Doria Ragland Might Join the Royal Family in Norfolk for Christmas
Queen Elizabeth II continues to demonstrate her affection for her granddaughter-in-law.
Things might still be tense between the royal family and Meghan Markle’s dad, Thomas (not to mention Markle’s extended family), but everything’s just peachy, it seems, between Queen Elizabeth II and Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland: The queen has reportedly invited Ragland to spend Christmas with the royals, per the Daily Mail.
Not only has she been invited to spend the holidays with Harry, Meghan, and the rest—there is speculation that, if she accepts, she’ll even stay with the immediate royal family at Sandringham, the queen’s country house in Norfolk. This is apparently a rare privilege: While Kate Middleton’s family has spent Christmas Day with the royals in the past, they usually stay at a separate estate nearby rather than with the queen herself.
“The queen’s invitation would show respect and also acknowledge that Meghan, unlike Kate, has no other family in Britain,” the Daily Mail paraphrased an anonymous source. It’s a “very thoughtful gesture.” It’s been reported that Markle has a “close, warm relationship” with the queen and Prince Charles, earning her the rare privilege of riding on the queen’s royal train to Chester, back in June, an invitation neither Harry, William, nor Kate received. Meghan Markle is special.
Given that Markle is several months pregnant with a due date speculated to be in the spring, it also makes sense for Markle’s mother to be around. Plus, she’s been the person Markle has turned to to help rein in her father, who has done everything from staging paparazzi photos “studying” for the royal wedding to hanging up on his daughter’s then-future husband. The whole thing seemed to really stress out the royal family, so Ragland’s counsel has probably earned her some considerable good will.
Related: Oprah Winfrey Shares Details of Her Hangout With Meghan Markle’s Mom, Doria Ragland
All the Fashion and Beauty Micro Moments You Missed at the Royal Wedding, From Doria Ragland’s Nose Piercing to Prince George the Goth
Meghan Markle’s father may not have made it to Windsor, but after a long hang sesh with Oprah, her mother, Doria Ragland, arrived just as planned, having tea with the Queen and spending the night with her daughter before escorting her to the wedding. Upon their arrival to the chapel, Ragland emerged in a green ensemble just like the Queen’s—except that hers was in a gentle pastel, and accessorized with an understated nose piercing.
Markle’s surprise of a simple Givenchy gown had a lot more to it than could be seen from the live stream cameras. Hidden in the folds of her 16-foot veil were representations of all 53 of the Commonwealth’s countries, which Givenchy’s designer, Clare Waight Keller, turned into a gathering of each of their native flora.
Serena Williams’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, somehow managed to obscure the most eye-catching part of her ensemble when they arrived to the chapel: Williams’s head of nearly knee-length braids, which she thankfully captured on her Instagram before and after, as part of her thorough documentation of what she called “getting ready for my friend’s wedding.”
Throughout all of the speculation about Meghan Markle’s wedding dress would look like, there was never any doubt that it would of course be white. In contrast, Prince George wore a much darker take on Prince Harry and William’s military uniforms, repping the mall goths in a steam punk-friendly take on the requisite morning coat and a formal interpretation of bondage pants.
Karen Gibson and the London-based Kingdom Choir’s performance of “Stand By Me,” which was also a rallying political anthem of the ’60s, was so moving that it was easy to miss the impeccable style of the choir members, who color-coordinated in shades of purple and pink.
Before arriving to the chapel herself, Oprah Winfrey took a moment to thank Stella McCartney’s design team on her Instagram for apparently having worked “all night long” on her dress, when she had a last-minute realization that showing up in a beige that could photograph as white could lead to stealing some of Markle’s thunder.
There was no shortage of tributes to Princess Diana, Prince Harry’s late mother, at the ceremony. In addition to the engagement ring he gave Markle months ago, which featured two stones from Diana’s personal collection, he gave Markle a similar gift on their wedding day: an aquamarine ring which once belonged to his mother, which Markle wore to their post-wedding reception.
Rather than making a blunder like wearing his OBE on the wrong label, which he did at the last royal wedding, this time, David Beckham not only made an appropriate appearance with his wife Victoria, but also marked the designer Kim Jones’s debut at Dior Homme in the process, stepping out in an ensemble made of his first designs for the house, which included a silk tie and a double-breasted waistcoat.
