Another royal coup for Doria – but it lays bare chasm between Meghan and her dad
THE warmth between the two women was palpable; their affection for one another entirely natural and the effect utterly dazzling. Never before have a mother and daughter commanded the royal stage so spectacularly as Doria Ragland and the Duchess of Sussex did at Kensington Palace yesterday.
In the space of a few short minutes we witnessed not just the start of a new double act – sorry Harry but you have (at least temporarily) been downgraded to a supporting role – but also a statement of intent from the newest member of the Royal Family.
With all the polished skills honed from her life as an actress and an unerring ability to engage with people, Meghan staked out a future for herself that could make her the most potent – and glamorous – royal ambassador yet.
And the message was clear too: her mother is also part of this journey.
In all her years as a dutiful and capable hands-on granny to George, Charlotte and baby Louis, it is doubtful that the Duchess of Cambridge’s mother Carole Middleton has ever come close to making such a significant appearance in her daughter’s life.
Indeed, since that short clip eight years ago, when she was filmed speaking of her excitement at Kate’s engagement to Prince William, we have barely heard a word from her. When she turns up in the royal box at Wimbledon, however stylishly well-dressed, she hardly gets our pulses racing. But Doria, with her ‘Hi, I’m Meg’s mom’ yesterday, was an icebreaker of extraordinary significance.
So often royal events are stagey, awkward and, let’s admit it, unimaginative affairs. Doria’s presence at Meghan’s side at her charity cookbook launch – and her remarks – seemed both instinctive and authentic.
As a child in Los Angeles, Meghan learned to cook at her mother’s elbow instilling in her a love for food and experimenting with recipes. Food sealed her romance to Prince Harry, remember – there was a chicken cooking in the oven as he proposed – and it was the essential ingredient of the duchess’s first solo project, assisting the women of Grenfell Tower with their community kitchen.
So when Doria stepped unexpectedly from a royal Range Rover with Meghan and Harry – whose appearance, too, was unplanned – to meet some of those Grenfell cooks, it was completely appropriate. The event couldn’t have been choreographed better, with mother, daughter and, oh yes, son-in-law hosting a lunch for the women. PRIDE radiated from Doria as she circulated. ‘You must be proud as punch,’ someone asked her. ‘Head over heels,’ came the assured reply.
What Miss Ragland’s presence indicated above all is just how important she is to Meghan. She is proof that her daughter did not cast her old life aside, as some predicted she would, when she became Her Royal Highness on marrying the Queen’s grandson in May. Meghan does not just dote on her mother, she together depends they are on animated her. When and they share are a kindly glow. They speak regularly, using FaceTime and email too. In July, Doria flew from America to spend a few days with Harry and Meghan at their country retreat in Oxfordshire. But that was private and she came and went unseen. Twice now, Doria has been paraded into the limelight – once at the wedding and again yesterday – and twice she has handled it with remarkable aplomb. Back on May 19, the impression etched on so many memories was the quiet dignity of the woman, the only member of the bride’s family at the wedding in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Her poise and calm were a model of control in utterly strange and difficult circumstances.
In her seat, Doria had faced the massed ranks of the Royal Family across the quire but she remained impervious. Then, of course, there was that moment her face dissolved into a smile as Prince Charles reached out to take her arm and she was alone no more. Yesterday
there was no princely arm to lean on. Instead she was engulfed by the babbling and warm embrace of the women who, out of the misery of the Grenfell disaster, have found in her daughter an unlikely champion.
But however electrifying that appearance, I fear that Doria’s presence will shine an ever sharper spotlight on the one figure who has not shared in Meghan’s happiness – her father Thomas Markle. Never have the destinies of two royal in-laws been quite so extreme.
Markle’s foolish behaviour with paparazzi in the weeks before the wedding, and his eccentric conduct since, have contributed to a bitter rift with his daughter. Over the past weeks, relations between Meghan and her father have worsened to the point where he fears he may be excluded from her life for ever.
Sitting in his modest home in a rundown Mexican border town, Markle must be wondering why one parent is treated with courtesy and respect while he has become a virtual pariah.
How hurtful it must be as he views the son-in-law he has never met fussing around his ex-wife. He has not met the Prince of Wales and the Queen in their private houses, while the chances are that Doria will do so for a second time in the next few days. The danger for the Palace, whose handling of the Markle affair has been little short of disastrous, is that every time Doria is given such special treatment, Thomas Markle is driven further to the margins.
His estrangement deepened after a series of interviews in which Markle criticised the Royal Family. In one outburst he liked the Queen’s family to ‘Scientologists’ describing them as ‘secretive’ and ‘cult-like.’
The former Hollywood lighting director claims he has been cut off by his daughter since their wedding. He has also admitted that he lied to the couple over his collaboration with paparazzi in the run-up to their marriage. Markle subsequently suffered a heart attack and days before the wedding decided not to walk his daughter up the aisle.
Royal sources say the duchess views the situation as ‘deeply personal’.
‘Meghan doesn’t think it’s a fair game between her father and the media, so she’s not going to engage in it or instruct anyone on her behalf to set the record straight,’ said a source. She and Harry fear that any attempts at contact will be leaked to the media.
How tragic if the success of Doria’s visit should widen the yawning gap between Meghan and her father – and mar that heartfelt confidence she exuded to the world yesterday.
‘She doesn’t think it’s a fair game’