Meet Prince Harry’s fiancee Meghan Markle’s family

Meghan Markle has a sprawling – and complicated – family tree which means she will have to make some tough decisions about how many family members are invited to her newly-announced London wedding to Prince Harry.

The Los Angeles-born actress has relatives scattered across the U.S. while her father spends most of his time in Mexico, to which he retired after a Hollywood career.

She is known to be close to her mother, who was with her when she and Prince Harry attended his Invictus Games together in Toronto.

It is also understood that she is close to her father, although she has not been seen with him in public, while she has half-siblings from his first marriage with whom she has had little recent contact, in one case, from whom she and the rest of her family are bitterly estranged.

The extended Markle family is possibly the most unusual to marry into the House of Windsor so far.

The traditional scale of royal weddings means that Meghan Markle will not be short of space in the church to invite her extended family, but which members will get to go will be the source of months of fascination on both sides of the Atlantic.

Here we present a guide to the Markles.

Meet the parents – an Emmy-winner and a social worker

Parents: Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle married and had their daughter Meghan Markle in Los Angeles. Although they divorced when Meghan was just six she has spoken about how they co-parented and she felt equally loved by them.

In the fold: Doria Ragland was with Harry and Meghan Markle as they all watched the closing ceremony of his Invictus Games in Toronto in September

Likely to be among the first names on the guest list, Meghan’s parents are Doria Ragland, 61, and Thomas Markle Sr, 73.

Like many relationships, theirs was one that began at work with Doria meeting Thomas Sr on the set of medical drama General Hospital in Los Angeles, California.

She was a 21-year-old make-up artist, while he was a 33-year-old lighting director with one marriage and two children already under his belt.

He also had an Emmy award, televisions’s equivalent of an Oscar, a few years earlier.

In 1975, he won a Chicago Emmy for his work in lighting design on Chicago public TV station Channel 11 WTTW’s Made In Chicago series.

The smitten couple later married in a quiet ceremony in LA in December 1979. Their only child, Rachel Meghan Markle, arrived just over a year later in August 1981.

Thanks to my mom: Meghan Markle shared this image of her mother Doria Ragland when she graduated from UCLA with a master’s degree in social work

But the union was not to last and the pair divorced when Meghan was six, although her half-brother Tom Jr later told DailyMail.com that the couple went to great lengths to make sure she ‘knew she was loved’.

And the former couple have remained close – raising their daughter together and still speaking regularly to this day.

After the divorce, both went on to achieve some career success – Doria becoming a yoga instructor while in 2011, Thomas Sr remained part of Hollywood, continuing to work on General Hospital.

But both also suffered financial problems, with Tennessee-born Doria declaring bankruptcy in 2002 over a $52,750 credit card bill.

Last year, Thomas Sr also declared himself bankrupt; this time over a debt of $30,000.

Thomas Sr, who is originally from Pennsylvania, now lives in Mexico and is understood to be in regular contact with his daughter by phone. He is also thought to have met Prince Harry.

Doria, meanwhile, still lives in Los Angeles, where she has a small bungalow home in the Windsor Hills neighborhood, close to Inglewood and the city’s main airport, LAX.

She is understood to have met Harry on several occasions and joined the pair very publicly, being in their box during the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Toronto at the end of September.

Neither Thomas Sr nor Doria have commented publicly on their daughter’s boyfriend, with Doria telling DailyMail.com ‘look, I really can’t say anything’ when approached after news of the relationship broke last year.

She did, however, chuckle and smile broadly when told her daughter would make history if she becomes the UK’s first mixed race princess – an outcome that appears increasingly likely.       

Oh brother! The half-siblings who are angling for invites

Big brother: Thomas Markle Jr is Meghan’s brother form her father’s first marriage. He is also newly engaged, to Darlene Blount, 46, despite being arrested after pointing a gun at her during a drink-fueled argument. Thomas Markle Jr was a teenager when his sister Meghan was born

Arrest: This was Thomas Markle Jr’s mugshot after his arrest. Charges were dropped when Darlene Blount declined to proceed and the couple are now engaged

Outspoken and out of the fold: Samantha Grant is estranged from the rest of the Markle family, but is planning to write an expose of her half sister

Meghan has an older half-sister and half-brother from her father’s first marriage to Roslyn Loveless, now 72.

The eldest of the two is daughter Yvonne, who later changed her first name to Samantha and her second to Grant; although she has recently begun using Markle again.

Samantha, who is now 53 and lives in Silver Springs, Florida, was one of the first to speak out after news of the relationship broke, telling reporters that Prince Harry ‘would be appalled by what she’s done to her own family’.

She added: ‘The truth would kill her relationship with Prince Harry, he wouldn’t want to date her anymore because it puts her in a bad public light.’

She also accused the actress of being ‘narcissistic and selfish’ and called her ‘a shallow social climber’ with ‘a soft spot for gingers’.

Days later, Samantha backtracked on her comments – claiming she was misquoted and subsequently gave a series of gushing interviews declaring her love for her sister.

By contrast, Thomas Jr, 51, has never had anything bad to say about Meghan and, speaking from his home in Grants Pass, Oregon, recently told DailyMailTV that his sister has ‘always been a princess’.

He added: ‘I do have a sense of pride in Meghan being successful. It was just obvious from day one that she was destined to be somewhere really big.

‘She’s always been a princess. She’s carried herself on that level from day one.’

But while their approach to Meghan differs, the pair are united in loathing each other and have been estranged for many years.

Both have also suffered legal troubles: in Samantha’s case a bitter divorce and custody battle with second husband Scott Rasmussen, 57, that led to her being charged with ‘using a phone to terrify/intimidate’ in 2011. The charges were later dropped.

And in January, Tom Jr was arrested for putting a gun to his girlfriend Darlene Blount’s head during a drunken late night altercation. The charges were dropped a month later.

Samantha is now writing a book about growing up with Meghan called ‘The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister’ much to the horror of the rest of the Markle clan who told DailyMail.com that the content is likely to be ‘lies’.

Samantha, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and has been confined to a wheelchair for close to a decade, occasionally still works as a freelance writer.

Like her half-sister, she had wanted to become an actress and a few walk on parts on medical soap The Doctors.

Later she trained as a counselor and graduated in 2008 – the ceremony being the last time she saw Meghan.

Window fitter Tom Jr, meanwhile, has got past his legal troubles and has an extended Harry and Megan an invitation to his own wedding to Darlene, 37.

Despite the January gun incident, Tom Jr told DailyMailTV in September: ‘Me and Darlene, we’re meant for each other.’                              

 Two very different uncles – one with his own church…

Meet the uncles: Fred Markle, 75, Thomas Markle’s older brother, is also know as Bishop Dismas and is leader of his own tiny church in Florida. Alvin Joffrey Ragland is Doria Ragland’s half-brother, but at 34 is two years younger than his niece Meghan Markle

Although Meghan’s mother was raised as an only child, she does have a younger half-brother from her father Alvin’s second marriage to retired teacher Ava Burrow, 63.

Born in September 1983, 34-year-old Alvin Joffrey Ragland  – who goes by his middle name – is younger than his niece Meghan but remains close to both her and Doria.

A freelance graphic designer working in fashion, he was brought up in Chattanooga, Tennessee but now lives in Los Angeles.

Meghan’s other uncle is 75-year-old Frederick Markle, who lives in Sanford, Florida – a small town approximately 27 miles from Orlando.

Although the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, or another senor cleric, is likely to perform the ceremony when Meghan marries Harry, Frederick could also conduct the ceremony thanks to his role as leader of the ‘Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church In America’.

Known as Bishop Dismas to his dwindling flock, Frederick’s church has a single tumbledown chapel and he is the sole clergyman.

And while the church had around 40 members in its 1980s heyday, one former worshiper told DailyMail.com in July he’s not sure if a single person attends services there anymore.

Harry’s future in-laws also include the Bishop’s 66-year-old wife Theresa Huckabone and Meghan’s 38-year-old cousin Nick who lives at the $80,000 family home.

Frederick’s second son David, 34, lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Jackie, 42, and their three young children.

Uncle Fred’s family: Meghan’s uncle is married to Teresa, 66 (second from left). The couple have two sons, Nick, 38 (left), and David, 34, (right) who lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Jackie, 43, (second from right) and their three young children.

 … and her step-grandmother who’s a big fan  

State of disbelief: Ava Burrow, who married Meghan Markle’s grandfather when the Suits actress was just a baby, told the Daily Mail: ‘I’m kind of expecting a visit from the men in black suits [the FBI] to check us out.’

On Doria’s side, Meghan has a step-grandmother in the shape of Ava Burrow: a 63-year-old retired teacher who lives in Indio, California.

Ava came into Doria’s life when she married Alvin Ragland in May 1983. She was 29, Alvin was 53 and less than four months later, their son Joffrey was born.

She remains close to her step-daughter Doria and has nothing but good things to say about Meghan, although she did admit to being surprised when she realized who the actress was dating.

Laughing, she told the Daily Mail: ‘Meggie marrying a prince? Who’d have thunk! I’m kind of expecting a visit from the men in black suits [the FBI] to check us out.

‘I guess it’s like your Downtown Abbey — and we’re the folks downstairs.’

But she added: ‘Meggie is just a wonderful person. Very clever, very pretty, a gifted actress, and she has done incredible work for women and the UN. I think she would be a great addition to anybody’s family.’

The next generation of Markles and their complicated ties 

Family together: Meghan Markle was an 11-year-old when she posed with her father Thomas Markle, and her two nephews Thomas Dooley (left) and Tyler Dooley (right), and her then sister-in-law, Tracey Dooley (far right). Tracey Dooley had married her brother Thomas Markle Snr,  and had the two boys, making her an aunt while she was still in elementary school 

Niece: Noelle Rasmussen (left) is the daughter of Meghan’s older sister, Samantha Grant, but is bitterly estranged from her mother. Instead Noelle, 18, lives with her grandmother Roslyn Markle, 71, (center), who was Meghan’s father’s first wife. After her divorce from Thomas Markle, she went on to have a son, Bobby Lucero, 36, (right) who is Meghan’s half-siblings’ half-brother. He was born the same year as Meghan and now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Although Meghan has no children of her own, her father Thomas Sr is already a grandfather five times over thanks to her half-siblings.

Samantha has three children, the eldest two from her first marriage to Los Angeles lawyer Earl Hale – Ashleigh, 32 and Christopher, 30.

Meet the exes: Scott Rasmussen was Meghan Markle’s brother in law while he was married to Samantha, her elder sister, and Tracey Dooley was her sister in law through her married to Thomas Markle, which ended in divorce

According to family sources, the pair had little to do with Samantha following their parents’ divorce which happened when they were very young.

The two were taken to live in Virginia by their father and are thought to occasionally speak with their mother by phone. However, both are understood to be close to their aunt Meghan.

Samantha is a lawyer in Virginia who has a master’s degree in law from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. 

Samantha’s youngest child is Noelle, 19, a student who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, close to her father Scott Rasmussen, 57, and her grandmother Roslyn.

Noelle and Samantha’s relationship is also difficult: after her parents split in 2003, Noelle became the subject of a bitter custody battle and later accused her mother of being abusive to her.

In April, she told DailyMail.com that her mother would pull her hair, scratch her and spit at her when she was a young child.

She also claimed to be scared of Samantha’s boyfriend Mark Phillips, 59, and said he had once threatened to punch her.

Call her Aunt Meghan: Thomas (left) and Tyler (right) Dooley are the royal fianceé’s nephews by brother Thomas Markle Jr

Grant and Phillips denied the claims but in May 2015, the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department issued a certified letter which said allegations of abuse by both against Noelle were substantiated. It was entered into court proceedings without objection from the couple.

 Like his sister, Tom Jr also has a fraught relationship with his own two sons – the product of his first marriage to Tracey Dooley, 52.

Eldest son Thomas is a 26-year-old store manager for Domino’s Pizza and lives in Mammoth Lakes, California, with his husband Ronnie, 41.

In October, he said a feud between his father and grandfather meant he is no longer in contact with Meghan, who would babysit for him and his brother Tyler, 25, when they were children.

He added: ‘My dad and aunt are crazy. I feel terrible for Meghan. Me and my brother Tyler have nothing to do with our dad.

‘His behaviour since Meghan began dating Prince Harry has been completely appalling. I want people to know I have nothing to do with it and just apologise to her.’

Thomas, whose younger brother Tyler lives close to their parents in Grants Pass, Oregon, also told the Mirror newspaper that he misses his aunt and still hopes to be invited to the wedding.

He said: ‘I would like to see my aunt again – hopefully even before she got married. But if that’s the chance I get to see her, I would love it.’ 

Grandparents who faced war and depression 

None of Meghan’s grandparents are still alive, although two were very much present in her life until relatively recently.

She was close to her Markle grandmother Doris and her Ragland grandfather Alvin prior to their deaths in quick succession in 2011.

Along with Doris, her other Markle grandparent was Gordon; a military veteran who served during the Second World War.

Before the war he had been hit by the Depression, describing in the census of 1940 how he had worked only a few weeks in the previous year in his then job, a gas station attendant in his native Pennsylvania, and when he registered for the draft, said he was unemployed. He married Doris Sanders in 1941.

Gordon went on to be a cobbler, and died in the early 1980s with Doris then leaving their Newport, Pennsylvania home to live with her elder son Frederick in Florida.

Later, she moved to Los Angeles to join Thomas Sr and his three children, living with her younger son until her death at the age of 91 in 2011.

On the Ragland side, Meghan has her step-grandmother Ava Burrow and, until 2011, a grandfather she adored in the shape of Alvin Ragland.

Close until the end: Meghan Markle’s grandmother Doris lived in Los Angeles and Meghan was close to her until she died, aged 91 in 2011.

Come through the Depression: Gordon Markle had dealt with unemployment before World War II and died in the early 1980s, too early for Meghan Markle to know him. He was a loving grandfather to Samantha Grant (left), then known as Yvonne Markle, and Thomas Markle Jr (right)

Alvin was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and had two older sisters: Lillie and Dora. Life was not easy for an African-American family in the Jim Crow South, and they faced the ingrained and institutionalized racial divide of the time. 

Both his older sisters, however, were able to get to college. Alvin’s first job was working in a hotel and later he served in the military before being discharged and beginning a new career as an antiques dealer in Los Angeles.

The name of Doria’s mother remains unknown. But by 1983, he was living in Los Angeles where he met and married Ava Burrows, and with whom he had a son, Joffrey, Meghan’s uncle.

Together, the pair returned to Chattanooga, where Ava taught in a local school, until their marriage broke down and he moved to LA.

Despite their differences, Ava described him to DailyMail.com as a devoted father and grandfather, who adored both Joffrey and Meghan.

He also cared for Meghan’s great-aunt Lillie, who made him the executor of his will when she died in 2004 and left him the home that Doria occupies today.

But, like his daughter, he was also prone to financial woes – getting evicted and struggling to live on his meager military pension before inheriting the house.

Alvin, who suffered from glaucoma in his later years, died in 2011.