Breaking News:Meghan Markle’s Mom Has Become a ‘Rock’ for Prince Harry, and Has Even Earned a Comparison to Queen Elizabeth…Read More 👇

As the former social worker turns 68, Doria Ragland’s confidants have said that she means more to the Duke of Sussex than ever before.

Meghan Markle has plenty to celebrate. The Duchess of Sussex, 43, “couldn’t be more excited” to launch her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard “early next year”; her husband, Prince Harry, turns 40 this coming month; and her recent official visit to Colombia has been widely heralded as a surprising success. And as Markle sets her sights on a packed schedule, no doubt she will have found time to celebrate the birthday of one of the most important women in her life: her mother, Doria Ragland.

The mother and daughter share a steadfast bond, with Ragland often described as a “rock” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, especially as their relationship with the House of Windsor seems to grow ever stormier. Ahead of Ragland’s 68th birthday on September 2, Meghan Markle took time to pay tribute to her mother during her Colombian tour.

“I find inspiration in the strong women around me. Of course, my mother being one of them,” the Duchess told the Afro Women and Power Forum. “So much of how I approach things is less about the fight and more about, ‘How do we show up in a space and wash things over with love and kindness and generosity?’”

And it seems that Markle has learned these values from her mother. A yoga instructor with a master’s degree in social work, Ragland once ran a dressmaking business. She was born in the ’50s, growing up in Hollywood during a time of troubling racial tension—not that the young student let that intimidate her, according to her friend Jennifer Caldwell. “She was part of an all-Black group of students which would regularly protest,” she told MailOnline. “She was always smiling, whip-smart and sociable,” Caldwell continued. “She wanted to make something of her life.”

“Smiling, whip-smart and sociable”: Doria Ragland, who celebrated her 68th birthday this week, beams at a California soiree.

And now, as mother-in-law to Prince Harry, and grandmother to Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, Ragland finds herself dining with royals and rubbing shoulders with celebrities—even living for a time at Frogmore Cottage after the birth of Archie, as Prince Harry revealed in his memoir, Spare. Recently, she has been spotted spending time with Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, at culturati events, and runs in similar circles to the likes of Kris Jenner—all three of them women who know a thing or two about raising strong daughters.

Despite this sudden catapult to the upper echelons of high society glamour, Ragland has never let luxury erode her steadfast support for Meghan and Harry. Take, for example, her refusal to speak to the press regarding the legal spat between the Duchess of Sussex and her father, from whom she separated in 1987. While other members of the Markle family on both sides aired their grievances, the royal grandmother kept, well, mum on the matter. Indeed, she was the only one of the clan to receive an invite to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding in 2018, walking out of St. George’s Chapel side by side with King Charles and Camilla—now the King and Queen of Great Britain.

Ragland, seen here arriving at a launch event for a cookbook comprised of recipes from women affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, has been a “rock” for Prince Harry.