Time for a tea party! Meghan Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, joined her daughter and Prince Harry for tea with Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla, just three days before the royal wedding.
Sources tell Us Weekly that the group of five sipped tea at Clarence House, Charles and Camilla’s official residence, in the late afternoon on Wednesday, May 16.
Markle, 36, and Harry, 33, announced their engagement in November 2017. The Duchess of Cornwall called the news “brilliant” at the time, while Charles told reporters on May 9 that he was feeling “obviously marvelous” about the couple’s upcoming nuptials.
Ragland, 61, left for London on Tuesday, May 15, and arrived at Heathrow Airport with a Burberry garment bag on Wednesday.
The soon-to-be married couple also met with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on Thursday, May 17, just five days after Her Majesty gave Markle and Harry her formal instrument of Consent, also known as her formal approval of the union.
One person who will not be in attendance — or meet Harry and his family — before the Saturday, May 19, nuptials is Markle’s father, Thomas Markle. After Thomas told TMZ on Tuesday that he could not travel to London because he was having heart surgery after he suffered a heart attack, the former Suits star confirmed his absence.
“Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday.”
The former lighting director also made headlines after footage emerged on May 13 of him seemingly staging photos with the paparazzi. A source told Us on Monday, May 14, that the soon-to-be royal was “upset and disturbed” by the photo scandal.