When you make the life-changing decision to get married, it's important to remember you're not only promising to spend your life with your partner but also, in some ways, their family too.
For Meghan Markle and Prince Harry - who are tying the knot at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on Saturday - their engagement has already brought them (and the bride-to-be's family) a wealth of unwanted public scrutiny and paparazzi attention.
But, while we know everything there is to know about Prince Harry's family, we thought it was about time we learned a little bit more about the royal's future in-laws - Thomas Markle Sr and Doria Ragland.
Here's everything you need to know about Meghan Markle's parents:
Meghan's mother: Doria Ragland
1. She was social worker and yoga instructor
Earlier this summer, Markle explained to Glamour that her mother 'works specifically with the geriatric community'. Ragland recently graduated from USC with a masters in social work.
E! news has reported that Ragland, based in Los Angeles, has left her job at a mental health facility in Los Angeles ahead of her daughter's marriage to Prince Harry.
Ragland’s workplace, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, is said to have confirmed to the news site that she no longer works there.
Though it’s unclear why the mother-of-one made the career change, Us Weekly reported that ‘It was Doria’s decision to leave. She has talked about starting her own private practice, focusing on working with elderly patients.’
A self-proclaimed yoga-lover, Markle has previously admitted she has developed a skill for the fitness regime from her mother.
'My mom was a yoga instructor so that practice is in my blood,' she told Women's Health. 'I love an intense vinyasa class - and even better if its blasting hip-hop and done in a dark room with candlelight.'
2. She's got a nose piercing
'My mom has always been a free spirit. She's got dreadlocks and a nose ring,' the Suits actress told Glamour.
'She just ran the LA marathon. We can just have so much fun together, and yet I'll still find so much solace in her support. That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend.'
3. Doria divorced Meghan's father when the star was six-years-old
In 2015, Meghan penned an emotional letter for ELLE UK titled 'I'm More Than An Other' discussing her biracial identity and talked about how her parents met.
'It was the late Seventies when my parents met, my dad was a lighting director for a soap opera and my mom was a temp at the studio,' she wrote.
'I like to think he was drawn to her sweet eyes and her Afro, plus their shared love of antiques. Whatever it was, they married and had me,' she added.
Sadly, they split when Meghan was a child.
4. Her nickname for Meghan is 'flower'
In her now defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig, Meghan explained her nicknames range from 'Meg, MM, M&M' and revealed her mother calls her 'Flower,' 'which my mum has called me since I was little'.
Meanwhile, in a post to Instagram last year to celebrate Father's Day, Meghan signed off her post with the nickname 'Bean'.
5. She warns Markle of wearing too many skin-tight outfits
The Telegraph revealed the yoga instructor always told her daughter 'never give the milk away for free'.
6. Her ancestors were slaves in the US
In her essay for ELLE UK, the actress explained that in 1865 when slavery was abolished in the United States, former slaves had to choose their own surname and her great-great-great grandfather called himself 'Wisdom'.
'He drew his own box,' he added.
7. She accompanied Meghan to the church on her wedding day
Doria Ragland travelled in a car with her daughter from Cliveden House Hotel, where they spent the night before the royal wedding, to St George's Chapel.
Ragland made her appearance riding in the carriage wearing a mint green dress embroidered with white florals by Oscar de la Renta. She topped off her look with a matching cocktail hat.
Kensington Palace announced Doria would be accompanying Meghan on her journey to Windsor Castle in a car on the morning of her wedding. 'Ms Markle is delighted to have her parents by her side on this important and happy occasion,' the Palace announcement read.
Meghan's father: Thomas Markle Sr
1. He will no longer attend the royal wedding
Meghan Markle’s father reportedly will not attend his daughter’s wedding on Saturday.
TMZ reports Thomas Markle Sr will no longer walk his daughter down the aisle at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle following a ‘fallout’ after he was accused of working with the paparazzi to stage photographs.
Meghan’s father, who was widely believed to be en route to the UK for the nuptials, also allegedly claims that he suffered a heart attack six days ago, but checked himself out of the hospital so he could attend the wedding.
2. He's a former television lighting director
On The Tig, the 36-year-old wrote: 'My father was the lighting director on two television shows as I was growing up.
'And there I was, behind the scenes of a glossy soap opera and a TV sitcom, surrounded by famous actors and their glam teams, multi-million dollar budgets, and crew lunches that always included filet mignon and enough sweets to make you think you were at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.'
Meghan once told Vanity Fair her father Thomas was proud of achievements as an actress 'above all people'. 'My father knew how hard it is for an actor to get work,' she said.
3. He taught his daughter to define her own identity
Following a devastating moment at school when her teacher told her to check the box for Caucasian on a mandatory census, leaving her to leave the box blank in confusion, Markle wrote in ELLE UK that her father told her: 'If that happens again, you draw your own box.'
'I never saw my father angry, but in that moment I could see the blotchiness of his skin crawling from pink to red. It made the green of his eyes pop and his brow was weighted at the thought of his daughter being prey to ignorance. Growing up in a homogeneous community in Pennsylvania, the concept of marrying an African-American woman was not on the cards for my dad.'
4. Her father is an award-winner
The Express reports Thomas won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Design Excellence For A Daytime Drama Series.
5. He has already met Prince Harry
Like Doria, who was spotted chatting with Prince Harry at the Invictus Games over the weekend, Markle's father has repotedly met his future son-in-law and is said to be 'pretty happy' about his daughter's relationship with the royal.
6. He lives in Mexico
Thomas currently lives in the coastal city of Rosarito Beach, Mexico. He already had two children before he married Meghan's mother, Doria, in 1979 - a daughter, now called Samantha Grant and aged 53, and a son named Thomas Markle Jr, now 51.
However, neither sibling is expected to make an appearance at the wedding following their somewhat negative contributions to reports about the royal couple.
Last year, Meghan's half-brother Thomas Markle Jr told the Daily Mail: 'He first met Prince Harry about six months ago out in Toronto.
'He's pretty happy about Harry and he's extremely proud of her. They have an amazing relationship, they're very close and they always have been.'
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
