Mexico City (dpa) - Meghan Markle's family have been under intensemedia scrutiny since she announced her engagement to Prince Harry ofBritain in November 2017.
Her relatives are in many ways unlikely in-laws for Britain's royalfamily: Markle's parents are divorced, her half-siblings opinionated,and her father once declared bankruptcy.
Here is a look at the Windsors' new in-laws:
MARKLE'S FATHER
Thomas Markle married Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, in 1979. Theysplit when Meghan was 6 years old.
He stayed in contact with his daughter, although their relationshipwas sometimes troubled. Nevertheless, in a 2016 Instagram post onFather's Day, she wrote "[t]o this day your hugs are still the verybest in the whole wide world."
Today, Thomas Markle leads a quiet life in Rosarito, on Mexico'sPacific coast. He won 750,000 dollars in the lottery in 1990, butlater declared bankruptcy.
He has been the figure of much gossiping in the British press, withtabloids recently snapping him getting fitted for a suit at abackstreet tailor's near his Rosarito home.
He will be walking his daughter down the aisle on May 19 at StGeorge's Chapel in Windsor. Prince Harry is reportedly still to meethis future father-in-law.
MARKLE'S MOTHER
Meghan Markle is thought to be much closer with her mother, whoraised her as a single parent.
Last year, Markle told Glamour magazine, "We can just have so muchfun together, and yet I'll still find so much solace in her support."
In a 2014 post in her now-defunct blog The Tig, Markle affectionatelydescribed her mother: "Dreadlocks. Nose ring. Yoga instructor. Socialworker. Free spirit."
Ragland is a social worker and is reportedly still working with drugaddicts in Los Angeles, despite being in the spotlight since theengagement, according to the Daily Mail.
Ragland will get together with her ex-husband in the week leading upto the nuptials to spend time with Harry's family, including hisgrandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry has already met Ragland several times. In the first sit-downinterview with him and Meghan, the prince told the BBC: "Her mum'samazing!"
MARKLE'S HALF-SISTER
Markle's relationship with her half-sister, Samantha Grant, has alsogenerated a lot of media attention, in part due to Grant'scontroversial statements.
In the past, she has suggested that Markle could do more tofinancially support their father, telling Australian TV show "ACurrent Affair," that "Honestly, what she could spend in a weekendwould greatly help Dad."
In 2016, Grant told Britain's The Sun that Markle was motivated by"social climbing."
Grant lives in Florida and, like Meghan Markle, was also in actingand television, although with less success. She now plans to write abook, entitled "The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister."
It is unclear whether she will be a guest at the wedding next week.
MARKLE'S HALF-BROTHER
Thomas Markle Jr is also reportedly still waiting for an invite -although it seems unlikely after he wrote a scathing letter publishedlast week in celebrity gossip magazine In Touch.
According to the report, he described the upcoming nuptials as "thebiggest mistake in royal wedding history." Addressing Harry, headded, "Meghan Markle is obviously not the right woman for you,"adding that she is a "jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will makea joke of you and the royal family heritage."
MARKLE'S EX-HUSBAND
Markle was married to Hollywood producer Trevor Engelson for lessthan two years, before they divorced in 2013.
He is planning an untitled comedy about a man whose wife leaves himfor a British prince, with Fox having commissioned a pilot episode,according to entertainment news site Deadline. The project claims tobe fictional.
