Meghan Markle's Mother May Walk Her Down The Aisle Following Father's Alleged Drop Out

Update 15 May: Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland may walk the bride down the aisle, a royal historian has said on Good Morning Britain after her father allegedly pulled out of the role following a staged photos scandal.

Royal historian Victoria Howard told viewers: 'I think it would be a lovely touch for Meghan’s mother Doria to walk her down the aisle.'

However, Meghan wouldn’t be the first royal to be walked down the aisle by her mother.

'It wouldn’t be an unprecedented move. Queen Victoria walked two of her daughters down the aisle,' Howard added. She also speculated the palace would now be 'scrambling' around following the unexpected drama involving Markle's father.

'I don’t think they were expecting this to happen so late,' she explained.

Following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement announcement, the Suits star's father- who currently lives in Mexico - told reporters that he would love to do walk his daughter down the aisle at the wedding on Saturday 19 May at Windsor Castle.

However, E! News reports the soon-to-be-royal has requested that her mother, California-based yoga teacher Doria Ragland, escort her down the aisle, instead.

The move would be yet another breaking of tradition for Markle, given that brides are traditionally walked down the aisle by their fathers. Markle recently became the first non-royal member of the Monarchy to spend Christmas with the famous family at Sandringham.

Markle's choice of her mother for the honour comes as no surprise as the bride-to-be has spoken openly about her respect and love for her mother, who divorced Meghan's father when the star was just six-years-old.

'We can just have so much fun together, and yet I'll still find so much solace in her support,' she previously told Glamour. 'That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend.'

The news comes days after Prince Harry reportedly whisked his fiancée off to the French Riviera to celebrate the New Year and even took an economy flight in an attempt to go unnoticed.

Let the countdown to the wedding day commence!

Katie O'Malley

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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.