Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland speaks out about ‘challenging’ past five years

The Duchess of Sussex’s mother has spoken out for the first time about her daughter’s relationship with the Duke of Sussex, saying the past five years have been “challenging”.

Doria Ragland, who made an appearance in the second episode of Harry & Meghan, a six-part docuseries which dropped on Netflix on Thursday morning, recalled the moment she heard the couple were dating.

She said: “The last five years have been challenging. I’m ready to have my voice heard, that’s for sure. A little bit of my experience as her mum.”

Asked in an interview for the docuseries if she remembered first hearing about the relationship, Ms Ragland said: “When she told me, we’re on the phone and she says, mummy I’m going out with Prince Harry.

“I started whispering ‘oh my god!'”

During that first call, Meghan told her mother she needed to keep her relationship a secret.

Ms Ragland went on: “I remember when I first met him (Harry) too, a 6’1 handsome man with red hair, really great manners.

“It was just really nice and they looked really happy together, like he was the one.

“Once it was announced that they were together it seemed kind of like a novelty.”

Old pictures and footage of Meghan as a child were shown during the episode.

Ms Ragland said paparazzi would take pictures of deprived neighbourhoods in Los Angeles to say that was where Meghan grew up.

She told the Netflix documentary: “They would take pictures of different parts of say Skid Row and say that is where I lived and that is where she was from.”

She also spoke of feeling “unsafe” due to being “stalked” by the paparazzi.