Is Meghan Markle's Mom Spending Christmas With the Royals?
The Queen Has Reportedly Invited Meghan Markle's Mom to Spend Christmas With the Royals
As the holiday season approaches and we nail down our travel plans, so too are members of the British royal family. Their Christmas schedule stays pretty much the same year after year — signing cards in the Summer, taking the royal train to Sandringham, black-tie dinner and drinks on Christmas Eve — and this year, there will be a new addition to the royal festivities. The Daily Mail reported on Sunday that Queen Elizabeth II has extended an invitation to Meghan Markle's mom, Doria Ragland, "as a mark of her respect" for Meghan. It will be Doria's first time hanging with the royal family since watching her daughter walk down the aisle to marry Prince Harry in May, though she did jet over to London for the launch of Meghan's cookbook in September. Who else can't wait to see Miss Doria's fly church hat on Christmas morning?
The "very thoughtful gesture" of inviting Doria to spend Christmas with the royals at their Norfolk castle is also a pretty unprecedented one: while Kate Middleton's parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, have joined the royal family for Christmas church service, they've never stayed at Sandringham, as Doria likely will. The moment should also serve as a nice full-circle one for Meghan, who just last year broke royal protocol when she was invited to spend Christmas with her then-fiancé's family for the first time (usually, royals need to be married for their other half to be welcomed to such major family events). Even sweeter than this news? The thought of Doria joining Meghan and the royals next Christma and getting to celebrate with her first grandchild. Keep reading to see photos of Doria's encounters with the royals so far.