Meghan Markle Reflects On Her Mother Being Called The ‘N-Word’ & Strangers Confusing Her As A Nanny: We Never Talked About It

Meghan Markle Reflects On Her Mother Being Called The ‘N-Word’ & Strangers Confusing Her As A Nanny: We Never Talked About It

Megan Markle witnessed her mother face racism right before her eyes.

In “Harry & Meghan,” now streaming on Netflix, the Duchess of Sussex shared what it was like growing up as a biracial young woman and how she felt about the racist remarks her mother Doria Ragland would receive.

In the second episode, Doria Ragland publicly spoke for the first time since her daughter married Prince Harry in 2018. The 66-year-old described her daughter as an “old soul” and a student who excelled in school. Doria Ragland shared custody of Megan Markle with her ex-husband, Thomas Markle, in Los Angeles. While driving past the Hollywood Bowl, Megan Markle elaborated on a harrowing exchange at that location between her Black mother and a stranger who called her the “n-word.” Meghan said:

“My mom honked her horn, this woman was taking a long time to figure out how to get out, and the woman turned around and screamed the N-word at my mom.”

Meghan Markle & her mom

Adding that she’s never heard the “n-word” before, she continued:

“I just remember my mom, the grip that her hands had on the steering wheel. You could it was so tight, like the knuckles get all white, and she was just silent the rest of the drive home. We never talked about it.” 

The “Archetypes” host added:

“It’s very different to be a minority but not be treated as a minority right off the bat. Obviously, now, people are very aware of my race because they made it such an issue when I went to the U.K. But before that, most people didn’t treat me like a ‘Black woman.’ So that talk didn’t have to happen for me.”

Feeling regretful her mother shared:

“As a parent, in hindsight, absolutely, I would like to go back and have that kind of real conversation about how the world sees you.”

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Earlier in the interview, the 41-year-old discussed how her mother would be mistaken for her nanny when she was a child. Meghan said:

“I just remember my mom telling me stories about taking me to the grocery store and women going, ‘Whose child is that? You must be the,” She’s like, ‘It’s my child.'”

She continued:

“‘No? you must be the nanny, where’s her mom?’ ‘Cause I was really fair skinned and my mom, darker.” 

Addressing the racially-charged scrutiny her daughter immediately faced when the news broke that she was dating Prince Harry on Halloween in 2016, Doria said she told her Meghan:

“Clearly, this is about race.”

Doria recalled:

“And Meg said, ‘Mommy I don’t want to hear that.'” 

She added:

“And I said, ‘Well, you may not want to hear it, but this is what’s coming down the pike.'”

The footage then cut to a solo interview with Meghan, where she said:

“At that time, I wasn’t thinking about how race played a part in any of this. I genuinely didn’t think about it.”

During the solo interview, the Duke of Sussex recalled how their relationship was publicized. The media immediately ran the headline “Harry’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton.” The 38-year-old said:

“I was like, whoa.” 

Meghan added:

“Well, firstly, I’m not from Compton, I’ve never lived in Compton. So it’s factually incorrect. But why do you have to make a dig at Compton?”

Prince Harry chimed in:

 “The direction from the Palace was, ‘Don’t say anything.’ But what people need to understand is, as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything that she was being put through, they had been put through as well.”

He added:

“So it was almost like a rite of passage, and some of the members of the family were like ‘My wife had to go through that, so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? Why should you get special treatment? Why should she be protected?’ I said ‘The difference here is the race element.'” 

Volume two of “Harry & Meghan” premieres on Netflix  next Thursday (Dec. 15.)

What are your thoughts on Meghan Markle’s social upbringing with her mother? Tell us below.

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