Meghan Markle Shares the Unexpected Christmas Gift Mom Doria Ragland Gave Her and Prince Harry

Mar. 15, 2025

Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland arrive at Cliveden House Hotel on the National Trust’s Cliveden Estate to spend the night before her wedding to Prince Harry on May 18, 2018 in Berkshire, England.Photo: Steve Parsons - Pool / Getty

Meghan Marklerevealed a unique Christmas gift that her mother,Doria Ragland, once gave her.In episode six of her new lifestyle seriesWith Love, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, is dehydrating citrus for margaritas she plans to serve when she shares that Ragland once bought her a food dehydrator for Christmas.“My home also has a lot of fruit trees,” Meghan added. “We share it with friends and donate to a local food bank.”Ragland also joins Meghan,Prince Harryand some of Meghan’s friends for a celebratory brunch in the finale of the series — “having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love, celebrating this next chapter of my life,” as Meghan put it — and is also mentioned in episode seven when Meghan speaks about her penchant for spicy food.Meghan Markle in Netflix’s ‘With Love, Meghan’.Courtesy of Netflix“I have a very, very high tolerance for spicy, and I love it,” she said. “I crave it. Even at a young age, we didn’t have a lot, but we traveled. My mom was a travel agent. We would just try so many different flavors in so many different places.”“My mom would make gumbo, and soul food has a lot of flavor and a lot of kick to it,” Meghan continued. “I crave that, and I always gravitate to that level of heat. So I am ushering my family into my palate, but I love it.”Meghan mentions multiple times that she loves feeding people, adding in the series, “I think it’s probably my love language.““Maybe that’s a mom thing, but even before I had kids, I just loved the idea of being able to see someone go, ‘Gasp — that’s so good,' and knowing that you were a part of that,” she said.Meghan Markle (R) and her mother, Doria Ragland, arrive for her wedding ceremony to marry Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor, on May 19, 2018.OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty ImagesMeghan has a tight bond with her mother, who a family friend previously told PEOPLE “has a softness” but also “a steely core to her.”“She and Meghan are so close,” the friend added. “Harry really gets on well with her too.”Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!Meghan’s longtime friend and makeup artistDaniel Martin— who also appears inWith Love, Meghan—previously told PEOPLE, “Meghan draws a lot of strength from her mother. Doria is classy, chic and confident, but not unapproachable.”“I definitely feel Meghan gets a lot of that from her mother,” Martin added.Meghan Markle and Doria Ragland.Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan/Getty ImagesIn a moving Mother’s Day post on Meghan’s former lifestyle blogThe Tigin 2014, Meghan praised her mom for serving as a role model to her.“She was keeping me safe. She was teaching me to take care of my body. She was introducing me to history, and fostering a love of being outdoors. She was planting the seed for me to become a foodie,” Meghan wrote on the blog, which she closed in 2017 ahead of her marriage to Harry the next year. “She was showing me how to be a daughter, not just in that moment, but for when I became that grown woman. For right now. And 30 years from now. She was loving me. So tightly.”Meghan Markle.OnWith Love, Meghan,the Duchess of Sussex is sharing her passions with her biggest audience yet.Recently speaking to PEOPLE for anexclusive cover story, she said, “When your children get to a certain age — when you’re not just playing in the sandbox with them but almost playing in your own sandbox again — it’s super joyful. As a woman, a mom and a wife, to be able to find yourself again — in a way that was always present but that you maybe couldn’t put as much attention on as you now can when your kids are a little bit older — is a wonderful feeling.”

Meghan Marklerevealed a unique Christmas gift that her mother,Doria Ragland, once gave her.

In episode six of her new lifestyle seriesWith Love, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, is dehydrating citrus for margaritas she plans to serve when she shares that Ragland once bought her a food dehydrator for Christmas.

“My home also has a lot of fruit trees,” Meghan added. “We share it with friends and donate to a local food bank.”

Ragland also joins Meghan,Prince Harryand some of Meghan’s friends for a celebratory brunch in the finale of the series — “having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love, celebrating this next chapter of my life,” as Meghan put it — and is also mentioned in episode seven when Meghan speaks about her penchant for spicy food.

Meghan Markle in Netflix’s ‘With Love, Meghan’.Courtesy of Netflix

Courtesy of Netflix

“I have a very, very high tolerance for spicy, and I love it,” she said. “I crave it. Even at a young age, we didn’t have a lot, but we traveled. My mom was a travel agent. We would just try so many different flavors in so many different places.”

“My mom would make gumbo, and soul food has a lot of flavor and a lot of kick to it,” Meghan continued. “I crave that, and I always gravitate to that level of heat. So I am ushering my family into my palate, but I love it.”

Meghan mentions multiple times that she loves feeding people, adding in the series, “I think it’s probably my love language.”

“Maybe that’s a mom thing, but even before I had kids, I just loved the idea of being able to see someone go, ‘Gasp — that’s so good,' and knowing that you were a part of that,” she said.

Meghan Markle (R) and her mother, Doria Ragland, arrive for her wedding ceremony to marry Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor, on May 19, 2018.OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images

Meghan has a tight bond with her mother, who a family friend previously told PEOPLE “has a softness” but also “a steely core to her.”

“She and Meghan are so close,” the friend added. “Harry really gets on well with her too.”

Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Meghan’s longtime friend and makeup artistDaniel Martin— who also appears inWith Love, Meghan—previously told PEOPLE, “Meghan draws a lot of strength from her mother. Doria is classy, chic and confident, but not unapproachable.”

“I definitely feel Meghan gets a lot of that from her mother,” Martin added.

Meghan Markle and Doria Ragland.Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

In a moving Mother’s Day post on Meghan’s former lifestyle blogThe Tigin 2014, Meghan praised her mom for serving as a role model to her.

“She was keeping me safe. She was teaching me to take care of my body. She was introducing me to history, and fostering a love of being outdoors. She was planting the seed for me to become a foodie,” Meghan wrote on the blog, which she closed in 2017 ahead of her marriage to Harry the next year. “She was showing me how to be a daughter, not just in that moment, but for when I became that grown woman. For right now. And 30 years from now. She was loving me. So tightly.”

Meghan Markle.

OnWith Love, Meghan,the Duchess of Sussex is sharing her passions with her biggest audience yet.

Recently speaking to PEOPLE for anexclusive cover story, she said, “When your children get to a certain age — when you’re not just playing in the sandbox with them but almost playing in your own sandbox again — it’s super joyful. As a woman, a mom and a wife, to be able to find yourself again — in a way that was always present but that you maybe couldn’t put as much attention on as you now can when your kids are a little bit older — is a wonderful feeling.”

source: people.com