Meghan Markle’s Mom Has Become a ‘Rock’ for Prince Harry, and Has Even Earned a Comparison to Queen Elizabeth

As the former social worker turns 68, Doria Ragland’s confidants have said that she means more to the Duke of Sussex than ever before.

Meghan Markle has plenty to celebrate. The Duchess of Sussex, 43, “couldn’t be more excited” to launch her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard “early next year”; her husband, Prince Harry, turns 40 this coming month; and her recent official visit to Colombia has been widely heralded as a surprising success. And as Markle sets her sights on a packed schedule, no doubt she will have found time to celebrate the birthday of one of the most important women in her life: her mother, Doria Ragland.

The mother and daughter share a steadfast bond, with Ragland often described as a “rock” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, especially as their relationship with the House of Windsor seems to grow ever stormier. Ahead of Ragland’s 68th birthday on September 2, Meghan Markle took time to pay tribute to her mother during her Colombian tour.

“I find inspiration in the strong women around me. Of course, my mother being one of them,” the Duchess told the Afro Women and Power Forum. “So much of how I approach things is less about the fight and more about, ‘How do we show up in a space and wash things over with love and kindness and generosity?’”

And it seems that Markle has learned these values from her mother. A yoga instructor with a master’s degree in social work, Ragland once ran a dressmaking business. She was born in the ’50s, growing up in Hollywood during a time of troubling racial tension—not that the young student let that intimidate her, according to her friend Jennifer Caldwell. “She was part of an all-Black group of students which would regularly protest,” she told MailOnline. “She was always smiling, whip-smart and sociable,” Caldwell continued. “She wanted to make something of her life.”