when her daughter Meghan was engaged to Prince Harry.

Media outside Doria Ragland's Los Angeles house on November 28, 2017, when her daughter Meghan was engaged to Prince Harry. Photo: Getty

Stepping from the first class cabin of a commercial flight at London’s Heathrow airport on May 16, Doria Ragland was whisked to the Windsor Suite, a private lounge where Harrison Ford, the Dalai Lama and Vladimir Putin have enjoyed pre- or post-flight luxury.

Amid the white leather sofas, bonsai trees and sculptures on plinths, Ms Ragland – best known as the mother of Meghan Markle – was casual and low-key in a t-shirt with a puppy motif, loose pants and trainers.

She was carrying a folded Burberry suit bag containing what commentators decided is probably her outfit for when her famous only child, 36, marries Prince Harry, 33, on Saturday.

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And if speculation is correct, the 61-year-old her daughter calls a “free spirit” is the leading candidate to walk Meghan down the aisle of St George’s Chapel in the absence of her father Thomas Markle, 73, who had heart surgery this week.

Forty-eight hours before her wedding, Meghan confirmed her dad is a definite no-show for her big day. The stilted wording of her statement (“I have always cared for my father”) was perceived as a subtle dig at the Markle side of her family:

Meanwhile, her mother is firmly on Meghan’s side.

At the Windsor Suite, she was met by her daughter’s personal assistant Amy Pickerill. Within minutes, her passport stamped and small wheelie case loaded into a Jaguar station wagon, Ms Ragland was on her way for an afternoon reunion with Meghan and Harry at Kensington Palace.

Ms Ragland sat down to tea with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House on Friday morning (AEST), with Harry and Meghan at the table.

Kensington Palace confirmed that Ms Ragland also met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, at Windsor Castle.

Buckingham Palace has said that Ms Ragland will meet the Queen later Friday.

While Carole Middleton was well-known to British citizens and royals aficionados when her daughter Kate married Prince William in 2011, the latest royal mother-of-the-bride is a more private figure.

Her VIP treatment on arrival in London is a far cry from her life as a yoga teacher and geriatric social worker in suburban Los Angeles.

Meghan has called her marathon runner mother her best friend, and before her romance with Harry wrote several times about their bond.

In a 2014 post called ‘Love Letter’ on her now-defunct website The Tig, Meghan described the woman who will soon be a prince’s mother-in-law.

“Dreadlocks. Nose ring. Free spirit. Lover of potato chips & lemon tarts,” she wrote.

“And if the DJ cues Al Green’s soul classic Call Me, just forget it. She will swivel her hips into the sweetest little dance you’ve ever seen, swaying her head and snapping her fingers to the beat like she’s been dancing since the womb.

“And you will smile. You won’t be able to help it. You will look at her and you will feel joy.”

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Harry is also a Doria fan. They’ve “spent a lot of time together”, Meghan said, and in his engagement interview with the BBC Harry noted simply, “Her mum’s amazing”.

According to People magazine, he asked for Ms Ragland’s permission before he popped the question to Meghan in November.

When Meghan’s parents divorced when she was six, she was raised mostly by her mother, who calls her ‘Flower’ and took her travelling a lot when she was little.

“We can just have so much fun together, and yet, I’ll still find so much solace in her support,” she wrote of their relationship in Glamour in 2017.

“That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend.”

Days before flying out from California, Ms Ragland reportedly quit her job at a non-profit mental health clinic and is contemplating starting a private practice.

She received her social worker’s licence — “a lifelong dream” — in 2015 after Meghan helped fund her master’s at the University of Southern California, according to Us Weekly.

Before the wedding, Ms Ragland will meet senior royals including the Queen and Prince Charles, then will spend Friday night with Meghan at the five-star Cliveden House in Berkshire.

Cliveden House

Hot tubs at the spa at Cliveden House, which boasts “undeniably enticing luxurious rooms and suites.” Photo: Intagram

On Saturday morning, it will be Ms Ragland who will make the 15-minute drive with the bride to Windsor Castle, sharing her last private moments before she joins the royal family.

What will the proud mother be thinking? “Our daughter has always been a kind and loving person,” Ms Ragland said in a joint statement with Mr Markle last November.

“To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of great joy for us as parents. We wish them a lifetime of happiness and are very excited for their future together.”

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