Meghan Markle‘s mother Doria Ragland attended her daughter’s wedding to Prince Harry on May 19, 2018. In the weeks leading up to the royal wedding, it was thought Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, might make it as well. But after changing his mind a few times and falling ill, he decided not to attend and as many royal fans recall, then-Prince Charles walked Harry’s bride down the aisle.
Meghan’s parents divorced when she was a child and details about their marriage are scarce. However, there are a couple of photos online of their actual wedding day more than four decades ago. And now a leading body language expert is pointing out what they noticed in Thomas and Ragland’s wedding photos.
Where Meghan’s parents got married
The Duchess of Sussex’s mother and father met on the set of the soap opera General Hospital, where Ragland was working as a make-up artist and Thomas was the lighting director.
They dated for a few months before tying the knot in 1979. Meghan’s uncle, Joseph Johnson, previously told the Daily Mail that he was surprised his sibling wanted to get married then because the family didn’t know Thomas.
“None of the family knew anything about Tom until we got the wedding invitations,” Johnson said.
He stated that the wedding took place at the Self-Realisation Fellowship Temple in Los Angeles. The venue was a faux-Indian temple featuring gold accents, stone elephants, and plastic Buddhas.
Johnson explained that his sister chose it since she “was fascinated by alternative religions and yoga … It was a lovely wedding but not conventional at all.”
What a body language expert noticed about Ragland and Thomas in their wedding photos
Analyzing the photos from their wedding day, body language expert Judi James said that in some of the images Meghan’s mother looks “quite confident” while her father displayed some “awkwardness.”
“The two photos of Doria on her wedding day make her look sweet, playful, and apparently quite confident. She stands pointing and talking as Thomas crouches and holds her arm,” James noted.
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The expert told Express: “Thomas looks a little awkward in these poses, offering some roses to his wife in what was presumably a romantic ritual. His rounded cheeks suggest an expression of fondness.”
However, according to James, Ragland’s body language was the complete opposite.
She said: “Doria looks more playful though, raising her brows, tilting her head and grinning as she uses eye contact on her husband to suggest she’s sharing a joke. The other photo shows her more active and apparently confident, speaking and pointing, presumably to their guests.”
Thomas and Ragland divorced in 1987.
Fans heard from Doria Ragland in the docuseries ‘Harry & Meghan’
Thomas Markle has spoken to the press about his daughter and son-in-law on several occasions, but fans haven’t really heard from Ragland until she spoke in the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan.
In the fourth episode of the show, Ragland opened up about how it “really broke her heart” when Meghan told her that she wanted to take her own life.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
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