Meghan Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, is reportedly staying in California as the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry prepare to relocate their family to the UK for an extended period later this month.

According to insiders, the 69-year-old social worker has no immediate plans to leave the life she has built on the West Coast, where she remains active in her yoga community and close to friends.

Ragland is expected to continue living at a home near Harry and Meghan’s $14.5 million Montecito estate in Santa Barbara County, where she has regularly visited her grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

She is still expected to spend time with the family after they move, although the details of those arrangements have not been disclosed.

Doria has remained closely involved in the Sussex family

Ragland has been a steady presence in Harry and Meghan’s lives for years.

She traveled from Los Angeles to the UK in 2019 when Archie was born and later helped Meghan following Lilibet’s birth in 2021.

She has also joined the couple on a number of family outings over the years, including their visit to Disneyland this past spring.

Ragland additionally appeared in Meghan’s Netflix series, “With Love, Meghan.”

Her relationship with Meghan stands in contrast to the duchess’s long-running estrangement from her father, Thomas Markle, 81.

That relationship has been fractured since at least 2018, when Thomas did not walk Meghan down the aisle at her wedding to Harry.

Harry and Meghan’s UK stay could be lengthy

It remains unclear exactly how long Harry and Meghan plan to remain in Britain.

One insider said the couple are approaching the move day by day, while Page Six previously reported that they are returning to Europe for “an extended period” beginning at the end of the month.

The palace has already been informed.

An insider said King Charles III learned about the family’s plans over the weekend.

One source claimed Charles is the central reason for the return, while another said the 77-year-old monarch “looks forward” to spending time with Harry and Meghan.

Charles publicly announced in February 2024 that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Harry and Meghan are expected to live in Britain as non-working members of the Royal Family and will reportedly stay in “a non-royal residence.”

Archie and Lilibet have also reportedly already been enrolled in schools in the UK and are expected to begin classes within weeks.

A return six years after leaving royal life

Harry and Meghan moved to California six years ago after announcing in January 2020 that they would step back from their roles as senior working royals.

At the time, they said they had decided after “many months of reflection and internal discussions” to create a new and more progressive role for themselves within the institution.

The years that followed brought a series of highly publicized disclosures about their experiences inside the Royal Family.

During their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan discussed the personal difficulties she said she experienced while carrying out royal duties, including saying that at one point she “didn’t want to be alive anymore.”

She also alleged that there had been conversations within the Royal Family about concerns over “how dark [Archie’s] skin might be” before his birth.

Prince William later responded publicly to the controversy, saying the royals were “very much not a racist family.”

Queen Elizabeth II also issued a statement saying the family was saddened to learn of Harry and Meghan’s experiences, particularly the allegations relating to race.

Family tensions remain unresolved

Harry added further detail to the family rift with the publication of his memoir “Spare” in 2023.

In the book, he accused Prince William of physically attacking him during an argument and also described King Charles referring to him as a “spare” following his birth, a reference to his position in the royal line of succession.

More recently, Harry’s relationship with Charles has reportedly begun to improve.

His relationship with William, however, remains far more strained, with the brothers still reportedly not speaking.

That unresolved tension provides a complicated backdrop to Harry and Meghan’s return to Britain.

Ragland, meanwhile, appears set to maintain her own base in California rather than accompany them permanently.

Although she will remain thousands of miles away from Archie and Lilibet for at least part of the time, her longstanding role in the family suggests she will continue making visits even as Harry and Meghan begin this latest chapter of their lives in the UK.