A beautiful message from very proud mum
A SWEET message to a young Meghan Markle from her mother Doria has been found in her school’s old yearbook.
The 1993 yearbook for the private school she attended in Los Angeles contains a full-page message from her mother Doria Ragland and her pet cats saying they “love” her and are “very proud”.
The message also says: “You’re doing great!!”
Although Meghan is a dog lover, owning two with Prince Harry, the family liked to adopt rescue cats, says an old friend – and it was only-child Meghan who named them: Princess Maria and Archie Boycat.
“It’s very funny now looking back. Such incredible coincidences,” says the friend. “Princess Maria was given that name because she kind of ruled their house. She was demanding for affection and walked around with a royal demeanour.
“Meghan always had something of a royal obsession, I guess many girls do.” The Duchess of Sussex used to play the role of queen in games with friends, as a video that emerged two years ago showed.
Archie Boycat, meanwhile, is thought to have been named after a
US comic book character. The friend said: “Meghan loved the Archie comics, so I’m pretty sure that’s why she named the cat Archie. She really loved him, he was very playful. When it came out that her son had been given the name, it really surprised a few people!
“Those cats were like siblings and extended family for her. They had various cats as she grew up, and she was very affectionate and loving towards them.”
Meghan went to Los Angeles’ Little Red School House until she was 15. The school, also attended by Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-rose, is in her childhood neighbourhood of Hollywood, 100 miles from the royal couple’s home in Montecito.
Parents would pay to place messages in the yearbook, Memories. The message for Meghan was alongside an advert for Doria’s business, Distant Treasures. According to the friend, Doria would make jewellery to sell at fairs, with Meghan’s help.
“It was good mother-daughter time,” says the friend.