The VERY un-royal Markle family now set to liven up Windsor family Christmases
The future princess grew up in Los Angeles to parents who 'came from nothing' but were able to put her on the path to stardom
THE Royal Family are set to welcome a new set of in-laws after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially announced their engagement.
The actress is set to relocate to Kensington Palace and can expect some visits from her family ahead of the wedding next spring.
Markle's mother Doria Radlan, a yoga instructor and social worker, and father Thomas divorced when the future princess was six.
Meghan describes her parents as 'coming from little' but they were able to privately educate her in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles.
Doria is African-American, while Meghan's father is Dutch-Irish, and their difference in skin tone led to the family receiving racial abuse when she was younger.
The actress has said that because her mother is black with dreadlocks, and she passes as caucasian, she often received hurtful comments about whether Doria was her real mum.
In an article for Elle magazine, Meghan wrote: “Being biracial paints a blurred line that is equal parts staggering and illuminating.”
“While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that.
"To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman."
Meghan has described her mum as a "free-spirited clinical therapist" and is proud she took her travelling to remote - often impoverished - places when she was younger.
Thomas is a former television lighting director working on iconic US shows including Married with Children and General Hospital.
In 2011 he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Drama Series for his work on General Hospital, a long-running US soap.
Prince Harry met Meghan's father during a trip to Canada - and was said to have been won over by the Prince.
It is clear from social media updates that Meghan has a lot of love for her father. She wrote on Instagram in 2016: "Happy Father's Day, daddy. I'm still your buckaroo, and to this day your hugs are still the very best in the whole wide world."
How Harry and Meghan's romance blossomed
May - October 2016: 'Besotted' Harry meets his future princess
May 2, 2016 - It is not known exactly when Prince Harry first met the Suits actress but he travelled to Toronto, where Meghan Markle lives to launch the countdown to the Invictus Games. The pair are then believed to have been introduced through friends in London in July last year and started seeing eachother.
Oct 30, 2016 - News of their relationship broke and the prince was described as 'besotted' with the actress. A source described Harry as "happier than he's been for many years".
November 2016 - January 2017: Protective prince defends new love
Nov 8, 2016 - In an unprecedented statement, Harry attacked the media over its "abuse and harassment" of his girlfriend. He claimed Meghan had experienced racism and sexism and even attempts by members of the press to get into her home.
Nov 11, 2016 - Three days later Ms Markle was spotted in London amid unconfirmed reports she was stay at Kensington Palace for the first time.
Dec 6, 2016 - Harry flew straight from his Caribbean tour to Toronto to be with Ms Markle, making a 1,700-mile (2,736 km) detour instead of flying to London.
Dec 13, 2016 - The couple were buying a Christmas tree together in Battersea Park. The tree seller described the pair as "totally happy, cute, couple-y - but not overly mushy and gross".
February 2017 - June 2017: First public kiss and meeting the family
Feb 2, 2017 - Harry and Meghan were spotted holding hands on a date night in London amid claims she had "virtually moved in" with the prince at his two-bedroom bachelor pad Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace.
May 7, 2017 - The couple were photographed kissing in public for the first time at Cowarth Park polo club in Ascot, Berkshire, and just days later she joined Harry at Pippa Middleton's wedding reception.
July 2017 - November 2017: Wedding rumours and engagement announced
July 8 - Meghan was reported to have been spotted trying on wedding dresses, sending rumours of an impending engagement into overdrive.
Sep 5 - Ms Markle graced the cover of US magazine Vanity Fair and spoke openly about Harry for the first time, revealing: ''We're two people who are really happy and in love.''
Sep 25, 2017 - Just days later they appeared hand-in hand at their first official public appearance together at Invictus's wheelchair tennis.
Nov 27, 2017 - After weeks of speculation, Clarence House announced the engagement, and the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh say they are "delighted for the couple and wish them every happiness."
The 36-year-old is estranged from her older half-sister Samantha Grant, who claims to have raised Meghan for 12 years growing up in California.
Their father was a successful lighting director but was later declared bankrupt.
After a close relationship growing up, Samantha and Meghan drifted apart and Samantha has described her sister as a "social climber" who has barely spoken to her since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008.
She said: “I didn’t feel a separation from her until I was in the wheelchair. Hollywood has changed her. I think her ambition is to become a princess."
Samantha later backtracked on the interview and claimed she was misquoted before offering a series of gushing testimonies about her sister.
Meghan and Samantha's father's first wife Rosyln has said the 52-year-old has always had it in for her younger sister.
She added: "Everything she has said about Meghan is a lie."
Samantha's brother and Meghan's half-brother Tom Jr is a window fitter who has had a number of run-ins with the law.
In January, he was arrested for putting a gun to his girlfriend Darlene Blount's head during a drunken row. The charges were later dropped.
He has since extended Harry and Meghan an invitation to their wedding.
He said in September that despite the gun incident "me and Darlene, we're meant for each other."
Meghan's 75-year-old uncle Frederick Marle could technically conduct her wedding ceremony as leader of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church in America, which is based in Sandford, Florida.
Her other uncle Alvin Ragland, 34, is the younger brother of her mother Doria and is actually younger than Meghan. He works as a graphic designer in Los Angeles.
None of Meghan's grandparents are still alive, her Markle grandmother Doris and grandfather on the other side Alvin both died in 2011.
Doris was married to Meghan's other granddad Gordon, a military veteran who served in the Second World War.
He had worked as a gas station attendant, but was unemployed when he registered for the draft in 1940.
Alvin was born in Tennessee where along with his family he faced deep-rooted racism growing up in the south.
He worked in a hotel before serving in the military and later developing a successful career as an antiques dealer.
He was married to Meghan's step-grandmother Ava Burrow, 63, a retired teacher who describes Meghan as a "wonderful person" and a "very pretty, gifted actress".