All eyes were on Meghan Markle when she walked down the aisle of St. George's Chapel to marry Prince Harry. But they were also on her 61-year-old mother Doria Ragland, who, as the mother of the bride,  shared in the royal spotlight, just as Carole Middleton did back in 2011. 

MARKLE IS RAGLAND'S ONLY CHILD.

She and Tom Markle divorced when their daughter was six-years-old, but the marriage reportedly ended amicably. Markle, who is Ragland's only child, lived with her mother after her parents' split, but saw her father regularly. 

By all accounts, Markle and her mom appear to have an incredibly close relationship. "We can just have so much fun together, and yet I'll still find so much solace in her support," she said of Ragland in Glamour this past August. "That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend."

SHE CALLS MARKLE BY AN ADORABLE NICKNAME: FLOWER.

When sharing her humanitarian work on her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig, Markle revealed her sweet nickname. "I’m consistently asked how I keep a foot in two contrasting worlds–one in the entertainment industry, predicated on wealth and indulgence, and the other in humanitarian work. To me, it’s less of a question of how can you do this, and more a question of how can you not?" 

"'I don’t know, Flower. You were just born that way.' This is my mom’s response to the aforementioned question, and indicative of the character traits she knows me to have so well: opinionated, driven, and with a deep desire to affect change. 'It’s just who you are,' she says. (And yes, she calls me, 'Flower.')"

RAGLAND IS A SOCIAL WORKER.

"She works specifically with the geriatric community," Markle has said. In the past Markle has also described her mother as "a free-spirited clinical therapist," who also teaches yoga. 

Despite all the royal craziness over the past few months, Ragland reportedly still works at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Culver City, California. The organization's mission statement reads, "Didi Hirsch transforms lives by providing quality mental health and substance abuse services in communities where stigma or poverty limit access."

SHE'S A FREE SPIRIT.

Markle has written about her mother and their bond several times. In a 2014 Tig post called "Love Letter," the soon-to-be royal described her in this way: "Dreadlocks. Nose ring. Yoga instructor. Social worker. Free spirit. Lover of potato chips & lemon tarts. 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. I’m talking about my mom."

SHE RAISED MEGHAN TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING BACK.

Markle credits her parents' influence with her philanthropic instincts. "Both my parents came from little, so they made a choice to give a lot," Markle wrote on The Tig in 2016, "buying turkeys for homeless shelters at Thanksgiving, delivering meals to patients in hospice care, donating any spare change in their pocket to those asking for it, and performing quiet acts of grace—be it a hug, a smile, or a pat on the back to show ones in need that they would be alright." 

It was her upbringing that inspired her advocacy work.

"This is what I grew up seeing, so that is what I grew up being," she continued, "a young adult with a social consciousness to do what I could, and to, at the very least, speak up when I knew something was wrong."

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