EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry's love interest's mother is all smiles and laughter as she is asked about the romance with her actress daughter

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Smiling as she left her Crenshaw home, Meghan Markle's mother today refused to comment on her daughter's rumored relationship with Prince Harry.

Social worker and yoga therapist Doria Ragland, 60, said she had 'no comment to make, none at all' when approached by DailyMail.com.

When told her daughter would make history if she did marry Prince Harry - becoming the first mixed race woman ever to join the Royal Family, Ragland chuckled but added: 'No. Look, I really can't say anything.'

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Discreet: Meghan Markle's mom Doria Ragland smiled and laughed when asked about her daughter's romance but said: 'I really can't say anything.'

First words:  Meghan Marckle has spoken for the first time since her relationship with Harry emerged an said: 'I'm the luckiest girl in the world'

Red-carpet appearance: Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Radlan were pictured by Bella New York magazine - www.bellanyc.com - at an event for United Nations women's day in March 2015

Home sweet home? Prince Harry's new girl, Meghan Markle, grew up in this house in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, a troubled area that had 47 crimes in the past week - including murde

Mother: Doria Ragland is a social worker and yoga instructor. She continues to live in a tough area of Los Angeles - and is close to her daughter (inset, right)

The romance between her daughter, the Suits actress, and the prince, has not been publicly confirmed by either party.

But Markle - a 35-year-old divorcee - has said she is 'the luckiest girl in the world'.

She also described herself as a 'brash American' with strong opinions in her first interview since her affair with Harry emerged.

The actress has become concerned about the number of Suits sex scenes she has starred in and says she avoids skimpy clothes because her mother warned her to 'never give the milk away for free'. 

Markle remains close to her mother, who divorced her father Thomas, 72, when she was six, and is often seen with her on the red carpet.

Thomas, a lighting director, is currently thought to be in Mexico and recently filed for bankruptcy after racking up debts of $30,000 (£24,000).

Doria, who also filed for bankruptcy herself in 2002 over a $52,750 credit-card bill, appears to be the one of the defining influences in her daughter’s life. 

Writing in an article about her background, Markle addressed being mixed race, saying: 'While I could say Pennsylvania and Ohio, and continue this proverbial two-step, I instead give them what they're after: "My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African-American."'

Meghan wrote of her childhood and her mum and dad's mixed-race marriage on her website: 'I like to think he was drawn to her sweet eyes and her Afro, plus their shared love of antiques,' she writes. 'Whatever it was, they married and had me.

Discreet: Doria Ragland leaving her home on Wednesday, as her daughter's apparent romance with the prince became the focus of huge interest

Close bond: Meghan Markle and her mother remain close and the actress has written about her pride in being mixed race. Her African-American mother's own ancestry includes slaves

Love story: Meghan Markle has written of her parents: 'I like to think he was drawn to her sweet eyes and her Afro, plus their shared love of antiques. Whatever it was, they married and had me.'

Family: Markle and her father when she was a child. His marriage to her mother ended early in her childhood

Shortly after news of their blossoming romance broke, Meghan posted a picture of two loved-up bananas 'spooning' on Instagram, with the caption 'Sleep tight'

'They moved into a house in The Valley in LA to a neighborhood that was leafy and affordable. What it was not, however, was diverse. And there was my mom, caramel in complexion with her light-skinned baby in tow, being asked where my mother was since they assumed she was the nanny.' 

And she has spoken of how her mother's great-great grandfather was born into slavery and freed at the end of the Civil War.

Crenshaw, the area Ragland, 60, calls home could not be more different to London’s leafy Kensington, where Prince Harry lives.

Markle is now based in Toronto, Canada, but her mother remains in LA and moved to her modest green-painted home five years ago after the death of her own father, Alvin, in 2011.

Harry’s literally palatial homes couldn’t be more different from the tatty one-storey homes that dominate much of Crenshaw, which is close to Compton.

And while there have been a total of 21 crimes in the immediate area around Highgrove over the past 12 months, 47 have taken place in Crenshaw in the last week alone - including murder and robbery.

Cancelled: Prince Harry was reportedly planning to fly to Toronto to see actress Meghan Markle, pictured during a modelling session, but he was a 'no show', a source claimed

Meghan stripped down to her underwear in the hit show and the clip from 2014 then went viral 

Other crimes noted over the past seven days include multiple drug-related misdemeanors, vehicle thefts, vandalism and disturbing the peace.

Crenshaw is one of a cluster of Los Angeles boroughs famous for gangs - along with Compton, Long Beach, South Central and Inglewood.

The latter, which borders Crenshaw to the south, is also home to another member of Meghan’s family - her maternal aunt, Ava Burrow, 63.

Local gangs include Crenshaw Mafia Gangster, which has been plaguing the area since 1981, and Bloods affiliates Center Park Blood.

Still there: Markle's mom still lives in Crenshaw, although she hasn't been seen since news of her daughter's relationship with Prince Harry went public

Operating close by are the Westside Rollin' 60's Neighborhood Crips, one of the largest street crime collectives in Los Angeles, and branches of the Compton-based Piru gang.

Nevertheless - and in spite of the gangs - parts of Crenshaw are considered to be improving, among them the aptly named Windsor Hills.

The crime-plagued neighborhoods of Markle’s mother and aunt are a far cry from the leafy part of Long Island where her former husband, Trevor Engleson, 40, grew up.

The Hollywood producer now lives in Los Angeles but was brought up in an affluent suburb of Long Island close to the New York City limits.

His parents declined to comment at their detached home.

Markle also has an older half-sister, Samantha, who claimed Harry 'would be appalled' if he knew about the 'narcissistic and selfish' actress' treatment of her father, who is now bankrupt.

On Tuesday night, shortly after news of their blossoming romance broke, Meghan posted a picture of two loved-up bananas 'spooning' on Instagram, with the caption 'Sleep tight'

Meghan has posted a series of romantic images on Instagram since it emerged at the weekend that she had been dating Harry.

In her first interview since then she told the Toronto Sun: 'My cup runneth over and I’m the luckiest girl in the world'.

On her Suits outfits she said: 'Yes, those pencil skirts on the show are fit within an exhale, but I fight to get that paired with a men's oversized shirt for balance.'

She has launched her own fashion range where nothing costs more than $70 (£60) and said: 'I was not a girl who grew up buying $100 candles. I was the girl who ran out of gas on her way to an audition.

'I'm deeply and passionately involved in the design process. I'm a brash American and if my name is going to be on something, I'm going to have my say'.

A 'besotted' Harry , 32, met the actress at a charity event and sent her messages until she said she would meet up with him - and, following a number of dates the pair are now said to be 'serious' about one another.

Run-down: Neighboring Crenshaw is the crime-ridden neighborhood of Inglewood (pictured), which was namechecked in Dr Dre's The Next Episode

A friend said : 'They are the real deal. He definitely pursued her and besieged her with texts until she agreed to a date.'

'He is very full-on but she was going through quite a tough time with her previous boyfriend and she was very flattered.

'He's head over heels and she feels the same.'

Meanwhile, it was reported that Harry scrapped a secret trip to to meet with Meghan after details of the apparent relationship emerged.

Harry was booked on to a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Toronto at 11.30am and due to land in the Canadian city at 3.30pm on Sunday but was a 'no show', a source said.

One royal source suggested the pair are in a relationship but it is still considered 'very early days'.

The prince, 32, also follows the actress on the picture sharing website Instagram using a pseudonym.

Intriguingly, Harry, who publicly professes to hate social media, is one of her million followers and she also follows him.

The revelation is telling because the prince has a private account and only 'follows' a few close friends and charities, suggesting the pair know each other fairly well.

A source close to the prince, who is fifth-in-line to the throne, told The Express that he is 'besotted' with the star,who plays Rachel Zane in the hit legal drama Suits.

'He's happier than he's been for many years,' they said. 'He's in a very relaxed period of his life and Meghan has come along at the right time.'