The couple were living in Nottingham Cottage at the time Many brides-to-be want to share the excitement of their wedding planning with their friends and family, but that was difficult for the Duchess of Sussex since her mother Doria Ragland was living over 5,000 miles away.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got engaged in November 2017 when the couple were based in the UK at Nottingham Cottage, which is located within the grounds of Kensington Palace. In fact, the royal sweetly popped the question in a low-key setting at their home while they were cooking a roast dinner, with Meghan later telling the BBC: “It was a surprise, and so sweet and very romantic.”
Meanwhile, Doria was living in a gorgeous property in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles that she inherited in 2011, which is located under two hours away from her daughter’s current Montecito mansion that she shares with Harry and their two children Archie, two, and Lilibet, eight months.
So how did Meghan ensure her mother felt involved in the wedding planning process? Plane trips and sketches, apparently!
Omid Scobie, co-author of royal biography Finding Freedom, said on Good Morning America in 2018: “It was in Los Angeles that she arrived equipped with sketches from the wedding and of the wedding dress itself, so she could really give her mom some insight on how the big day will look.”
Lucky, Meghan did have her mother there on her big day on Saturday 19 May 2018. The mother-daughter duo reportedly enjoyed “a very chill morning” ahead of the royal wedding, according to her makeup artist Daniel Martin. They tucked into breakfast that included “trays of cereal, fresh fruit, juices, and tea” which was wheeled into her suite.
While Meghan famously wore her sleek long-sleeved bridal gown, designed by Givenchy’s Clare Waight Keller, Doria looked beautiful in a pale green Oscar de la Renta dress and coat as she sat in the second row inside St. George’s Chapel to proudly watch her daughter say ‘I do.’ Harry and Meghan went on to have a lunch reception at Windsor Castle followed by a private evening celebration at Frogmore House.
