Doria Loyce Ragland (born September 2, 1956)[1][a] is the mother of Meghan Markle 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 instructor.

[4] 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.

In 1983, her father married kindergarten teacher Ava Burrow,[7] who is near to Ragland's age; the two remained close after that marriage also ended in divorce.

[15] 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.

[22] Ragland married lighting director Thomas Markle on December 23, 1979, at Hollywood's Paramahansa Yogananda Self-Realization Fellowship Temple in a ceremony performed by Brother Bhaktananda.